A highly effective way of “getting your creative juices flowing” is by thinking of things in unusual ways. (This is the concept of divergent thinking that we described on page 526.) Doing this opens you up to considering new approaches to things, unusual ways of looking at them. And this, in turn, is key to promoting creative thinking. This exercise is designed to get this process going.

Questions for Discussion

1. Do you think that completing this exercise was helpful in getting you to think about things in usual ways? Why or why not?
2. Do you believe that thinking about things from unusual perspectives will help you think more creatively in other ways, such as on your job? If so, for how long do you think this will last?
3. In what ways do you think that being more creative will help you on your current job?
How about in a job you hope to have someday? Might there be any ways in which being especially creative will be a hindrance?
4. So, who’s most like a giraffe, anyway?

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Directions 1. On the left in the following table is a list of animals. For each one, think of a famous person (a celebrity from any walk of life, such as a well-known performer, politician, athlete, etc.), alive or dead, who you believe is most similar to it in one way or another. The match can be based on a physical similarity, personality, whatever, so long you think there's some strong similarity. Write that person's name on the corresponding line in the "Celebrity" column. 2. For each of the celebrities, think of one particular food that you associate with that person for one reason or another. Write the name of that food on the corresponding line in the "Food" column.