Coming up with ideas
Module 5
Great ideas often come from the collision of many other ideas. Coming up with lots of different ideas gives us the right ingredients to pick and choose and come up with something radical and transformative.
We call this ‘ideation’, and it is the intentional process of releasing creativity to come up with as many ideas as possible in a short space of time. In ideation, we don’t initially worry too much about whether an idea is good/possible or not - we just want our minds working quickly and imaginatively to build threads of ideas that we can build on, combine or wind back to make better, more suitable possibilities.
Below is an activity to support you to build your own idea generation skills. It involves getting a small group together, so try to find about 4 to 6 people to join you. Although you will start off coming up with your own ideas, the best ideas are often a result of combining yours with those of others. Having other people involved also helps to avoid bias towards your own idea - you can work together as a group to ascertain what might have the most value at the end.
Ideation means coming up with lots of different ideas in a short time, which is what this activity gets you to do. You will need post its, pens, and some wall space to put up your ideas.
Exercise
This exercise is ideal for a group of 4-6 people, but it can work as a pair too.
Step 1: The problem
How might we improve the breakfast experience?
Breakfast, they say it’s the most important meal of the day. Some are motivated by taste and prepare things the night before trying out new recipes every week. For others it’s purely functional, breakfast is fuel that provides the right nutrients for the day. Then there’s others with a long morning commute who might want to grab something on the go. There’s
no shortage of breakfast eating needs and preferences, and things could always be better!
Your brainstorm challenge is to come with as many ideas as you can to improve the breakfast experience.
Think about yourself and what you like, but think about other people you know who would have different needs and preferences.
SUGGESTED TIME:
60-90 minutesLEVEL OF DIFFICULTY:
EasyMATERIALS NEEDED:
Felt markers and lots of post-its PARTICIPANTS:
This is a group exercise and is ideal for around 4-6 people, but can work as a pair too
Step 2: Prepare
Get your resources ready. It’s great to have a table you can all sit around with a wall nearby, with markers and post-its in front of you.
Step 3: Brainstorm
Try to come up with as many ideas as you can in 10 minutes. Write one idea per post-it. Challenge yourself to do at least ten ideas. Refer to the principles of ideation below before you start.
When the time is up share your ideas with the team and post them on the wall. Let everyone go in turns - there will be time for building on each other’s ideas later.
Next, complete another round for 10 minutes but this time you are only allowed to draw your ideas. Do you think differently when you’re drawing rather than writing?
Once the ten minutes is up, share your ideas in the group. This time start to cluster similar ideas together. For the final step, the group together is going to step back and build more robust ideas.
Consider how could you combine a few ideas together to make a bigger solution? Are there parts of one idea that could fit with another? Be creative here, sometimes putting two things together that don’t naturally fit actually create something new and exciting. As a team, try to create 3 to 5 solutions or ideas that you’re all excited by and are offering something different.
Ideation Principles
Go for quantity
You can worry about quality later
Defer judgement
There is no such thing as a bad idea - judging your own ideas and other people’s will stem your creativity
Encourage ‘wild ideas’
The most unusual ideas can often be the inspiration for something really valuable later.
Build on other people’s ideas
Find ways to combine, multiply, invert and mutate other people’s ideas to create new ones
Stay on topic
Keep coming back to your brief and the focus you set yourselves
Capture all the ideas
Don’t judge, just write!
SCAMPER
Step 4: Push your thinking further
SCAMPER is a technique that aims to help push your thinking further and help you to be even more creative with your ideas.
SCAMPER stands for:
Substitute an element of the idea What elements can you substitute or swap to improve the idea?
Combine your idea with something else What would happen if you combined the idea (or parts of) with another, to create something new?
Adapt your idea. How could you adapt or readjust the idea to serve another purpose or use?
Modify your idea. How could you change the shape, look, or feel of your idea?
Put to another use. Can you use this idea somewhere else?
Eliminate something. What features, parts, or rules could you eliminate?
Reverse. What would happen if you reversed this process or sequenced things differently?
Pick a few ideas from the previous breakfast activity, and use the SCAMPER framework to build on it.
Use post its to generate new ideas from current ideas. Pick your favourites. Which ones are the most innovative? Which of the ideas do you think could make the biggest difference for the most people’s breakfast experience?
Download a copy of the SCAMPER template (word or powerpoint)