Role Storming a Brainstorming Technique for the Creative Mind
What is Role Storming?
Role Storming is a brainstorming technique that requires you to take on other people’s identities while brainstorming. This helps you come up with ideas you may not have otherwise considered because you’re considering them from someone else’s perspective.
Role-Storming is a useful technique which I discovered through the world of performing arts. It helps develop your problem solving skills by bringing the power of performing arts to the art of problem solving.
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5 Creative Steps to Apply Role Storming to Problem Solving is a historic post I wrote to help guide role-storming as a group exercise, which I later republished to add updates.
Let’s travel back in time to the short video created to demonstrate role-storming as a group exercise.
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How to Apply Role Storming to Problem Solving Through Self-Directed Learning
Now let’s look at how you can adapt group role-storming to your individual needs to develop your creative thinking and problem solving skills through self directed learning.
Begin by considering the problem you need to solve.
Next, work through the:
5 Creative Steps to Apply Role-Storming to Problem Solving:
Step 1. Brainstorm obvious ideas by conducting a regular brainstorming session. Not only will this generate some good initial ideas, it will also highlight more obvious ideas. This leaves you free to expand your thinking and push boundaries in later steps.
Step 2. Identify Roles: Think of someone you know – alive or dead, who you admire and respect for their problem-solving skills. Ideally, you should know enough about them to take on their identity for a short time.
Step 3. Get Into Character: For each role, take a few minutes to get into character. ‘Do this by Hot Seating’ – put yourself on the spot with quick-fire questions, answering in the character you’ve taken on.
For example:
• How does this person see the world?
• What is this person’s personality or attitude likely to be?
• How would this person solve problems?
Make an effort to get into the persona of the character. The more deeply you understand the person’s feelings, worldview, and motivations, the better you can use their perspective to generate good ideas.
Step 4. Brainstorm in Character: Consider the same problem you need to solve and brainstorm ideas in your chosen character.
Step 5. Repeat the exercise with as many different identities as you need so that you can generate enough good ideas.
Words of Wisdom
I believe that we have the solution to every problem we encounter within us. I call it our inner sage wisdom. We just need to find a way to tap into it.
Role Storming is a simple technique to awaken your creative mind to help you tap into your inner sage wisdom to resolve your problem. This also helps you to fine-tune your ability as a problem solver in knowing how to self-direct your learning in the areas relevant to you.
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School of WorkLife helps you self-direct your WorkLife learning through resources that have been created to help you to take ownership of your learning in your own space and in your own time.
What is Self Directed Learning?
Self-Directed Learning is when an individual is motivated to take the initiative and responsibility on decisions related to their own learning. It is a series of independent actions and judgements free from external control and constraint.
Resources to Help You Self Direct Your Learning
Tuckman’s stages of group development model: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Adjourning
Rick Griggs- Rolestorming originator describes his world-famous creativity tool.
You may find the books below from The School of WorkLife Book Series helpful in developing and fine-tuning your creative prowess as a problem solver and self directed learner. Tap the book title to see a preview of what’s inside each book.
How To Be Creative in Your Thinking
How To Successfully Invent and Reinvent Yourself
How To Let Curiosity Be Your Driving Force
You can view the complete collection of books here: The School of WorkLife Book Series.
Carmel O’ Reilly is a learning practitioner and writer. She creates resources to help people self-direct their WorkLife learning. These include a Collection of Books which originated from her first book, Your WorkLife Your Way and a Learn Through Reading Series of Case Studies. which originated from her latest book WorkLife Book Club.
That’s the power of writing (and reading, which is an integral part of the craft for writers), it helps you find, develop and tell the right story at the right time in all WorkLife situations – in day-to-day communication: WorkLife and feedback conversations, presentations, talks, and negotiations, at interviews, and when socialising and networking in building and maintaining good relationships. The practice of writing helps you to tell the stories that express who you are in an interesting and engaging way.