Using The “Bad Idea Factory” To Help Build Creative Courage

Years ago I heard about the “Bad Idea Factory” at a conference. I wish I remember who or where but it was around 2014. Like any buzzword I try to plumb the depths of Google to find the creator of these awesome actives. The best I could do is find a 2012 article by Kevin Brookhouser tilted, 20% Project: Bad Idea Factory. In the article he shares that came up with the term Bad Idea Factory after attending a workshop with Ewen McIntosh at NoTosh. He links to his site, but the link is broken. I reached out to Ewen on Twitter to get more information:

@ewanmcintosh Trying to track down some of the creators and influencers of the “Bad Idea Factory” activity. Any leads? 😀

— Rabbi Michael Cohen (@TheTechRabbi) July 19, 2018

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I picked it up from @tseelig in her first book Things I wish I’d learned when I was 20.

— Ewan McIntosh (@ewanmcintosh) July 20, 2018

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Chapter 3: Bikini or Die… And, please stay tuned. I’m working on a 10 year anniversary edition of the book, with lots of new material. 🙂

— Tina Seelig (@tseelig) July 20, 2018

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I have used the Bad Idea Factory activity many times in various classes ranging from 1st grade to 12th. The results are always a blend of entertaining and meaningful experiences because the activity helps everyone involved, break down our bias around our own creative abilities and how we evaluate “good ideas”. 

A great introduction for any class to the activity is a video compilation of Good Idea, Bad Idea segments from one of my all time favorite cartoon shows, Animaniacs. The meaning (IMO) of the segments is not just to provide viewers with comedy and entertainment, but to challenge them to actually think. Rare for a cartoon, but Animaniacs was ahead of its times. 

The Process 

The process of the activity is simple and straight forward.

1. Students (or Teachers) have X amount of minutes to come up with a list of AS MANY “bad ideas” as possible. In the past I have set a minimum limit around 20 for older students, 5th grade and up. Younger students tend to be excited with the idea that we are challenging them to use their minds and the freedom to show how much they know.

2. Any and all ideas should be documented on whiteboard, posters, or butcher paper so they can be present later. 

3. Guidelines and Good Judgement should precede the activity. Encourage students to come up with their own list of guidelines of what “bad ideas” are not appropriate. In the past my class guidelines have included: No violence, prejudice or disrespect to any person or people in any way shape or form.  For older students you might need to remind them that ideas should be safe and not sexual in nature. Yes you might get a laugh for a moment but then we can move on to the activity. 

4. Once the ideas are created students can then analyze their ideas. The following guided questions (or create your own!) might help spark curiosity and conversation:

1. How might this “bad idea” be turned into a “good idea”?

2. Is this idea practical or within your ability to implement? 

5. Next is the process of Synthesis. Challenge the students to synthesize their list and find ways that some ideas might combine with others again, using guided questions (or create your own!)

1. What does each or some of your ideas have in common?

2. How might we borrow something from one idea and add it to another?

6. After this process they should be able to cut their list down to 2-3 ideas. After this the students will present their “best bad idea” to the class which depending on the class size could take over an hour. I limit talks to between 1-2 minutes. No less and no more. 

Now what?

Some teachers take this activity to the next level and use it for students to help find a topic for a 20% time project. I think the project in of itself has even greater worth as a way to build creative confidence and courage. 

What is your experience with the Bad Idea Factory? Let me know in the comments! 

 

Creativity Is About Combining The Unexpected, Not Just Drawing It

I share during many talks that creativity is a mindset not an art set. The elephant in the room is once you buy into the mantra, what steps can you take to act on the mindset? There are so many cool ways to build up our creative abilities. What I am striving to do with all my work on the Educated By Design project, is to discover ways in which creative exercises can compliment development of fundamental literacies and competencies to make our students and ourselves more capable of doing great work.

For those who have yet to see the work from Stephen McMennamy, you are in for a treat. His ability to look at the world around him and find creative connections in seemingly divergent of objects is uncanny. 

I have followed him on Instagram for close to a year now and at one point a few months ago, I realized that his creative process could be translated into not just a powerful art project, but an incredible experience in strengthening diveragent and creative thinking abilities. With his work as inspiration I opened up Adobe Photoshop, but soon realized that this needed to be something scalable beyond Photoshop users. So with the famous Geico line in my head, “So Easy a Caveman Can Do It”, I set in my mind that it needs to be, 

“So Easy a 1st Grader Can Do It.”

With this line as my inspiration, I opened up Adobe Spark to see how quickly and easily I could create something like Stephen, and here you have it folks.

My gumball-trolly, suitcase-beetle, and typewriter-laptop. 

The experience made me realize that to really understand our creative selves and creative potential, we need small concrete moments of eye opening experiences. We need to dispel the myth that creativity is defined as drawing, painting, or music composition. Most importantly, we need to realize that creativity can be unlocked by looking beyond the functional fixedness of the world, and find ways to capture and communicate what we see in new ways. 

Combo Photo Tutorial 

 

Combine Photo Challenge

Inspired by Stephen McMennamy

Application: Adobe Spark Post

Grade Level: K through 12

Difficulty: Easy/Moderate

*Teacher Note: You are encouraged to not show project examples. The challenge is meant to not just create, but to drive meaningful discussion and reflective writing. Each element from creation, discussion, to reflection, will help students document their growth around divergent thinking and creativity.

1. 3 minutes: Try to write down a list of as many objects as you can.
2. 10 minutes: Brainstorm the features of each object on your list
   1. Up to you if you share examples. ie: wheels, cord, rectangle, hole, switch, color, etc.
   2. Choose 6 objects that you will combine to create 3 new creations.
3. 20 minutes: Using Adobe Spark:
   1. Search for two images that represent the chosen objects.
   2. Line them up either vertical or horizontal. The goal is symmetry and to line up the edges of both objects. 
   3. Move the border bars and zoom in on each photograph to line up the object as seamlessly as possible. 
4. 20 minutes: Share student work with guided discussion around the process and product. 
   1. Example Questions
      1. How did you discover that the two objects connected?
      2. What was harder, coming up with the list of objects or finding ways to combine them?
      3. How many different ways did you try to combine the object before deciding on the final combination?
      4. What did combining “object x” and “object y” tell us about how we look at objects around us?
      5. What are some examples of objects that have been combined that changed the world?
         1. ie: iPhone, lightbulb, Mobile home, Hovercraft. 

This activity is something that can be completed in a short amount of time but yield powerful results. Beyond mastery of awesome tech tools like Adobe Spark and the power of imagery and design, this activity give students an opportunity to create a product that stimulates conversation and awareness around the divergent thinking and creative processes. 

Beyond a divergent thinking exercise, this method of using Adobe Spark Post to create Combo Photos can be a great way to engage in a number of content areas. 

Math

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The combo photo process can move beyond elementary level symmatry (check out the literature review on the importance of understanding symmetry at an early age here) and move into high school geometry by putting a visual face to a sometimes abstract analysis of triangular space. 

Humanities

The photo above of the laptop typewriter is a great example of how you can use the combo photo process to create images that compare and contrast literature and history. 

These are just a few additional content connected ideas beyond this valuable experience in developing stronger divergent thinking skills. 

It also shows our students and ourselves that creativity is about combining the unexpected, not just drawing it.