By Alissa Ruehl

1. Beyond Brainstorms:
Make Problem Solving Fun!
PRESENTED BY ALISSA RUEHL & SOPHIA LATTO

2. Introductions
Sophia Latto, Principal Consultant – UX and Design
I provide user experience design, user research, and visual
design for non-profit websites. Part of diving into website
information architecture and design involves leading interactive
activities with our client’s constituents and our clients in order to
build websites for maximum usability and conversion. Prior to
joining Blackbaud, I worked as a Creative Director at a design
and marketing agency in New York City. @sophialatto
Alissa Ruehl, Sr. User Researcher
I am part if the Blackbaud User Experience team where I use
creative techniques to dig into the root problems users are trying
to solve and test out potential solutions. I like alternating between
left brain and right brain activities to facilitate innovation games to
look at problems in new ways and pave the way for creative
solutions. Prior to joining Blackbaud, I worked in the fields of
website user experience and online marketing. @alissaru
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3. What did the dot stickers do?
You just participated in the first problem solving exercise!
Why:
• Make meetings more productive and engaging by
determining which topics the group is most interested in.
• Dot voting is anonymous and can be done as people enter,
rather than taking up meeting time.
How:
1. Set up a list of topics that could be discussed in a meeting and
place it near the door of your meeting room.
2. As each participant walks in, have them place a sticker(s)
next to the subject about which they are most passionate.
3. The dots are votes. The 2-3 topics with the most dots will
determine your meeting agenda.
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5. Why are games important?
• Think about things in new ways to
find creative solutions
• Understand underlying problems
• Escape from patterns of negativity
• Replace conflict with
understanding
• Connect with your
teammates
• Also, they’re fun!

6. Games we might play today.
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7. Image-ination
Spark insights and see potential new ideas.
Why:
• To generate new ideas about a topic on which you feel stuck.
• Images have the ability to spark insights and encourages
people to free-associate and see potential new ideas.
How:
1. Assemble a collection of images that do not contain words.
2. Put a large sheet of paper in the center of the table. In the
center, write out a 1-3 word description of the topic you
want to generate new thinking around. (e.g., finding new donors)
3. Place the cards around the description face down.
4. Each person at the table randomly selects an image, turns it over and then will
(quickly) come up with as many ideas as possible about how the image relates to the
topic. The players will write down each idea on a separate sticky note.
5. Then the group will look at all the ideas and group them in clusters that relate to each
other, and will write a title for each cluster.
6. Talk about how the titled photos can inform the group’s thinking about the topic. Make
a list of possible actions you can take in response.
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Players: 5-10 per
group
Time: 15 min to 1
hour

8. Circles and Soup
Identify what can be done.
Why:
• Focus on achievable solutions rather than the
group griping about things that are unsolvable
How:
1. Everyone writes out problems or items they
wish could be done on sticky notes & place
them in the front of the room
2. Draw three concentric circles on a large
sheet of paper & label them “What I can
control”, “What I can influence” and “What is
beyond my control or influence”
3. The facilitator pulls a note & the group discusses
which circle it belongs in. Continue for all notes.
4. The group picks 1 or 2 items from the center circle to tackle.
5. Save the paper for your next meeting. Over time, tackle all of the
items in the center circle. Occasionally pick an item to attempt to
influence. Redirect conversations about items in the outer circle, “the soup”
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Players: 1-20
Time: 20 min to 1
Hour

9. Day in the Life
Identify opportunities to improve a process.
Why:
• If a process is too complex, takes too long, or no one
seems to know how the work gets done, this exercise
will help you understand & improve the process
How:
1. Pick an object to learn about. It could be a report, a
campaign idea, or a direct mail piece.
2. Pick a starting & ending point & identify major steps
in the process. Put these points on a whiteboard or large paper.
3. The group then maps the story of this object’s adventure from point A to point Z.
There may be branches, loops & wait times. Use drawings (stick figures, ticking
clocks, phones, etc) as well as text. Highlight important areas or pain-points.
4. Take a photo or record this diagram.
5. Decide what should be changed & draw a new diagram of how you could
improve the flow
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Players: 2-10
Time: 1 to 2 hours

10. Post-up
Generate ideas.
Why:
• Brainstorming ideas is an opening activity,
a first step. From there you can further
organize and prioritize your thoughts.
How:
1. Write a question or a topic on a
whiteboard or large sheet of paper.
2. Ask the players to silently write their
ideas on separate sticky notes.
3. Provide silence during this activity so
people can think without interruption.
4. After a set amount of time, ask players to stick their
notes on the whiteboard and quickly present them.
5. Sort all posted ideas into meaningful topics
and categories. Plan next steps.
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Players: 1-20
Time: 10 min to 1
Hour

11. Games to try with your team.

12. Pre-Mortem
Solve problems that have not yet occurred.
Why:
• Identify potential issues before they
happen and figure it how to prevent them
from happening.
• Ask team members to tap into their
experience and intuition, at a time when it’s
needed most, and is potentially most useful.
How:
1. A pre-mortem is best conducted at a project
kick-off, with all key team members present
and after goals and plans have been laid out.
2. Write the question “How will this end in
disaster?” on a whiteboard.
3. List all the ways the project can go wrong
and list what you could do to keep it from going wrong.
Players: Any
Time: 30 min to 1
hour
4. Rank the risks and concerns to determine priority.
5. Decide what actions are need to be taken to address these risks

13. The 5 “Whys”
Get to the root cause
Why:
• Move beyond the surface of a problem an
discover the root cause.
• Examine the underlying reasons and
tackle a problem by addressing the source.
How:
1. Establish a problem your team needs to evaluate.
2. Write the problem in a visible area so all can see.
3. Ask “Why?” in response to five consecutive answers.
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WHY
?

