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Better Ideation

Very often we get together to generate new ideas using ideation processes, like brainstorming, but end up not going very far. We try very hard but only to find ourselves scratching the surface of our creative abilities. Sometimes we do not even scratch the surface of creativity. We walk out with ideas that we have already had before walking into the room. Such experience can be frustrating. What is worse is that the participants of the ideation session might start to have the belief that such sessions are just a show put up for them to go through the motion. After some time, we start to doubt if we are creative or if our existing tools and techniques are effective. And then, what do we do? Go and hunt for new tools and techniques, of course! Simple! While it is good to continue to learn new things, do not just throw the good old ideation processes away. There is still potential in your existing tools and techniques. It is not just what you do, it is also how you do it. It is just a thin line that separates the winner and the rest.

Here are seven areas that you can work on to improve your next ideation session.

Challenge your focus

It would be useful to challenge your focus and be ready to reframe it before you walk into an ideation session. Usually, we need new ideas when we have a problem that we cannot solve with the “usual” solutions (e.g. how to retain customers). Or, when we want to create new services or products (e.g. develop a new customer experience at the reception). So, you walk into a meeting trying to get ideas around a focus believing that it is the right one. You might be right. What I am suggesting is that you be more rigorous in defining your focus. Ask questions around the original focus like: “why is this a problem?”, “what are the possible causes?”, and “what benefits does this bring?”. For example, if we reply that we need to solve the “retaining customer” problem because the cost of attracting new customers is high then maybe our focus should be reframed as “how to attract new customers at a lower cost?”. The focus to “develop a new customer experience at the reception” might be reframed to “developing a total customer experience” after some reflections.

By asking yourself such questions, you will be in a better position to decide if your original focus is the one that you want ideas around or to reframe it. If we generate ideas around a focus that are not vital, it might dampen the spirit of the participants of your ideation session. And, if we create new services or products that are of no value to the customers, it will be a waste of useful resources.

Start generating ideas with little background information

After telling your group the focus, give them five or six sentences on the background (and nothing more) and start inviting ideas. Initially, participants (and you) might be uncomfortable with such an approach but once they get started they will warm up to it. Being uncomfortable with ambiguity is a natural human reaction but being able to “live with it” is highly important in creativity. So, hang on there with ambiguity.

We are very used to getting a lot of background information before generating ideas. We have been trained to function that way since young. Having lots of information is critical in analysis. But, in an ideation process we want to generate as many ideas as possible. As we absorb more information about the focus, our minds start to discount or drop ideas, often subconsciously. So, by not giving too much information, we leave the minds freer to imagine and roam. Here is an example to illustrate that more information reduces possibilities. I say “four legs and a tail”, what comes to your mind? You might say, mammals, reptiles, mythical creatures. And, if I say “four legs, a tail and warm blood” (more information), you might only mention mammals (fewer possibilities). And again, if I just say “four legs” (less information), you might mention all of the above and also include tables, cupboards, babies, a person with two walking sticks etc (more possibilities). So, if your aim is to generate as many ideas as possible, create the “space” for people by not giving too much background information.

Involve “non-experts”

Other than having those who “know”, we should also invite some who “do not know” or “do not know enough” to participate in idea generation. Oftentimes, we have only the experts in a meeting. We assume that experts have the knowledge and the experience to give good ideas and that is true. But, experts are also susceptible to tunnel vision. Some “current wisdom” could lock the experts in seeing things in some profound but narrow ways. A non-expert or someone who does not know enough of the subject matter could inject a fresh perspective and spin off new ideas. All because the non-expert “does not know” and so her/his mind is free to roam. Once, a very experienced and intelligent senior manager told me that it was very difficult for him to contribute many ideas when he knew most of them would not work. This manager was being very honest and it is true that sometimes, experts have difficulties thinking outside the boundaries because they “know” too much. Do remember that many great business ideas were conceived by the non-experts e.g. overnight delivery service.

Build on ideas of others

Practise building on other people’s ideas. Often we just build on our own ideas in an ideation process. While that is good, it would be more powerful if you could also build on the ideas of other people. There are many benefits in building on other people’s ideas. You learn to listen more effectively to the other people, you build a greater sense of team and rapport, and most importantly (from the ideation perspective), you conceive richer ideas. Most time the “first generation” ideas are not the best, it is the second or third “generation” ideas that are brilliant. I remember a story about a phone company trying to cut the waiting time for their public phones. People with urgent matters had to wait in long queues and got very frustrated. In the ideation process, someone came up with the idea of making phones that no one wanted to use. That would definitely cut the queue to zero but at the same time it would bring the revenue to zero, too. It was easy to just let that idea pass as one of those funny, playful, creative but useless ideas that people came up with. That group did not let that one go but went on to build on it instead. Finally, they modified that idea to having some of their public phones charging a much higher usage fee. With the higher usage fee most people would not want to use it but people who are desperate to get to the phone would. So, this later “generation” idea helps to cut the queue for people with urgent matters.

Use stimuli

After generating 20 or 30 ideas, the creative energy of the participants might run low and we need some stimuli. We could go for a walk, look at some children books, watch a video etc. What we want to do is to put the main topic, the focus, aside and do something irrelevant. (Yet more ambiguity, hang on!) It can be anything but just do not hurt yourself, you need to come back to work later! Many times such “irrelevant” activities could spark off new ideas in the form of analogies and metaphors. So, do not think that the harder you work the more ideas you get. It is probably the reverse – the more relaxed you are the more creative.

Select ideas that are fresh but do not appear doable

From the many ideas that have been generated, go for those that are fresh but have low “doability”. (Ambiguity sets in again! Hang on! Live with it for a while more). Often, when we are given ideas, we do a lot of very quick analysis in our head and then select those ideas that are doable. And, very often these selected ideas, which are doable, are not very new and so we end up not having any breakthrough. Some of us would start to have that internal conversation: “I think my people are not creative!”. Stop that talk and experiment with a different behaviour: choose that fresh, undoable idea!

What do we do with fresh, new ideas that are not doable? Is that not a waste of time going that direction? Well, not when we build “doability” into those ideas. We could tap on the team’s creativity to create ways to make those perceived undoable ideas doable. Sometimes, what you end up with is a doable modification of the original idea. Do remember that if the “doability” is so obvious, your competitors would have done it already.

Get into action

Brilliant ideas are not very useful unless we put them into action. We need to implement those ideas. This is where the ambiguity stops: we need to decide what we want to do, how we are going to do it, who will do it by when and what are the indicators of success, as specific as possible. Often we are not good at the follow through. We get sucked into the daily demands and forget very quickly about the “commitments” we have made in such ideation meetings. So, make it very clear that follow through actions are imperative before you start the ideation process. Otherwise, do not waste time generating ideas.

We need to remember that it is through doing that we learn whether our ideas are workable. Without implementation, we will not be able to get the “feedback” to adjust our approach. Such “feedback” could also spark off some more new ideas. So, action helps us to learn and increase the chance of success. In fact, innovation starts only when we get into action with our ideas.

I have just described seven areas where you could work on to enhance your ideation session. Go on and try them out. While doing all those, do remember to continue to maintain a nurturing spirit as you and your team explore new ideas and actions. Also, try to bask in ambiguity. You will see great things when you live through it.

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