Generating Ideas

I said I'd follow up this week to share ways to generate ideas. There are always problems to solve, in work and life, so it's useful to have a handful of methods up your sleeve to quickly come up with a range of options.


Generating ideas is always easier with other people to bounce off. You do not need to be 'creative' to come up with ideas.


Two ways to generate ideas in groups

Method 1:
Takes approx 20 minutes.
 

• Step 1 - tell everyone the problem statement e.g. we need to come up with a new name for the 'ABC Product' we're launching next month, or we have XYD customer complaint, how can we resolve it?
• Give everyone 10-15 post it notes and a pen
• Set a timer for 1 minute. During that time individuals need to come up with as MANY ideas as possible. One idea per post it note. Crazy ideas welcome
• Once the time is up, collate duplicates and themes - you should have an arty looking wall of post its. Agree as a group the priority themes to dig into
• Ask people to give more context about their idea, in the areas you've prioritised. The leader should now let people start critiquing ideas for viability and refining down to the best idea through a group discussion
• The owner of the problem statement will decide which option to progress and create a plan to deliver it

I like this method because it gives people a short amount of time to think on their feet. This generally means their ideas are less 'filtered' 

 

e.g. there isn't really time to think your idea is daft and you shouldn't share it - you have to get something on your post-its !

The other point I like is expanding the group beyond your direct team. It helps to bring in stakeholders from complimentary teams who have a different perspective.



Method 2:
Entrepreneurial-Spark taught me this - they call it the 'Disney method'
Takes approx 1 hour.
 

• Start with a problem statement, e.g. we want to design a way to encourage more people to engage in fitness
• Step 1: Group discussion where all members are encouraged to share wide ranging solutions to the problem
• Step 2: Group debates how each of the ideas can be achieved. They all must be promoters of every idea, regardless how 'out there' they are and discuss how they could make it work
• Step 3: The Group criticises every idea - what are the blockers to achieving each of them
• Step 4: Use the promoter/ dissenter points from step 2 and 3 to whittle down ideas to progress in more detail.

I like this because it forces everyone to play different roles - it encourages a growth mindset and helps people to develop new ways of thinking.

For example, some people in the group will be the positive people who have a tendency to ignore pitfalls, and you're likely to have at least 1 person in the group who hates change and would normally rubbish every idea. 

 

By forcing people to be wholly positive and then wholly critical you end up with a more balanced outcome overall.

Two ways to generate ideas on your own


Method 3:
Takes approx 15 mins.
The good old fashioned bubble diagram. 
 

• Grab a piece of plain A4 or A3 paper and get comfortable
• Write the problem statement in the centre. Draw spokes off the centre for each idea you have
• Investigate each idea further by drawing more spokes and adding comments to each
• Usually the bulk of writing will be around the idea you're most interested in. I'd still advise bouncing this off someone else 121 when you have the opportunity

Method 4:
If you're not in a hurry and just want to ponder a problem, e.g. what shall I write in my wedding speech or what shall I write about in my next newsletter(!)
 

• Put a notebook by your bed and on your coffee table
• Get familiar with the 'notes' app on your phone
• Remind yourself a couple of times a day that you need to answer this question, but don't dwell and stress about it
• Do something else to distract yourself, like work on a different task - don't stay fixated on the problem
• Wait for inspiration to strike you - I often hear from clients that this is just before they go to bed (as their brain starts to relax) or on their commute to/ from work when they're distracted
• Often ideas will just 'ping' into your head when you're not expecting it so remember to write it down. These ideas often disappear as fast as they strike!

So hopefully this proves that there are multiple ways of generating ideas when you're stuck. You don't need to be super creative - the group examples and method 4 are about changing your environment and role to make you think differently or use different parts of your brain to spark an answer.

At the least you'll have some fun trying these out. Why not schedule an ideas session as part of your next team meeting? Let me know how you get on.