Agent J challenges the process
1. "Yes, and..." Improvisation:
Goal: Encourage building upon ideas and embracing new directions.
Instructions: Have kids stand in a circle. One starts a scene with a simple statement or action. The next person builds on that by saying, "Yes, and..." followed by an addition to the scene. Continue around the circle, each person adding something new.
2. "What If?" Scenarios:
Goal: Explore alternative possibilities and break out of habitual thinking.
Instructions: Present a familiar scenario, like a fairy tale or a historical event. Then ask, "What if...?" and change a key element. For example, "What if Cinderella didn't lose her shoe?" Let the kids brainstorm and act out the new scenario.
3. "Freeze and Justify":
Goal: Explore different motivations and interpretations.
Instructions: Kids act out a scene. At random intervals, you shout "Freeze!" The actors hold their positions, and you ask them to justify their characters' actions or emotions in that moment.
Role Reversal:
Goal: Challenge assumptions and gain new perspectives.
Instructions: Have kids act out a scene with assigned roles (e.g., parent/child, teacher/student). Then, have them switch roles and replay the scene. Discuss how their perspectives changed when they took on a different role.
Object Transformation:
Goal: Stimulate creative problem-solving and resourcefulness.
Instructions: Give each child an everyday object (e.g., a shoe, a spoon, a scarf). Challenge them to transform the object into something entirely different through their imagination and actions.
3. "The Expert" Game:
Goal: Encourage questioning assumptions and finding new solutions.
Instructions: One child is the "expert" on a made-up topic (e.g., the history of upside-down trees). Others ask questions, and the expert must improvise answers. This encourages thinking on one's feet and challenging the norm.
Alien Visit: Students are scientists who have just encountered an alien species. They must communicate with the alien using only non-verbal communication. This challenges students to think creatively about communication and how to convey ideas without language.
Sound Effects Story: Students sit in a circle. One person starts telling a story, while the others provide sound effects for the actions and events. This encourages students to think on their feet and create sound effects that enhance the story.
Emotional Rollercoaster: Students are given a scenario and must act it out while rapidly changing emotions. This challenges them to think about the nuances of emotion and how it can impact behavior.
One-Word Story: Students create a story one word at a time. Each person contributes a single word, building upon the previous words to create a cohesive narrative. This challenges students to think creatively and adapt to the changing story.
Expert Panel: A group of students become "experts" on a random topic (e.g., the history of cheese, the psychology of squirrels). Other students ask questions, and the experts must improvise answers. This game encourages quick thinking and the ability to defend a position.
Three Things: Students are given three random objects and must create a scene incorporating all of them. This encourages creative thinking and the ability to find connections between seemingly unrelated objects.
Reverse Scene: Students act out a scene, then replay it in reverse. This forces them to rethink the sequence of events and consider the cause-and-effect relationships between actions.
The Machine: Students create a machine using their bodies, each person representing a different part. One student starts a movement, and the others join in one by one, creating a rhythmic and interconnected machine. This game promotes collaboration and creative problem-solving.
Seize the Initiative
Make Something Happen
Encourage Initiative in Others
Challenge with Purpose
Exercise Outsight
Look Outside Your Experience (What if?)
Listen to and Promote Diverse Perspectives (Look for advice)
Treat Every Experience as an Adventure (Does it matter who initiates?)
Summary
Always ask: “What’s new? What’s next? What’s better?”
Make it a daily exercise to reflect on the question, “How can I do better or differently what I did yesterday or plan to do today?”
If there is something that you feel is not working well, try a different approach. If there is something bugging you, what can you do about it?
Determine whether you and your colleagues have some routines that are no longer serving a purpose, that have become ruts you need to get out of, and get out of this situation.
Get firsthand experiences outside your comfort zone and skill set. Put yourself in new situations where you can learn.
Design tasks and projects so that they are meaningful, which means tapping into the purpose the project serves and not just the fact that it’s different.
Talk with people outside your group; get others around you to do the same. Bring back what all of you learned, share it, and discuss how you can apply this outsight to your assignments and projects.
Generate Small Wins
Build Psychological Hardiness (commitment, control, challenge)
Break it Down and Accentuate Progress
Learn from Experience
Be an Active Learner
Create a Climate for Learning
Strengthen Resilience and Grit (setbacks as temporary, local, and changeable)
Summary
Keep people focused on the tasks or work they all do together and what they can control in their lives, not what they can’t.
Ask yourself what’s holding you and your group back and whether there are any obstacles you are putting in your own way.
Emphasize how personal fulfillment results from consistently challenging yourself to improve. How can you use that to motivate yourself and others?
Break big projects down into smaller achievable steps. What are some of the little things in a project that people can do and succeed at, and consequently see the difference those make in the bigger picture?
Remind people of the progress they are making every day and how any setbacks are not only temporary but also opportunities for learning.
Continuously experiment with new ideas. Test them out in a way that will build people’s confidence, marking both progress and learning.
Discuss and reflect on successes and failures; record the lessons learned and make sure that they can be applied in subsequent initiatives.
Monday:
Write a 400-word story about a moment in your life where everything changed.
Let's Meditate for 10 minutes.
Let's play the metaphor game.