Innovation is the implementation of creative ideas. To be innovative, the creative ideas we seek must be both novel and useful. Novel ideas are the result of insight. Usefulness is based on internal and external input.

A quote on innovation:

“It’s hard to define but we know it when we see it.”

Ideation begins with input and insights. Gather input by completing the actions in list 2A. (page 3 on the right side)

Actively pursue divergent thinking by completing the three actions in list 2B. (page 6 on the right side)

How to interview: Customer Interviews

Hunt for all kinds of ideas in a solo or group ideation session.

IDEATION TOOLS

• Most innovation processes don’t start with ideation. Strange, since innovation starts with knowing how to create ideas. Even though most new ideas are bad, ideas still are the start.

  • Really great ideas are very rare and very valuable. More ideas increase chances of getting a good one. Volume matters. Looking through Mark Randall’s notebooks: 210-220 seriously considered ideas for every one pursued through testing and work.

  • Having many ideas also clears your “mental stack” of whatever you’re thinking of to make room for more ideas.

  • As you document more ideas you learn to spot which ones excite you  

Pursuing your first idea you’ve had is like marrying your first girlfriend  

• Brainstorming for ideation: research and experience show it doesn’t work very well.

• It’s important to be critical of new ideas to hone and improve them. Pixar’s process: dailies review is brutal but well intentioned by all participants.

• Use divergent thinking and ideation frameworks.

• Effects and methods: How professional magicians think of new impossible things to do. (Hard, rigorous work. Creativity is work.)

  • Strategies for ideation:

    • Table of strategic elements [see Innovation Kit materials – elements moved around like tiles to create different combinations, spark ideas]  

    • Question the question (“what problem are we actually trying to solve? How will we know it’s solved?” Why this? And again. And again. Until we have the right level of abstraction)

• Einstein was asked, “Given 1 hour to solve a problem, how would he approach it?“ His answer: “Spend 55 minutes understanding the question, then 5 minutes finding the answer.”

• Value of answers (even right ones) falling today; but the value of the right questions is rising quickly

  • Time of day matters. Beginning or end, figure out what’s good for you.

  • Solo storming: find yourself a buddy. Each of you goes in isolation and writes down all his or hers ideas on post-it notes. Get back together and each person reads ALL his or hers ideas and gives feedback, critiques, and bring related ideas together.  

  • Set a time limit for ideation. More effective. Research backs this up. This frees the mind to focus when you know you’ll go back to “regular work” when the timer is done.

• Bad ideas notebook

  • Why a no good ideas notebook? Most new ideas look like bad ideas. Only a few look like awesome ideas, which means they’re a really bad ideas. Getting a lot of good ideas means starting with a massive stack of bad ideas. Clear the short-term mental stack. 

  • Tips for being more creative:

    FAME: hanging out with Friends, Art, Music, Exercise

MORE EXERCISES

20 minutes of focused ideation, write down every problem, solution, question or answer that comes to mind.

• Create a post-it note stack with 2 different colored stacks stuck back-to-back

  • Ideas on one color post-it

  • Everything else on the other (e.g. “get the dry cleaning. Pick up Sally from school at 3.”) If you don’t write down these tasks they will stick in your head and prevent new ideas from coming – clear the mental stack.

  • Arrange spatially to show related concepts

USEFUL TOOLS

To help you brainstorm: The Table of Strategic Elements

The Table of Strategic Elements is created by Adobe’s Chief Strategist, Mark Randall. It lets him analyze existing companies to identify new combinations. He has identified 14 “elements” ranging from bD, (big data), through Ga, (Gamification), to Ad, (advertising).

By combining “elements,” you can identify niches in the market and see who occupies them. For example, if you mix Lo (local) with Lc (location) and Ga (gamification) you get Foursquare. Or Ad (advertising) combined with Tr (transactions) and Lo (local) gives you … Groupon.

So, challenge your ideas by using this table and make all kinds of combinations and see where it brings you.

OBJECTIVE:

Get inputs and insights from different sources.