As previously mentioned, the first lesson was spent on activities relating to divergent thinking, including ridiculous hypothetical situations to aid in these (shaving the monkey and painting the elephant). This lesson, the same concept was re-enacted, where groups would illustrate skills relating to divergent thinking through strange circumstances. However, the situations that were provided to students contained more restrictions, including:

Of course, many of these hypothetical situations contain absurd elements but are more limited in terms of how they can be addressed. For example, "shaving a monkey" is extremely broad and thus can be done a variety of ways. However, trying to "get a monkey to paint your house" is limited by the intelligence of the monkey and the communication barrier. Therefore, when undergoing a brainstorming session to create solutions to these problems, a more reasonable approach should be taken, whilst also implementing divergent thinking.

Our table group was assigned the fourth problem, being to "devise a way for a blind person to play golf without assistance from others". The immediate idea was to implement 21st-century technology, such as drones and artificial intelligence. This lead to the concept of using smart technology within a golf ball, such as a GPS relative to the position of the person playing golf. 

While this was a practical solution, it still contained a significant flaw - the player would remain unable to hit the ball correctly. Using divergent thinking, a multitude of solutions were created, although many of them were not applicable, as the situation states that they must be able to play independently. This signifies the importance of both divergent and convergent thinking, where they are both necessary to determine the most successful solution to a problem. Regardless, a resolution was eventually developed for the issue mentioned earlier regarding the player being unable to hit the ball.

To conclude, while divergent thinking is a fundamental skill in producing the answer to a problem, the limitations and requirements of a situation should also be considered, or else the solution may contain substantial flaws.

The market for portable phones before 2007 was relatively unchanging. Most phones had mechanical keyboards, small LCD screens and keypads. The companies that produced these primarily included Nokia and Blackberry. While these were sufficient products, they lacked many of the capabilities that are associated with phones today, such as the touch screen, the camera, and internet access. A significant development in the standard mobile phone would have incorporated all these listed aspects, and that was what the iPhone fulfilled. 

There were issues surrounding portability at the time - the phone could generally only call and message, and thus for most people it was necessary to use other devices such as laptop computers, music players and cameras. By combining the primary functionalities of these devices, the iPhone acts as a highly convenient device that can fulfill the need for the other electronic appliances. 

In order to create a product that fully appeals to an audience, there has to be a sense of empathy, meaning that the needs of the audience must be considered. Any recurring issues with a product that affects the audience are an excellent motivator to create an innovative product.

The selected product was Thomas Edison's final model of the light bulb, which was a lamp with a carbon filament.

It was created to find an alternative for equivalent lighting methods at the time, which mostly included gas lamps and oil fires. While these products were relatively effective, they were difficult to use on a mass scale and often the resources to create them were difficult to obtain (i.e. whale oil). In addition, many of these lighting methods were dangerous, involving fire and potentially hazardous materials. An alternative lighting method that included a new and progressive technology would have been an excellent advancement, which is what Edison's final model of the light bulb fulfilled.

The electrical light bulb is much more easily controlled than other lighting methods, and thus it was generally seen as safer (although electrical fires were still a possibility). The lighting did not have to be manually turned on or off via the flow of gas or fire ignition, but rather through a simple switch mechanism, which led to a more convenient method of lighting. Additionally, the electrical components used to produce the lamp opened up possibilities for not just lighting purposes, but other applications and thus newer advancements could be made.

In order to correctly respond to each of these questions, students employed a "PMI" thinking exercise. PMI is an acronym for plus, minus and interesting. The thinking routine is somewhat self-explanatory - the positive, negative and interesting aspects of an object or service are outlined. This activity was then applied to the three Shark Tank presenters that we viewed so that we could discern the characteristics of an ideal marketing pitch.

Market Pitch #1: Jack, Daniel, Lochie and Samuel - JAR Education

Plus

Market Pitch #2: Irina Zikner and Lilly Stesin - ILoveEarth

Plus

Market Pitch #3: Caroline Africh  - Things 4 Bubs

By thoroughly analysing each entrepreneur presentation on Shark Tank, there were a few discernable elements that contributed towards a successful pitch. Firstly, there should be a balance in the mannerisms and speech of the presenters. For example, they should be formal, but not too formal that their pitch becomes unclear. Equally important, having a casual aspect to the business presentation can aid in conveying a message, but being too informal will result in seeming ignorant and unprofessional.

