Duct Tape

Here is a little exercise you might like to try. For the next two minutes write down as fast as possible all the things you can do with duct tape. Don't read any further. Make a list now. STOP.

First of all, two minutes was a lot longer than you thought, wasn't it? So how many uses for duct tape did you get? If you are normal, you probably got the things like seal ducts, wrap tops of trash bags, patch holes in bags, temporarily patch holes in boots, hang things on the wall, etc. It is not unusual for some people to get stuck at three to five ideas. The more creative people or duct tape addicts can get upwards of fifteen to twenty uses in two minutes.

So now try this little experiment. For the next two minutes, as fast as you can, write down all the uses of duct tape you can think of. But before you start, frame the question by thinking of all the things you cannot use duct tape for. Go!

How many items did you come up with this time? And what were the quality and creativity of the ideas you came up with? Again if you are normal, you probably got upwards of five times as many ideas. And you probably came up with some ideas like: a bowl to eat out of, a parachute, a lamp shade, a ladder, a fence, a water pipe, a bridge, a hat, a splint, a concrete form, a note pad, etc.

So what is the point? Every now and then we, as individuals or as a group, get stuck in old ways of thinking, or we can't come up with any creative ideas to solve a problem. These could be problems like how to span a river, how to schedule a job, or how to deal with a troublesome employ. When this happens try thinking in reverse. Some of the creative solutions you come up with will be amazing.

Perhaps some of you will want to share some of your creative uses for duct tape or better still tell us what real life creative solution you came up with by thinking in reverse. Just email them back to me. And even if you cheated and didn't stop reading to do the creativity exercise as intended, you can share and experience this in front of a group of coworkers sometime in the future. Try it. You'll be amazed.