Haiku
What is the Haiku card?
The room is ready
But our minds feel kinda dull
We sharpen with words
Use Haikus to encourage calmness, focus, and creativity. A Haiku is a type of short poem, originally from Japan. The number of syllables on each line is all you need to remember: 5-7-5.
How to use the Haiku card
1. Share an example Haiku with the group – either find one you like, write one yourself, or use ‘The Old Pond’ by 17th century master Matsuo Bashō:
An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond
Splash! Silence again
Make sure everyone understands the basic Haiku structure before you continue:
First line: 5 syllables
Second line: 7 syllables
Third line: 5 syllables
2. Give everyone 3 minutes to write their own Haiku.
There are a few ways you can frame this, such as:
• Write a Haiku about expectations for this session
• Write a Haiku about what creativity means to you
• Write a Haiku about the problem/customer/experience
3. Ask everyone to display their Haikus and let people read them in silence.
4. Explain that we’ve just seen the power of creative constraints in action, and consider following up with Fence the Playground.
You might like these Idea Tactics
Get Idea Tactics
Haiku is one of 54 ideation workshop cards inside the Idea Tactics card deck.
Ditch creative block and unleash big ideas with your team.