Posted on Mon, Sep 26, 2011 @ 08:28 AM
By: Jay Gronlund
Now that you’ve laid the ground work and have the right direction and people (see first three parts), you must carefully craft the ideal setting and ingredients to get the most from your ideation session. Here are the most critical elements that will improve your chances for creating superior ideas, even the “Big Idea”.
The Actual Ideation Session – By the time the real 1-2 day session starts, the participants should be eager to express their thoughts and preliminary ideas. Inevitably there will be some who view a 1-2 day session as a waste of their valuable time. This is why a convincing, relevant preparation and the shrewd choice of participants are so important. The session should be designed so that the participants have fun, too. Certain games and other “energizers” are always undervalued in ideation sessions. Research has shown that humor and laughter can release endorphins, which help people relax, improve their recall and yield better results. While every ideation session will be different depending on its goals, there are several common elements that should be considered:
- Professional Facilitator – Some companies are reluctant to spend money for an outside expert in these “cost-control” times, but it is critical to have a neutral and empowered professional to facilitate (but not manage) the session. Good ideas don’t come from deep analysis, but from an environment and approach that breeds openness, curiosity, novelty, fun and risk taking. An experienced facilitator will have the tools and techniques to keep people generating ideas, even when they think they’ve run dry.
- Key Components for Ideation Session – Generally the ideal number of participants should be around 8-14, comprising a mix of creativity styles and varying expertise. Having the CEO present can be risky, but if so, he/she should take a back seat or supportive role to the brainstorming efforts, generally adding a constructive perspective or insight wherever appropriate. If possible, the session should be held away from the main office in a well-lit, comfortable room (sunshine is best) with whiteboards or flipcharts and post-it notes, including 1-2 support personnel to record the ideas and help organize the notes on the walls, and most important, plenty of relevant props – e.g. competitive products, benchmark analogies, examples of customer feedback or perceptions, novel packages from other industries, etc.
- The Anatomy of a Typical Ideation Session – There are many formats for an ideation session, depending on the purpose and who will attend. When the participants have to travel, a session should be designed to last at least two days, usually with individual meetings before and after. My most recent ideation session started on a Monday afternoon with a discussion of the problem/opportunity brief, the objectives and some mind-opening case studies and analogies to stimulate their creative energy. Then a full day of ideation on Tuesday, and Wednesday morning devoted to a summarization with refinements of some ideas, prioritization and a follow-up game plan (conducted jointly with senior management).
Another approach might involve a series of shorter ideation sessions over several days or weeks. For example, 2-3 hours to generate an abundant collection of initial ideas (100+), subsequently organize and cluster the ideas by type (e.g. new product or package, marketing, service oriented, strategic positioning, etc.), and then let these preliminary ideas incubate in the participants’ subconscious for a while to digest and expand upon. An ideation workbook with these ideas defined in clusters should be circulated for review and additional embellishments. After a few days, conduct another “upgrade” ideation session over a half day, to further refine, expand upon and then narrow down the list to around 65-75 good ideas, for example. This should be followed by further scrutiny, cutting and prioritization in more upgrade sessions, ideally reducing the list to around 15 solid ideas.
Within any ideation framework, there are 7 other factors to consider:
- Building on Momentum from Preparation – An obvious starting point is to discuss the fresh perceptions and ideas that each participant brings to the ideation session.
- Make Ideation Ongoing – Smart companies recognize that the real value of organizing these ideations is to make their internal culture more innovative, i.e. to add creativity to everyone’s mandate (Google employees must allocate 20% of their time for creating new ideas).
- Ideation for Different Goals – Traditionally most ideation sessions are focused on new products, but more companies are using this for strategic purposes – e.g. different business models, new growth initiatives, re-positioning their corporate or product brands, etc.
- Customer Perspective – Any ideation should be shaped around current and future perceptions from their customer, making sure that all ideas would be relevant for them and competitively distinct. The use of smart market research, past or future, can be a critical building block for ideation.
- Think Long Term/Future – Another useful focal point is to ask what the company or product portfolio should ideally look like in 3-5 years. Within a framework of category and competitive threats, trend building exercises are invaluable for identifying new ideas and growth opportunities, especially when the group is split up into teams.
- Other Exercises – There is a host of various techniques to keep the creative juices flowing, each encouraging “out-of-the-box” thinking. Assuming some of the participants will ultimately lead the implementation, simulation exercises that involve role playing or case studies can be very effective (customized training can be combined with these endeavors, too).
- Building on Each Idea – Usually the “seed” of an idea is created at first, but to make sure each can be developed to offer real value, key positioning dimensions should be added – e.g. for which customer and his/her needs, the relevant benefit or promise of added value, and the key features that would make this promise credible.
Next: Completing the Ideation Process –The Challenge of Execution
Previous: Who Should Participate in an Ideation Session – Importance of Diversity
Part 1: The Ideation Process: What it is, Why Important and Management Commitment
Part 2: 4 Examples of Key Tasks to Prepare for a Successful Ideation Session
Part 3: Who Should Participate in an Ideation Session – Importance of Diversity
Part 4: What You Should Include to Make an Ideation Session a Success
Part 5: Completing the Ideation Process –The Challenge of Execution
Posted on Mon, Sep 19, 2011 @ 09:13 AM
By: Jay Gronlund
The previous two parts outlined some useful steps to prepare for the ideation session, but ultimate success often depends on identifying the best people for this important event.
