Creative Workouts

1. 1.Ignore what the object is normally called.
2. 2.Focus on its shape, material, texture, or movement.
3. 3.Find three more uses.

1. 1.Group your drawings into categories.
2. 2.Find the category you repeated most.
3. 3.Transform three repeated drawings into new categories.

1. 1.Cross out your first five answers.
2. 2.Use the remaining answers to inspire five more.
3. 3.Make each new answer less predictable.

1. 1.Choose the category that felt most difficult.
2. 2.Invent three unusual subcategories inside it.
3. 3.Generate one idea from each.

1. 1.List five associations with the word.
2. 2.Connect each association to your topic.
3. 3.Turn one connection into an idea.

1. 1.Connect each observation to your topic.
2. 2.Generate one possibility from each connection.
3. 3.Avoid copying the image literally.

1. 1.Pair one element from each list.
2. 2.Create at least six different combinations.
3. 3.Turn two combinations into concepts.

1. 1.Identify the principle behind each practice.
2. 2.Adapt each principle to your challenge.
3. 3.Create one concrete application.

1. 1.Turn your observations into general principles.
2. 2.Apply two principles to your challenge.
3. 3.Sketch or describe one resulting idea.

1. 1.Choose the least obvious metaphor.
2. 2.Explore what it suggests about roles, movement, tension, or change.
3. 3.Turn two observations into ideas.

1. 1.Remove assumptions based on the usual user.
2. 2.Create three changes for your new user.
3. 3.Make one change useful for everyone.

1. 1.Choose one useful effect from each extreme.
2. 2.Reduce each effect to a realistic feature.
3. 3.Combine the two features.

1. 1.Choose one new constraint.
2. 2.Turn it into an advantage.
3. 3.Apply that advantage to the original setting.

1. 1.Create one idea for each circled sense.
2. 2.Combine the two ideas.
3. 3.Describe the moment someone notices the change.

1. 1.Identify the rules of your new medium.
2. 2.Rebuild the subject using those rules.
3. 3.Create one concrete example.

1. 1.Take each bad answer.
2. 2.Turn it into a helpful principle.
3. 3.Transform two principles into possible solutions.

1. 1.List what still needs to happen.
2. 2.Invent three possible substitutes.
3. 3.Combine two substitutes into a new version.

1. 1.Generate six new solutions.
2. 2.Reject disguised versions of the banned answers.
3. 3.Combine two remaining possibilities.

1. 1.Identify the principle behind each response.
2. 2.Remove the impossible condition.
3. 3.Keep the principle and create a workable version.

1. 1.Rewrite the assumption as its opposite.
2. 2.Imagine the opposite is completely normal.
3. 3.Generate three possibilities inside that world.

1. 1.Underline one useful fragment in each idea.
2. 2.Combine two promising fragments.
3. 3.Turn the combination into a plausible idea.

1. 1.Answer each missing detail.
2. 2.Add one sensory detail.
3. 3.Rewrite the idea in three sentences.

Create three versions:

1. 1.The safest version
2. 2.The most ambitious version
3. 3.The strangest workable version

1. 1.Combine the two useful elements.
2. 2.Use one weakness to compensate for the other.
3. 3.Describe the new concept in one sentence.

1. 1.Insert a surprise, obstacle, or decision.
2. 2.Show how the user reacts.
3. 3.Revise the ending.

1. 1.Write one question the prototype should answer.
2. 2.Show it to someone or simulate its use.
3. 3.Capture one observation and one possible change.