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What Would Oprah Do? (Productive Play Challenge #2)

Picture of Devin McNulty

Screen Shot 2023-05-01 at 10.50.20 AMThis week we’re going to find creative solutions to real work problems by trying on a new perspective. Welcome to our second weekly challenge in the Productive Play series.
 
The Challenge

Try this by yourself or with a group:

  1. Pick a celebrity far outside your field. (e.g. Oprah)
  2. Choose a problem at work that you're feeling stuck on—something you have full control over. (e.g. designing a training based on giving and receiving feedback)
  3. Write down 10 ways that your celebrity would solve your challenge that you would never do yourself. (e.g. Oprah might give out toy cars to use as metaphors for feedback)
  4. Review your list—circle any ideas that are interesting in some way (even if they’re completely not practical!). 
  5. Using those as inspiration, write 2-3 ideas that could actually work for your problem. 
 
Why does this work?
In 2016, educational psychologists Denis Dumas and Kevin Dunbar discovered that individuals tackling creative challenges are more successful when they embrace a new personality like an “eccentric poet”, rather than their normal creative approach. By donning a mental mask and stepping into someone else's shoes, we open ourselves up to new perspectives and ideas we might not have considered before. (reference)
 
Regroup on Friday!
Write in the comments the specific moment you plan to try this week. I’m going to do it on Wednesday when I test out our Funware Ideator software with real users, and need to come up with ideas based on their feedback.

On Friday, we'll compare notes on how it went in our Linkedin Group Funtervention...At Work! Join it if you haven't already!

P.S. Want me to run this exercise for your team? Checkout Funmentum™ Firestorms.
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