Abstract
In this exercise, participants create a fictional business based on a set of randomly generated words. This challenge requires participants to exercise creativity, while reinforcing the business concepts learned in class. The exercise has four steps: (1) generating a prompt of three random words, (2) designing a fictional business based on this prompt, (3) answering questions applying the concepts being taught, and (4) making presentations and discussion. The exercise is followed by a debrief that includes group discussions and critical thinking activities. We illustrate the exercise with examples from a strategic management course. The exercise can be applied in a variety of topics in business and organizations, student levels, and modes of instruction. Students report that the exercise is challenging, enjoyable, and effective in increasing understanding of the concepts taught.
By combining creativity and specific directions, participants are challenged to apply concepts, theories, and frameworks covered in class to a fictional business, based on a set of randomly generated words. There is no need to find “suitable” cases; students invent them. In creating their own businesses, participants become involved and invested in their “own” creation. This exercise can be used in virtually all courses in business at all levels and in a variety of teaching modalities.
Theoretical Foundation and Teaching Implications
In this exercise, participants are not bound by reality and may come up with fantasy ideas for their fictional business and the products and services it offers. This fictional business situation allows a great deal of creativity in applying the learned concepts. By contrast, the setup and analysis segments of the exercise are very specific and constrained. The analysis involves detailed questions that require the participants to apply the course concepts and theories to their business. What may be somewhat surprising are the setup constraints. The participants are given three randomly selected words. They need to create a fictional business based on these words; hence, the participants’ common reaction: “But it’s so random!”
Having to work within constraints and set directions is important for the effectiveness of an experiential exercise (Kirschner et al., 2006). A well-designed applied learning experience engages students in a “spiral of learning” from concrete to abstract and back (Kolb, 2015, p. 51). This process enables students to understand more complex material and transfer their learning from one context to another (Wurdinger & Carlson, 2010, p. 20).
One may surmise that imposing constraints diminishes creativity. Yet by forcing participants to work with a set of random words, we set the stage for a “necessity breeds creativity” situation. Constraints may reduce the paralyzing effect of too many choices and focus attention on the task. Haught-Tromp (2016) performed two experiments in which she imposed constraints on writing tasks for the participants. She found that constraints helped by “focusing the creative energy on a narrower field of exploration [that] allows for a more in-depth processing of fewer alternatives” (Haught-Tromp, 2016, p. 2). Stokes and Fisher (2005) showed how constraints facilitate creativity in the art of painting. Specifically, both novice and master painters benefit from selecting novel goal constraints and then having either externally imposed (for novices) or self-imposed (for master painters) source, subject, and task constraints.
Within the field of organizational theory, creativity (in the form of change and adaptation) and constraints (in the form of structure) have been conceptualized as complementary. The interplay between structure (read: constraints) and change is an important element in Giddens’ (1984) structuration theory. This creativity-constraint interplay is also exhibited in the exploration versus exploitation duality in organization (March, 1991). Extending the analogy of jazz improvisation, Weick (1998) argued that organizational actions can be productively viewed as improvisation around organizational routines. Aggregating diverse literature within organizational theory, Farjoun (2010, p. 211) showed that creativity and adaptability of individuals and organizations are rooted in “disciplined imagination.”
Learning Objectives
After participating in the exercise, students will be able to
Produce conceptually viable, creative business ideas
Evaluate (both check and critique) how their fictional business situation fits within the material taught (such as concepts, theories, and frameworks)
Productively function as a team member (i.e., exhibit procedural knowledge related to active listening, providing constructive critique, negotiating progression toward a common goal)
We illustrate the exercise with our introduction to strategic management topic. In this case, the concepts taught are added value, business model, competition, and competitive advantage. 1 The specific learning objectives in this class are the following: (1) evaluate the relative value added of the product or service and its relative advantage, (2) evaluate the business model and its competitive advantage, and (3) with a team, create and refine a coherent business idea and provide constructive criticism to your peers.
