Sometimes problems are a nice thing to have, like when you’re thinking of what kind of treat to give yourself! But you can learn a lot about good ways to approach problems. Even nice ones.
This Young Professional challenge is all about creativity and brainstorming ideas for a fun trip or activity, then using logic and reasoning to turn those wild dreams into a reality.
What is brainstorming?
It’s a word that gets thrown around a lot in office meetings when the team is trying to think up new ways to do something – like achieve a business goal, sort out a problem, or start work on a new project. This method of producing new ideas is often done as a group discussion, but you can brainstorm ideas on your own, too.
Traditional brainstorming: People are given a theme to think about, like designing a new brand of cat food or coming up with ways to improve the office atmosphere. Then they are encouraged to come up with as many ideas as possible. There’s no such thing as an idea that is too silly or too wild. At this stage, it’s all about being creative! The ideas are all listed down (or sometimes they are even stuck on the wall as post-it notes so they can be grouped together later). Next, all the ideas are discussed logically.
Choosing and evolving ideas from the brainstorm session: Sometimes, a workable good idea can spring from a ‘silly’ idea once it is chewed over and really thought about. For example, painting cat food bright purple might not be appetising to cats (or their owners) but from this ‘silly’ idea a food design team might decide to make their new cat food stand out visually from the crowd, perhaps by including yummy biscuits shaped like stars.
Young Professional Challenge: brainstorm your way to a day that is unique, cheap and fun
Your mission:
Design a fun activity you’d like to do. It doesn’t have to cost the earth, it just has to be your idea of good times. Is there a catch? Of course there is! It has to be something you’ve never done before, or else you have to put a new twist on something you’ve enjoyed doing in the past.
What you’ll need:
- Something to list all your ideas down
- Something to help you with any research you might want to do (in other words, Google)
- Your imagination
How to do it:
Come up with a list of at least 10 things you would like to do as a trip, event or fun day out – either with friends or flying solo. Yes, you can include wild ideas at this stage. Let your creativity run free!
Tip: Use online research to see what’s in your area. It can help you come up with possibilities you never thought about before. Search for things to do in your local town, or free local events, or you can even search for events by date (e.g. “Sheffield things to d0 20 November 2018”).
It’s not cheating, it’s thinking sideways: Really stuck for ideas? Think about a fun local activity you’ve already done in the past. Now think of ways to turn it into a unique activity you’ve never done before. Dresswear themes, seasonal themes (like Halloween), turning it into a fundraiser event… see if you can add your own creative spin.
Okay, now you’ve got your list. Congrats. It’s time to start using logic to turn dreams into reality. Look at the idea on your list and think about possible challenges like:
- Travel
- Cost
- Age requirements/permission from guardians
- Communication (like making sure your friends are available on the day and can come out with you)
Where did you find the biggest challenges to each idea? You’ll be using your problem solving skills to make a decision: do you bin the idea, or can you find solutions to the challenges involved?
Final step: go have fun
You should end up with a couple of ideas that could genuinely work, or maybe just one workable idea you really like the sound of.
What happens next? You’ve got your idea, so go do it. Find a time and day, invite your friends if you want, and make it happen. Give yourself something fun and cheap to do that you’ve never done before. You’ve really earned this adventure.
And let us know on Twitter @YEUK2012 how you got on.
How does this problem solving challenge help you in life and work?
You might think this challenge sounds easy, but coming up with 10 whole things to do might be trickier than you thought. You’ll need to think outside the box and stretch your creative muscle, using lateral (or sideways) thinking to come up with ideas for something you’ve never done before. You can apply this to problems in education or your professional life, too.
Using online research to come up with new ideas is a useful data-building and analysis technique you will use so many times in your life. Not just for writing school essays, ahem! When you search online to find what you need you are building your logical skills, thinking about what to type in to get the results you want.
Setting yourself a challenge that can end up with you ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING is a massive confidence boost that should make you feel very proud of yourself. What’s more, this is a two-in-one challenge because when you go on your customised day out you’ll be using another Young Professional skill – your initiative, which is a big part of self-management!