In addition, the correct statistics should be provided to the investors. It is inefficient to provide information such as the net income without the total profit, and relevant figures should be outlined explicitly with no estimates being made. In many circumstances, he presenters either approximated a value (for example, they would regard the total profit as "a lot", instead of giving an exact number and timespan ) or lacked the statistic overall, which led to a poor appearance in regards to business competency.

Understanding the fundamental aspects of a market pitch will be highly applicable in the future of action project, as when the market expo occurs, these presentation-related skills will heavily contribute to a successful pitch.

In the first lesson of action project, we were briefly introduced to the assessment plan, and a discussion occurred in which we could establish our prior knowledge on action project (which was quite minimal).

The two primary activities throughout the lesson were to brainstorm as a group regarding the ways in which a monkey could be shaved and how an elephant could be painted. These ideas began relatively simple, such as:

...and...

As the activity progressed, the ideas that the group created became more absurd and in most cases violent, including:

...and...

The meaning behind this activity extends beyond a simple, fun exercise. It introduced the concept of "divergent thinking". This involves non-linear thinking in which ideas can be produced in a spontaneous way. It is essential to incorporate divergent thinking into a creative process as it encourages free-thinking and brainstorming skills. As it will become a consistent skill through out the action project, it is essential that students understand where it is applicable.

Using the random input method is as the name implies - combining the characteristics of two contrasting objects. Within the random input routine, there is no direction and is merely listing ideas that involve aspects of each item. Doing so may lead to an innovative and unique concept that can then be expanded into a fully realised product.

The given example involved an orange and a mug. Some of the ideas that arose included:

SCAMPER, being an acronym, relates to a method of product creation that also involves the combination of two items:

Of these two processes, my partner and I selected the random input to create a product. A list of assorted objects was generated, and of those, two in particular were chosen that we felt would produce an exciting concept. They were:

The cartridge of a Glock 17 was swapped for a small capsule of sanitiser, alongside the pump action of a hand sanitiser bottle replacing the mechanical function of the Glock so that when the trigger was pulled, a small amount of pressurised hand sanitiser was dispersed. We titled creation as "the pandemic pistol", which could be used to solve a real-world problem, being enforced sanitation to mass audiences.

This exercise not only employed skills related to divergent thinking but also helped to find application and purpose for random items that did not initially seem obvious. The creative process allowed students to think critically about their ideas and find real-world areas in which the product could be useful.

The first assessment task, being the Adelaide Hills Issue Analysis, was also a highly enjoyable but extremely important assignment. It introduced the concept of the Action Project on a much smaller scale, thus allowing students to gain an understanding of the general process. As a result, this process could be applied to work in the Value Proposition Pitch and the final presentation, giving students an idea as to how they should approach their selected issue.

The reflection padlet was also an aspect of the Action Project that I believed was important. At least in other subjects, a consistent reflection process is extremely important when attempting to achieve highly, and being able to relate one's work to the 4'Cs continuum can lead to a more comprehensive final outcome. However, I felt that the reflective padlet was only applicable for the first few weeks of the course when we were initially developing skills relating to divergent thinking and self-critique. Outside of that, we were mostly occupied with assignments, and thusly a less comprehensive reflection took place.

One area of the Action Project course that I disliked was the lack of an exact process. For instance, when working on the Value Proposition Pitch, the instructions were highly vague, and thus students didn't know what they should have been doing. This led to a considerable variation in people's presentations, where because of the inexact methodology, elements of the business model were left to great interpretation. This is especially relevant in the financial aspect of the action project - instructions were not provided on how we would achieve a price for our product and the costs which we should consider (such as manufacturing, employee wages, transportation, etc). If a more detailed outline of the task was provided, it would ensure that students were regarding all necessary parts of the assignment.

Action Project is something I would not endeavour to attempt again. This is not personal - I am simply disinterested in the idea of independent business development. But for what it is, I am glad that I could have participated in the experience. It allowed for new applications of 21st-century skills, which will always lead to long-term, more comprehensive learning. The social issue I chose to address was one I was personally passionate about, and thusly I am grateful that the Action Project allowed me to consider this issue from multiple perspectives, and how I could possibly use my knowledge on the topic in the future. The divergent and convergent processes that I have consistently applied throughout the course will last a lifetime, as I have already implemented them in other subjects. While entrepreneurship is not an area I will pursue, the core skills within the course are not replaceable.

While it seems that our progress has been reasonable,  the recent days have consisted of little work, which is why my current reflection seems somewhat downcast. To counteract this instance of unknowingness, I will continue to utilise the 4 C's continuum to produce a method for the completion of work.

Keziah:

Both: