Thinkathon: Things Can Always Be Done Better.

Last night, 32 individuals and companies presented with National Productivity Awards for innovative ideas that saved their employers both time and money. The ceremony, organised by the Productivity and Standards Board, also marked the 20th year of the productivity movement.

Its theme was Dare to Dream, Dare to Do, Dare to Make a Difference. Over 8,000 people were there for the event, which included a productivity campaign rally. The crowd of students, teachers, unionists and public-and private-sector employees waved coloured hats in the air as they were treated to a night of song and dance.

And for an hour, everyone brainstormed furiously in a Thinkathon that aimed to generate half a million ideas.

With American motivational speaker and ideas guru Gerald Haman working the crowd, many cheered and shouted 'Yes!' when he asked if they could produce 500,000 ideas in an hour. To spur them on, they had a list of 100 questions to think about as they scribbled ideas onto notepads non-stop. Some examples: How can we improve our transport system? How can we leverage on the value of kiasu-ness to help Singapore? How can we reduce overcrowding on expressways and streets?

They came up with more than 454,000 ideas.

Excerpted from an article by Sharon Vasoo, Singapore Press Holdings Limited on 09/06/2001