Getting the Right Mix of People – Ideally you should strive to get creative diversity to generate a broad range of distinct ideas, -- i.e. a cross pollination of different thinking styles, both innovators and adapters, left and right brained, and include the select managers who will eventually be in charge of developing and implementing these ideas. Clay Christensen from the Harvard Business School recently wrote a book on “The Innovator’s DNA”, which lists 5 habits of mind that characterize what he calls the ideal “disruptive innovator” (with examples):
- Associating – The talent for connecting seemingly unconnected things is crucial. Marc Benioff got the idea for Salesforce.com when swimming with dolphins and thinking of enterprise software through the prism of online businesses such as Amazon and eBay. Christensen estimates that business people are 35% more likely to sprout a new idea if they have lived in a foreign country.
- Questioning – Sharp innovators are constantly asking why things aren’t done differently. David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue and Azul, wondered why people treated airline tickets like cash, freaking out when they lost them, whereas customers could instead be given an electronic code.
- Observation – Closely related, the knack for recognizing different approaches and forms of behavior can stimulate new ideas. Corey Wride came up with the idea for Movie Mouth when working in Brazil, which uses popular films to teach a foreign language, when he noticed that the best English speakers had picked it up from film stars, not school teachers.
Networking – The best innovators also tend to be great networkers, hanging around venues or events where they can pick up new ideas. Michael Lazaridis came up with the idea for BlackBerry at a trade show, when someone pointed out a Coca-Cola machine that uses wireless technology to signal that it needed refilling.- Experimenting – They also like to “fiddle” with both their products and business models. A marketing manager at IKEA realized the value of self-assembly when he adapted to the task of fitting furniture into a truck after a photo-shoot by taking the legs off, and a new business model was born.
Next: What You Should Include to Make an Ideation Session a Success
Previous: 4 Examples of Key Tasks to Prepare for a Successful Ideation Session
Part 1: The Ideation Process: What it is, Why Important and Management Commitment
Part 2: 4 Examples of Key Tasks to Prepare for a Successful Ideation Session
Part 3: Who Should Participate in an Ideation Session – Importance of Diversity
Part 4: What You Should Include to Make an Ideation Session a Success
Part 5: Completing the Ideation Process – The Challenge of Execution
Photo credit: jurvetson
Posted on Mon, Sep 12, 2011 @ 09:03 AM
By: Jay Gronlund
Once the problem/opportunity brief is defined with senior management taking the initiative to lead the charge for an ideation session, the preparation phase can begin. Here are some critical preparatory steps for a successful ideation session:
Why Smart Preparation Is The Most Vital Phase - No ideation session will be successful without comprehensive, relevant and participatory planning. But there are always challenges. In most companies, managers are asked to do the work of several employees today and have little time to think creatively. Often managers come from afar without any prior preparation to just show up for an ideation session, expecting to create a big, “breakthrough innovation”, but they only generate ideas that are flat, unexciting, unrealistic or just too general or ambitious. These situations result in a random, unproductive brainstorming session. It is important to change everyone’s mindset going into an ideation session, and have them start creating new perspectives and ideas beforehand so they “hit the ground running”. Here are some specific initiatives that will help:
- Give them a homework assignment, ideally that will encourage them to put themselves in the shoes of their target customer and focus on their perceptions and emotional feelings, e.g. if possible, interview some customers or create a diary that describes their experiences with a product or service. Filling out a relevant questionnaire on customer perceptions, major challenges and opportunities, external threats, etc. will force them to commit their time and creative thinking on paper. One exercise I often use is a questionnaire that will determine their personal brand archetype, with descriptions that reflect personality traits, not functional elements. This helps them view their company or product brand as “personality”, which is key for building relationships.
- Conduct research. This could be a survey, or some qualitative studies (informal focus groups?), internet desk research on emerging trends and competition, taking a shopping trip and observing customer behavior, studying competitive web sites, talking to outside experts in an industry, reviewing appropriate blogs on relevant subjects and most important, identifying those key drivers or experiences that invoke the emotion and spirit of the customer.
Mind Stretching Exercises, during the few days before the ideation session will help the participants “warm up” their creative energies. Scientists at the University of Washington believe that listening to light classical music is a good way to release these creative juices. One unique approach is “forced perspective” which encourages the participant to look at a thing in a different way. Ask them to start thinking of new ideas, even carry around a notebook to jot them down. Then let these ideas gestate and develop in their subconscious, which holds most of the emotional feelings. Challenge them to generate at least 15 new ideas in the 72 hours prior to the session. Ideas originate during a variety of unfocused, random situations. For example:
- Showering or shaving
- Commuting to work
- During a boring meeting
- While reading
- While exercising
- In church
- In the middle of the night
- Provide Focus. A problem/opportunity brief should be developed and circulated beforehand, asking everyone to critique it, make suggestions and use it is as a building block for fresh perspectives. The objectives should be clear, realistic and simple. These objectives will serve to bring the ideation discussion back to the main theme if/when wandering too far. Ideally post these objectives in front of the room where everyone can see it, as well as including them in the problem/opportunity brief. Importantly, an outside facilitator should probe the viability of these objectives with senior management to ensure that their expectations are realistic and the ideation session is designed properly. Finally there should be a clear agenda, with enough detail to enhance the individual preparation by the participants, but with enough flexibility to be able to pursue and build on unanticipated ideas and directions.
Next: Who Should Participate in an Ideation Session – Importance of Diversity
Previous: The Ideation Process: What it is, Why Important and Management Commitment
Part 1: The Ideation Process: What it is, Why Important and Management Commitment
Part 2: 4 Examples of Key Tasks to Prepare for a Successful Ideation Session
Part 3: Who Should Participate in an Ideation Session – Importance of Diversity
Part 4: What You Should Include to Make an Ideation Session a Success
Part 5: Completing the Ideation Process – The Challenge of Execution
image credit: brandoncripps