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The Group Creativity Exercise Getting MBAs to Work and Think Effectively in Groups

2007; Emerald Publishing Limited; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1057/omj.2007.8

2753-8567

David E. Desplaces, Steven W. Congden, Power Boothe,

Organizational Learning and Leadership

This experiential exercise is designed to engage participants in a process of group creativity that helps students lead or be a part of a creative team. The challenging and tangible nature of building a roomheight tower provides a heightened experience that elicits many issues and strong emotions. The exercise provides a robust platform from which the instructor can choose which of many group creativity subtopics to emphasize. In addition to exercise instructions, guidance is given on how learning goals related to creativity techniques, group development, interpersonal dynamics, and leadership-can be addressed in a debriefing discussion. Both "pretaught" and "retrospective" teaching approaches are discussed, although a retrospective approach in which the instructor makes connections with theory during debriefing discussions is recommended. The experience of learning by doing should yield more realistic and memorable understanding of group creativity than could be accomplished with readings and/or lecture alone.