Creative Thinking Techniques - Forty Uses For a Brick

Sandy Cormack

interzon@comcast.net

Problem:

How many different ways can we use a brick?

Step 1 – Empty Your Mind

• Build a wall • Build a mailbox • Side a house • Use it for a desk paperweight • Use it as a melee weapon (whack someone on the

head) • Use it as a projectile weapon (throw it at someone) • Use it to pave a sidewalk or patio • Build a deck

Running total: 8

Step 2 – Group Into Common Themes

• Building Materials:– Build a wall – Build a mailbox – Side a house – Use it to pave a sidewalk

or patio – Build a deck– Flowerpots – Landscaping – Mailboxes – Barbecues – Smokehouses – Outhouses – Shelving – Outdoor bar

Running total: 20

• Small, Hard, Relatively Heavy Objects

– Use it for a desk paperweight – Use it as a melee weapon (whack

someone on the head) – Use it as a projectile weapon

(throw it at someone)– Doorstop – Bug whacker – Ballast – Hold down sheets of cloth, plastic

etc.

Step 3 – Consider Common Attributes

• Hard • Durable • Rectangular • Smallish • Holds heat well/insulates • Compact • Come in several earth-tone colors • Cheap

Step 3 – Consider Common Attributes

• "Holds heat well" – Kiln – Lining for a metal grill – Something to protect a

vulnerable surface from a hot pot or pan

– Mount a metal grill/smoker on a wood deck

– Mount a hot water heater on

a wood/tile/linoleum floor

• “Hard"

– High explosives/hazardous materials storage buildings

– High explosives/hazardous materials handling facilities

– Backstop for a shooting range

– Firing position – Vault

Running total: 30

Step 4 – Forced Connections

Random words:

• nut - small, tasty, almond, walnut, squirrel, fiber, pecan, pie, cookie, peanut, sold in bags, baseball games, sold alone or mixed

• pet - dog, cat, hamster, gerbil, snake, lizard, sold in specialty stores, cute, pet food, fish tank

• Mass - Catholic, church, service, Eucharist, sanctuary, baptism, wafer, wine, Pope, priest, nun, prayer, forgiveness, collection

• hospital - emergency, rooms, beds, patients, doctors, nurses, operations, x-ray, MRI, expensive, health care, ambulance, surgery, healing

• trophy - prize, engraving, given to the winner, valuable, prestige, mantle piece, display case, pride

Step 4 – Forced Connections

• Pet - dog - Build a doghouse • Nut - squirrel - Build a squirrel/bird feeder • Mass - service - Build a memorial • Mass - service - Build an outdoor altar • Hospital - x-ray - Line an X-ray or radiology room • Mass - baptism - Build a baptismal font • Trophy - mantle piece - Build a fireplace • Trophy - display case - Build a trophy case • Pet - fish tank - Build an aquarium stand or case • Trophy - engraving - Create engraved pavers for

fund raising

Running total: 40

Summary

• Empty your mind of the ‘usual’ ideas

• Group ideas into common themes and focus on them to create more ideas

• List attributes and focus on those to create even more ideas

• Force connections with random words to create novel ideas