I played Scattergories with my in-laws yesterday and realized we had a great mix of people for the game. I wished some of my meetings had the same divergent thinking.
Scattergories is a simple game built for divergent thinking that requires you to be creative and NOT think like everyone else.
Short list of rules:
- Everyone gets a list of generic questions. (Ex- Name of a city)
- You roll a die that has the letters of the alphabet. (Ex - roll an "F")
- Set the timer for a minute.
- Write down something you think nobody else will put down.
- Compare answers and get points for having a unique answer.
Have you been at meetings where everyone comes up with the same idea? - NO POINTS
The idea might not be a bad idea but if you get similar people from similar backgrounds all working on a problem that they are very intimate with, then you aren't going to get your monies worth from your meeting.
Bring in an outsider that will see things differently.
An outsider can be a consultant or just someone from another department that's not as familiar with what you do. A different perspective can add new life to a brainstorming session.
Example: Name a place that starts with "L"
While my wife and I lost because we both came up with "Laos" my nephew got a point because he said "Living room"
Sadly enough none of use could come up with a city that starts with "F". With the pressure on we all drew a blank.
Oh did I forget to mention that our families live in "Fenton and Farmington Hills, MI". We were just a little too close to that one and couldn't see it.
At the beginning of your next meeting take 5 minutes to play a few rounds of Scattergories and decide if you need to get a few more thinkers in the room. You won't be disappointed.