Instructions for Running the Exercise
Logistics
Timing
The length of the in-class exercise depends on the amount of preparation required before class and the extent of in-class discussion. If the exercise is run completely in class, we allot about 100 minutes. If it is run with preparation before class, we allocate about 40 minutes. In terms of timing within the semester, it can be conducted as an introductory or end-of-course activity, repeated a few times throughout a course, or even used on an ongoing basis throughout the semester.
Format
The exercise is conducted in groups. Class size can vary, as long as some element of group interaction is kept. It can be run (with minor adaptations) in any classroom format, both face-to-face and online/remote, synchronous or asynchronous. All class levels would be able to benefit from it. More sophisticated questions and substantial critical thinking would be required for graduate-level courses.
Materials
Some form of generating random words, pen and paper, and, if desired, poster boards or flip charts.
Step-by-Step Instructions
In preparation for the exercise, the students learn the relevant concepts, theories, and frameworks of the lesson. Typically, these topics are covered by a textbook chapter, a set of readings, or a collection of videos. The exercise has four steps:
Generate random words.
Generate an idea for a fictional business (and a corresponding product or service provided by this business) based on these random words.
Answer application questions.
Make presentations and discuss.
After these steps are completed, the exercise is debriefed. The debrief includes group discussions and critical thinking reflection.
Step 1: Generate Random Words
The bases for the fictional business are a set of three randomly selected words. 2 There are many ways to pick these random words. One could draw words from a container containing slips of paper with words written on them or from a stack of cards with words on them, or one could use random word generators on the internet (we use https://wordcounter.net/random-word-generator) or an app on a mobile device. The words may be drawn either by the instructor or by the participants. In our experience, “fudging” (not picking the set of words completely at random) may occur or even be encouraged. Since these words function as the seeds for the creative process (Step 2), “fudging” is rarely an issue and may even add to the participants’ engagement in the exercise.
Step 2: Generate a Fictional Business Idea
Divide participants into teams (three to six members, depending on the class size). Instruct each team to generate a business description and a corresponding product or service provided by this business based on the three random words. These guidelines are rather open-ended to enable creativity. The teams must include an explanation of how the fictional product or service relates to the selected random words. Teams are encouraged to be creative and not be bound by reality. Appendix A provides five examples of such fictional businesses. At this step, the participants are asked to describe their fictional business and its product or service. If the topic is more related to managing and organizations, the participants should also be instructed to describe the organization providing this product. If conducted prior to class, participants are encouraged to create a poster and bring related “props” to class.
Step 3: Answer Application Questions
The third step involves applying the concepts, theories, and/or frameworks covered in the class through a series of detailed questions about the fictional business. Though the instructor may give the participants only general instructions to identify and explain concepts and/or theories, our experience indicates that it is more effective to provide very specific questions. Using specific questions has the effect of focusing the participants’ attention and minimizing confusion. Providing the participants with these questions ahead of time generally produces more complete and thoughtful answers.
For instance, in our introduction to strategic management exercise, we ask the following four questions:
Who are your customers?
What is your added value proposition? Why should customers buy from you? What needs are you fulfilling?
What is your business model? If a nonprofit, how will you achieve your goals while breaking even?
Who are your competitors? What is your competitive advantage relative to your competitors?
Appendix B contains questions given to our students for three additional chapters in our strategic management class.
Step 4: Make Presentations and Discuss
Each team then presents its business, noting the random words used. (Depending on class size and time constraints, the instructor may instead choose to pair up teams to present their business ideas to each other.) The other teams review the presenting team’s ideas and answers to the above questions and serve as an active audience—asking the presenters clarification questions, posing penetrating questions, providing critique, and suggesting improvements. The more outlandish the business, the livelier the participants’ interactions are. The goal here is to bring the concepts alive by applying them to the fictional business at hand.
