By Johnny Wells, Director of Education, Destination Imagination
Reflect on the last time you created something from scratch. Maybe you renovated a room the way you imagined it, cooked a dish without a recipe, or designed and planted a garden that finally grew. Remember that spark of accomplishment—the feeling that came from taking nothing and turning it into something real?
That spark isn’t just satisfying. It’s deeply human. From the first sharpened sticks used as hunting spears to the latest technological breakthroughs, our species has always been driven by the desire to imagine, problem-solve, and build.
This inherent drive is at the heart of the Destination Imagination (DI) Creative Process, a unique and powerful framework that goes far beyond a typical academic experience. By practicing it, kids learn that creativity isn’t just about making something new—it’s a life skill that builds confidence, resilience, and the ability to innovate. It’s a journey into applicable creativity, focusing not just on the final product, but on the transformative skills and behaviors that make innovation possible.
A Journey Into Creativity
The Destination Imagination Creative Process is a dynamic journey that involves recognizing the challenge, imagining solutions, collaborating and taking action, assessing progress, and then evaluating and celebrating the outcome.
Unlike a rigid checklist, the process is flexible. Students move fluidly between stages, circling back when new insights emerge or when things don’t go as planned. This adaptability reflects how we solve problems as adults, and it’s what makes the process so effective for kids who are learning how to navigate challenges on their own.
Here’s what the DI Creative Process looks like:
Understanding the Stages
Recognizing the Challenge
This is the foundational stage where a group (or an individual) first encounters the problem. It’s not just about reading the rules; it’s about deeply understanding the core of the challenge. The problem-solving group must deconstruct the problem, identify constraints, and uncover the unspoken or implied requirements. They ask questions like: “What are the key components of this challenge?” “What are the boundaries we absolutely must stay within?” and “What is the true spirit of what this challenge is asking us to do?” This phase is about intellectual curiosity and analytical thinking, setting the stage for everything that follows.
Imagining Solutions
Once the challenge is understood, the floodgates of thought open. This is the brainstorming phase where a wide array of ideas is generated without any judgment. The goal here is quantity over quality. A variety of creative-thinking tools assist in pushing past obvious solutions and exploring unconventional approaches. They might draw, role-play, or use word association to spark new connections. This is the space for “what if?” thinking, where every crazy idea is a potential starting point for a truly innovative solution. The focus is on divergent thinking—expanding the possibilities before narrowing them down.
Collaborating and Initiating Action
This is the pivotal stage where the work team transitions from abstract ideas to concrete plans. The team chooses the most promising ideas from the “imagining” phase and begins to build, design, write, and create. This is where teamwork and communication become paramount. Everyone collaborates with all available resources: other team members, materials, information, budget, and time. Care is given to delegate tasks, manage their time effectively, and combine individual skills to bring a shared vision to life. This stage is about initiating action and putting in the hands-on work. It’s where the prototype is built, the storyline is written, and the props are constructed.
Assessing Progress
As individuals, pairs, or the whole team work, they are constantly in a state of self-assessment. This is a crucial feedback loop where they evaluate their work against the original requirements and their own goals. They ask: “Is this working as we planned?” “Are we staying within our budget?” “Does this solution actually solve the problem?” If something isn’t working, they don’t see it as a failure, but as an opportunity to return to an earlier stage, re-imagine a solution, or simply make a small adjustment. This continuous assessment builds resilience and teaches the importance of iteration and refinement.
Evaluating and Celebrating the Outcome
The final stage is not just about presenting the solution; it’s about reflecting on the entire journey. The team evaluates the final product, considers the challenges they overcame, and recognizes the skills they developed along the way. This phase reinforces the value of the process itself, not just the result. This evaluation opens into a moment of celebration—acknowledging the hard work, collaboration, and innovation that went into the solution. This reflection solidifies the learning and is another challenge and opportunity to be creative.
The Innate Connection: Why Learners Find the Process So Rewarding
Being creative and looking for solutions are innate human behaviors. The DI Creative Process taps directly into this instinctual drive, making it profoundly rewarding for learners of all ages.
The process is entirely team-driven, regardless of the size of the team working on a challenge. In a learning environment, adults are there to guide, not to dictate. This means that every idea, every solution, and every failure belongs to the team. This sense of ownership is incredibly motivating. Learners aren’t just following instructions; they are the architects of their own solution. They feel the thrill of a breakthrough and the sting of a failure, and they learn that both are essential parts of the creative journey.
The DI Creative Process is a journey of discovery. The constant discovery keeps learners engaged and curious. The process itself becomes the reward, a series of small victories and new insights that fuel the team’s progress. It’s the joy of figuring it out, of turning the abstract of a complex problem into a tangible solution.
A Life Skill for the Future
When we think about preparing kids for the future, it’s easy to focus on grades or test scores. But ask employers, or even reflect on your own life, and you’ll find the skills that matter most sound familiar: creativity, collaboration, adaptability, and resilience. These are the abilities that help people work through challenges, build strong teams, and come up with new ideas.
Through the DI Creative Process, kids don’t just hear about these skills. They live them. They practice brainstorming, making decisions together, testing ideas, and bouncing back when things don’t work out. Each project gives them a chance to grow more confident in their creativity and more comfortable with the ups and downs of problem-solving.
The DI Creative Process is more than a way to complete a project. It is a blueprint for a lifetime of learning and growth. It shows kids that creativity is not limited to a few naturally gifted people but is a skill that anyone can practice, strengthen, and carry into every part of their lives. And isn’t that what we all want—the next generation growing up confidently creative and ready to take on the world?
