brainstorming and ideation overview

Brainstorming Approach

March 4, 2008

Goals for today

• Define innovation and ideation – what’s the relationship between them

• Look at different types of ideation• Review a best practices approach for ideation• Answer your questions about ideation and

how we can help

Definition of Innovation

• Innovation has as many definitions as there are people in the room

• We often use the word assuming other people have the same definition

• It’s critical that everyone has the same definition for good communication

OVO’s Definition

• Innovation is people putting ideas into valuable action– Innovation is not just “creativity”– Innovation is not just idea generation– Innovation requires putting ideas into action –

developing new products and services– Those new products and services need to drive

value for the business

Your Definition

• What’s the common definition of innovation for Your Firm?– Should the focus be on disruptive or radical ideas,

or incremental change, or both?– Should the innovators consider ideas that may

become new products and services, new processes, new strategies/business models?

– Who should be involved? How broadly is the innovation capability distributed? Internal only?Channels? Partners? Customers?

Innovation and ideation

• Brainstorming or Ideation ≠ Innovation• Think of innovation as a business process– Generating ideas happens first– Then capturing and evaluating the ideas– Then prototyping or market validation– Then transfer the ideas to new product development– Then the ideas are launched

• All of these steps are included in an innovation process• Ideation is most relevant in the first phases

Define brainstorming and ideation

• Brainstorming is the generation of ideas, in a face to face setting

• However, ideation can take place in a distributed fashion:• Distributed ideation, when the participants are

available at the same time• “Asynchronous” ideation or idea jams are

generation events for distributed team members that last for several days or weeks

Forms

• Brainstorm – usually conducted with less than 15 people, in a room, writing ideas on a flip chart

• Ideation – usually conducted online, in a distributed fashion.– Live– Or as an Idea Jam

Live Distributed Ideation

• A team forms and generates ideas, but they interact in a distributed basis.– For example, individuals from London, Raleigh and

Palo Alto can all “meet” to submit ideas online at the same time

• The same rules apply as in a face to face event

Idea Jam – Distributed ideation

• A team forms and generates ideas, but in a distributed fashion. Individuals can “check in” and submit ideas and “check out” over a period of days or weeks

• Same rules apply, just a longer timeframe

Other techniques

• Mind Mapping – good visual technique typically used on an individual basis

• Brainwriting – writing down ideas and passing them around rather than open dialog and discussion

When to use each approach

• Brainstorming – When the participants are co-located or can easily

meet face to face– When the topics are more strategic and less

breadth of perspective is necessary– When time is of the essence– When the subject is fairly specific– When the topic is proprietary or sensitive

When to use each approach

• Live Framed Challenge – When the participants are easy to identify but

distributed– When time is of the essence– When you need to incorporate more points of

view– When you want to include a partner or third party

virtually

When to use each approach

• Idea Jam – When you need a broad audience or perspective– When the challenge or opportunity is less time

sensitive– To encourage broad involvement or engagement– To incorporate more partners or consumers– When the topic or subject requires more

thoughtful investigation

Ideation Best practices

• Planning• “Framing” the problem or opportunity• Follow best practice ideation “rules”• Facilitation• Communications• Evaluation criteria / ranking or voting methods• Action after the event

Best Practices - Planning

• Three phases– Pre-work

• Defining the topic• Identifying the participants• Establishing goals and timeframes

– Ideation Event– Post-event

• Ranking/evaluating• Taking action• Follow up communication

Best Practices - Framing

• Many ideation events are ineffective because there’s no clear problem or opportunity that all the participants agree on

• We recommend a close “framing” of the problem, challenge or opportunity– First, define the topic as a POTT– Then, develop a framing document and other

background detail

FramingProblem/Opportunity/Trend/Threat

• POTT stands for – Problem– Opportunity– Trend– Threat

• What is your topic, and where does it fall within the framework?

Framing Document

• Goal: ensures that everyone who participates understands the goal of the brainstorm and the topic.

• The framing document provides context so everyone starts from the same “page”.

• The framing document also establishes scope, so the team knows what’s valuable and what’s expected

Framing

• Ideation is often unsatisfactory because the participants don’t understand the opportunity or problem

• Framing the problem, providing background and scope, helps set the stage and get everyone on the “same page”

• It indicates the types of ideas that will fulfill the challenge and keeps people within certain guidelines

Brainstorming Rules

• There are accepted best practice rules for ideation:– Every idea is a good idea– The ideas belong to the group, not to an individual– Generate a lot of ideas– Don’t worry about duplicates– Encourage “wild” or strange ideas– Don’t judge ideas as they are being generated– Offer ideas and solutions, not problems or barriers

Facilitation

• An ideation event, like any good meeting, requires excellent facilitation– To encourage participation– Subtly redirect the conversation– To add ideas that may be controversial– To ask the “stupid” question– To elicit further thoughts or feedback from all participants

Facilitation

• Just like any well-run meeting, an event has a meeting facilitator who plans and conducts the event

• Given the requirements of good facilitation, it is not easy for a person who has a “stake” in the idea or outcome to manage a brainstorm

• Internal or external consultants can offer objectivity and encourage dialog when it would be difficult for internal resources

Communications

• Alert the team a week or two in advance of the event

• Send a framing document several days before the event starts

• Continue to communicate effectively during the event

• Follow up to thank the participants and demonstrate action on the ideas

Timeframes

• Live brainstorm – from 30 minutes to two days, depending on framing and subject

• Live ideation– generally no more than 2 to 3 hours

• Idea Jam – 10 days or less

Categorize/Group

• Once the idea generation is complete, it makes sense to have the team– Provide more details about an idea where

necessary– Categorize the ideas– Group ideas that are redundant or similar

Evaluation Criteria

• Determine how you’ll rank or evaluate the ideas before the event begins– Voting• “Straight” voting• Preference voting

– Ranking– Evaluation

• Who does this, and what’s the process and timeframe?

Best Practices Recap

• Planning• “Framing” the problem or opportunity• Follow best practice ideation “rules”• Facilitation• Communications• Evaluation criteria / ranking or voting methods• Action after the event

Who to invite

• When considering who to invite to a an ideation event, include:– Those immediately involved in the problem or

opportunity– A broad cross-section of business functions –

marketing, sales, customer support, etc– People within the channel– Customers– Experts

Other items to consider

• On-site versus off-site– How focused are your participants on their “day

job”

• Inviting customers and partners– Concerns about expectations

• Inviting experts– Sometimes helpful to invite “experts” to

participate

About OVO

• OVO is a consulting and software development firm helping our clients build sustainable innovation capabilities.

• We work primarily with large, distributed organizations that seek to make innovation a consistent, repeatable capability

• Our clients include many Fortune 500 companies and mid-sized ones as well

OVO Capabilities

• We help firms Innovate on Purpose™ by defining strategic goals and implementing consistent processes

• Our capabilities include:– Facilitated Ideation– Innovation Process definition– Definition of roles and responsibilities– Assisting with culture, communication– Defining innovation metrics

About Me

• Jeffrey Phillips– One of the lead consultants from OVO– Active in a number of innovation projects for

Fortune 500 firms– Author of the just published book – Make us more

Innovative– Author of the Innovate on Purpose blog and

numerous magazine articles and white papers on innovation

Wrap Up

• Contact Us– By phone: 919-848-8675– By email: info@ovoinnovation.com– Web: www.ovoinnovation.com