Teams discuss the fictional products, and the instructor explains concepts and theories and answers questions. This informal “sampling” of the participants allows identification of areas where the participants have trouble understanding and applying the material, leading to more focused “teaching moments.”
Online Classes and Further Variations
The exercise can be run in online classes with very few modifications. Though it can be run either completely synchronously or asynchronously, a blend would be more effective. In Table 1, we examine the steps of the exercise and debrief and note how each can be adapted to either form of online instruction. As the table indicates, a combination of synchronous and asynchronous seems to be the approach most conducive to student learning: Steps Preliminary, 1, and 2 – asynchronous; Step 3 – either way; Step 4 and the Debrief – synchronous. The asynchronous mode allows participants to develop their ideas at their own pace, while the synchronous mode facilitates quick feedback and adaptation to learners’ needs.Appendix C details other possible variations of the exercise.
Synchronous and Asynchronous Adaptation of the Exercise.
The term material in Appendix C refers to any of the concepts, theories, or frameworks taught in class. For instance, within the field of strategic management, examples of concept are vertical integration and low-cost leadership, examples of theories are the resource-based view of the firm and transaction cost economics, and examples of frameworks are Porter’s five forces and industry life cycle stages. bWe recommend using discussion boards in the LMS (learning management system; “forums” in Moodle) so all participants can see what is being discussed (as opposed to email or other forms of restricted visibility communications). cWe use Zoom.com terminology here. Other synchronous software apps may use different terms. Breakout rooms allow contemporaneous discussion among team members only, while the instructor can visit each of these private discussions. An inherent deficiency of using breakout rooms is the inability of the instructor to be available momentarily to other teams. Indeed, we found this to be one of most restrictive aspects of online instruction.
Instructions for Debriefing the Exercise
The instructor’s role includes making sure that the basic concepts, theories, and frameworks are correctly reflected in the analysis of the fictional businesses, providing some possible directions and adjustments, and highlighting subtle issues that may come up. The instructor can use the examples created by the participants both to “zoom out” to see the common themes across all fictional businesses and to highlight variations.
The debrief continues with a set of questions designed to prompt critical thinking. For the introduction to strategic management exercise, we ask the participants to review the fictional business (either theirs or another team’s) with a critical eye and ask the following five questions:
What constraints 3 do you see—internally and in your environment?
What could be a substitute (existing or fictional) for its product or service?
Is the need for this product or service enduring? What might make the demand for it disappear?
Can you think of a different business model?
Which competitor (or type of competitor) might beat you in the marketplace? How so?
To assess the attainment of the exercise’s learning objectives, the instructor may use a variety of classroom assessment tools such as the minute paper, muddiest point, one sentence summary, and concept maps (Angelo & Cross, 1993). To assess the exercise’s effectiveness, we typically ask the participants two questions:
How did the exercise help you with the concepts?
What surprised you most about it?
Participants’ impressions of this exercise have been overwhelmingly positive (see Appendix D).
Conclusion
The constrained creativity exercise described in this article aims to enhance comprehension of business principles by applying those principles to a fictional enterprise. The exercise strikes a balance between direction and creativity. The structured aspects limit and focus the participants’ attention to the concepts and theories at hand, while the creative aspects increase the participants’ enthusiasm and interest. Our exercise minimizes the “shadow dynamics” associated with experiential exercises (Elmes, 2019, p. 101) by focusing on an external entity (the fictional business), being task-oriented (vs. interaction-oriented), and being quite structured with the instructor controlling the pace of the exercise (vs. ambiguous dynamics). We believe that this exercise will be useful in a variety of subjects not only in management but in other areas dealing with goal-oriented organizations.
Footnotes
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Acknowledgements
We wish to thank the three anonymous reviewers and the associate editor, Dr. Melissa Fender, for their constructive comments and helpful suggestions. We also wish to thank our students for having demonstrated their substantial creativity participating in this exercise.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
