Pick a person

Why?

The method allows the students to see the world through the eyes of another person. This enables the students to put aside their own needs and create more diversified perspectives of the problem.

How?

The teacher asks the students to imagine themselves as a fictitious- or real-life person. For example, ‘Imagine yourself as your favourite superhero… how would he or she solve the problem?’ or ‘Imagine yourself as the president…how would the president solve the problem?’

Tips

The students construct a model of the chosen person, either from collected data or based on their own perception. This model can contain a collage, pictures, objects, or a video that describes the values, needs and preferences of that person. Such visualization improves the students’ understanding and ability to empathize as it exposes the person in another way than in words – ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’.

Literature

Higgins, J. M. (1994). 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques: The Handbook of New Ideas for Business. New York, NY: New Management Publishing Company