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| Six years of asking stupid questions |
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| Over 300 SNEC staff have attended the ASQ creativity workshop. |
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It’s been called bold, brash, even wacky and
outrageous. But people have mostly described
it as “like nothing I’ve experienced before”.
After six boisterous years, the National Library
Board’s (NLB) Ask Stupid Questions™ (ASQ)
creativity workshop is still alive and well. Its
popularity has grown by leaps and bounds
since it first began in 2000, and it has been
conducted at more than 50 organisations for
over 2,000 participants.
A lively cocktail of brainstorming, gameshow
format, relays, music and play, ASQ was first
concocted by Mr Gene Tan, Deputy Director
of NLB’s INVENT division, to have staff get off
their comfy seats, break out of their inhibitions
and start rattling off “stupid questions” to
develop creative ideas for key projects.
Word of the workshop’s success in generating
exciting and unconventional ideas from its
participants spread like wildfire, and other
government agencies were quick to show
their interest. Today, it is still a popular and
highly sought-after creativity workshop
among many government agencies.
In 2005, ASQ caught the eye of the private
sector when Sun Microsystems became
the first private sector organisation to
include the workshop as part of its drive
to generate new marketing ideas for the
following year.
Since then, ASQ has completed several
more rounds in the private sector, including
companies like SingTel, as well as non-profit
bodies such as the Association of Diabetes
Educators.
The workshop scored another big hit when it
was included as a core training programme
for the Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC)
in 2006. To date, over 300 SNEC staff have
experienced ASQ.
ASQ provides a fresh and effective
approach to generating creative and
innovative ideas.
“Asking stupid questions can push the
boundaries of possibilities and spark off
creative thinking, leading to innovative
solutions,” said Mr Tan.
The ASQ workshop approach is simple:
activities begin the moment the
participants walk into the room.
There is no let-up as the participants work in
groups and come up with “stupid questions”
based on a theme. The wackiest of them are
selected, and the participants have to find
solutions to the questions.
The workshop is facilitated by INVENT staff,
a motley bunch that adds colour and energy
to the workshop, and helps to break down
inhibitions and keep the participants creative,
focused and exhilarated — all key ingredients
to ensure they are engaged throughout the
workshop.
“The form and structure of ASQ can certainly
be the next wave in creative learning,”
enthused a participant from the People’s
Association.
To round up the experience, the INVENT staff
will provide a substantive research report after
each ASQ workshop. The report summarises
the ideas and solutions created, and provides
extensive references, reading materials and
resources linked to these solutions.
If organisations decide to pursue any of the
ideas generated, the references can be found
in the National Library or the large number of
databases NLB subscribes to.
The NLB continues to be highly committed to
bringing creativity programmes and availing
knowledge resources to all organisations
so as to help them succeed in a globally
competitive environment. |
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by Prabhjit Singh, NLB
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