14. Example of a “Why” Solution
Problem: The Lincoln Memorial was crumbling & The National Park Service
convened a committee to look into the issue.
1. Why is it crumbling?
• Excessive wear from cleaners & high power sprayers.
• Solution – experiment with different cleaners & brushes.
• Didn’t work
2. Why do we need to clean it so much?
• Excessive bird droppings
• Solution – nets to keep birds out
• Wasn’t effective, and got complaints from tourists
3. Why do all the birds love Lincoln Memorial?
• Insects swarm & birds eat the insects
• Solution – insecticide
• Wasn’t effective, and got complaints from tourists
4. Why are there so many insects?
• They swarm at dusk & dawn because of the bright lights
5. Why are the lights coming on?
• To let tourists appreciate the monument, but preserving it is more important
• Solution – turn on the lights later in the evening & turn them off earlier in the morning
It worked, and actually saved money!
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15. Icebreaker 1
Get to know people.
Why:
• Get to know each other in your group. This breaks the ice and allows for an
easier and more enjoyable meeting, training or brainstorming session.
How:
1. Have people in the group pair up.
2. Each person in the pair will interview the other for 2 minutes and will pick out
one or two things that are most interesting.
3. The interviewers will introduce
their person to the group
and will tell the group
why their person
is interesting.
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Players: 8-20
Time: 10 to 20 min
?
...

16. Icebreaker 2
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Players: 10-30
Time: 20 to 25 min
Build small connections for a team that meets occasionally
Why:
• Get to know each other in your group. This breaks the ice and allows for
an easier and more enjoyable meeting, training or brainstorming session.
How:
1. Print out papers that list each person in the group with plenty of room to write
2. For 20 minutes, people should converse & find out 1 memorable fact about each
person on the list & write it down.
3. Individuals can pick specific facts to share but often end up stumbling onto facts
meaningful to each other as they converse. One person might be interested in
where you grew up, another might be more interested
in your passion for gardening or favorite sports team.
4. Optionally, host a quiz at the end. Call on someone
to give you their fact for the first person, have that
person give their fact for the new person, etc.
Often you make additional mental connections
in this step. Write them down also!
5. When you’re done, you have a cheat sheet
for future reference.

17. Predict Next Year’s Headlines
Project your organization into the future.
Why:
• These predictions will help you define which
issues to pursue in project and goal development.
• Identify ways to develop and sustain
constituent relationships.
How:
1. Invite 5-10 of your core constituents to a focus group
and ask them to project your organization into the future.
2. Have the group brainstorm future headlines about your organization. Have them
identify ways they see your mission’s impact evolving and ask them how they
might be a part of your mission.
3. Write each headline on a whiteboard and follow it with 2-3 supporting statements
that would be part of the news story.
4. Record the discussion and whiteboard and review it with your team.
5. Based on this constituent-focused research, define goals for future growth and
identify ways to develop and sustain constituent relationships.
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Players: 5-10
Time: 30 min to 1
hour

18. Tweet this now
Learn fun techniques to generate
better ideas & more of them. It's
like caffeine for your brain!
#bbcon # alissaruehl #sophialatto
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19. Sources
We encourage you to explore ways to problem-solve and innovate
further. Below is a list of books we highly recommend and from which
this session was based. Have fun!!
• Gamestorming: A Playbook for Innovators, Rulebreakers and
Changemakers by Dave Gray, Sunni Brown and James Macanufo
• Innovation Games: Creating Breakthrough Products Through
Collaborative Play, by Luke Hohmann
• Ideo Method Cards: 51 ways to inspire design. www.ideo.com
• Image on page 5 from “Circle Around” © Copywrite IdeaConnect, LLC
1999-2009
• The Imag-ination game is based on Picture This! Adapted from the
Visual Icebreaker Kit, one of several image-based games and tools
from VisualSpeak, LLC.
• The Post-up Game is based on the exercises in Rapid Problem Solving
with Post-it® Notes by David Straker.
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20. Are you pumped up and ready to go?
Don’t forget to complete
a session survey!
Each completed survey enters you into a drawing to win a
complimentary registration to bbcon 2015 in Austin, Texas*.
*Blackbaud reserves the right to change or withdraw this promotion at any time, without advance notice. Promotion has no cash value and may not be
exchanged, applied to, or combined with any other offer.
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