Updated in September 2012

Pass the Idea is an exploring activity were each participant receive one of the previously generated cards so that he/she can add his/her own thoughts or insights.

As other's Stormz activities, Pass the Idea is a fundamental technique that can be facilitated in a number of different ways.

In this post, I will share with you some of the techniques that I use to facilitate my Stormz's workshops.

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The most simple way to use it is to let the attendees add any thoughts, insights or ideas they have about the card they are given. This is useful when you want the team to take the time to think of every single idea in your selection. pass the idea role play rules

Mood driven (Pros & Cons)

Another way of using it, is by asking the attendees to be in a particular mood.

Start with a first Pass The Idea activity by asking all of them to be in a bad mood via the instruction box. pass the idea role play rules In the settings, put a “Cons” section so that participants can only add items to this list. pass the idea role play rules The output will be a list of negative aspects for every item. It is often useful to start with the bad mood round as it will allow negative people to say what they have to say and then go on to a more positive attitude.

You can then continue with another Pass the Idea activity asking for a positive mood and adding a “Pros” section in the settings. pass the idea role play rules And this is the kind of output that you will get: pass the idea role play rules

Roleplay

Similar to the mood driven technique, except that you would ask your attendees to roleplay different characters.

You can roleplay corporate job functions such as a buyer, an accountant and an operator. Or you can roleplay fantasy characters such as a warrior or a wizard. pass the idea role play rules If you want you can go further and adapt techniques such as the Disney Method (outsiders, dreamers, realisers and critics) or Six Thinking Hats (Information, Emotions, Discernment, Optimistic response, Creativity).

Action plan

Ask the attendees to build an action plan. Ideal on cluster cards at the end of a workshop. pass the idea role play rules As you can see, there are many ways to facilitate a Pass the Idea session. In fact, as for every single activity in the workshop, you'll have to be innovative in the way you craft your instructions if you want your team to be creative in solving their problem.

-- Alexandre (@ineation) from the Stormz crew.