Idea Generation Techniques and Success Factors

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1. Idea Generation Techniques and Success Factors Dr Fred Okpala Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

2. Objectives To Understand the Concept of Idea Generation To Understand Some Techniques of Idea Generation To Understand Common Success Factors to Successful Innovations Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

3. What is Idea Generation? Idea generation is described as the process of creating, developing and communicating abstract, concrete or visual ideas. It’s the front end part of the idea management funnel and it focuses on coming up with possible solutions to perceived or actual problems and opportunities. (Julia Kylliäinen , 201 9). Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

4. Innovation Management Process Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

5. Detailed Version of Innovation Management Process Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

6. Generating and Collecting Ideas Defining the problems and coming up with possible ideas (through brainstorming sessions) Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

7. Evaluating and Prioritizing Ideas Evaluating the generated ideas and prioritizing them according to their order of relevance to the problems/solutions. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

8. Validating and Testing Ideas Even though evaluation and prioritization are keys for sifting through a large mass of ideas, even the best assessments are often just educated guesses and thus likely to be wrong. The only way to combat this uncertainty is to actually test the ideas in real life. Depending on the size of the idea, it may cost a lot of money and time to test an idea but nothing is costlier than using all of your time and money on something that will inevitably prove useless . Hence, testing helps you to work on something that can actually drive real progress/success. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

9. Implementing Ideas The implementation of the idea is without a doubt the most impactful part of the process. According to the BCG 2015 Global Innovation Survey, three out of the top six challenges for innovation are related to the organization’s ability to implement their ideas. Too long development times is actually the single biggest challenge by quite a large margin. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

10. Challenges of Innovation Management (BCG’s Global Innovation Study, 2015) Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

11. Idea Generating Techniques Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

12. Process of Idea Challenge Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

13. SCAMPER Technique The SCAMPER technique is created by Bob Eberle, and is a method used for problem-solving and creative thinking. It is a holistic way of applying critical thinking to modify ideas, concepts or processes that already exist. The purpose of the SCAMPER is to make adjustments to some parts of the existing idea or process to reach the best solution. It consists of seven actions that can be used to replace parts in the process. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

14. Seven actions of SCAMPER Technique Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

15. Seven actions of SCAMPER Technique continues 1 . Substitute – Substitution technique refers to replacing a part of your product, concept or process with another to achieve even better outcome. 2. Combine – The combine technique explores the possibility to combine two ideas into a single, more effective solution. 3. Adapt – Adaptation analyses the possibilities to make the process more flexible and focuses on other similar incremental improvements to the idea, process, or concept. 4. Modify – Modifying the idea looks at the problem or opportunity from a bigger perspective and aims for improving the overall results, not just the idea. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

16. Seven actions of SCAMPER Technique continues 5. Put to another use – This approach focuses on finding ways to use the idea or existing solution for another purpose and analyses the possible benefits if applied to other parts of the business. 6. Eliminate – The elimination technique is quite straightforward: it examines the possible outcomes if one or more parts of the concept were eliminated. 7. Reverse – This action focuses on reversing the order of interchangeable elements of an idea. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

17. Opposite Thinking Opposite/reverse thinking is a technique that can help you question long-held assumptions related to your business. It is a useful tool to consider if you feel your team is stuck with the conventional mindset and coming up with those “out-of-the-box ideas” seems to be difficult. Often, finding the best solutions are not found through a linear thought process. Although our brains are wired that way, opposite thinking can help us question the norm. With this type of thinking, you consider the exact opposite of what is normal. You can even think backwards to find unconventional solutions. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

18. Brainstorm Cards Brainstorm cards are a useful tool created by the Board of Innovation for coming up with dozens of new ideas related to whatever challenge or problem you are currently working with. Brainstorm cards help you consider external factors such as: societal trends, new technologies, and regulation in the context of your business. This approach allows you to generate a great number of ideas with little effort.

19. Analogy Thinking Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

20. Success factors with Idea Generation Define the Problem or Opportunity Although this seems obvious, the more accurately you are able to describe your current or perceived problem or opportunity, the better chances you have of actually generating useful ideas. Before you start, try to gather as much information about the problem as possible to get to the heart of the problem. Identify what you already know about it and what information is still needed. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

21. Involve the Right People For your ideation to be as productive as possible, it is important to involve the right people to the process. Engage those people who know about the topic and are genuinely interested in making a change in your organization. If your plan is to engage a larger group of people to generate ideas, make sure your audience is relevant and well informed on the subject. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

22. Set Constraints The believe that any idea is a good idea may hinder creativity, so make sure your goals are ambitious and specific enough. One way to get more of actually creative ideas from your audience is to set constraints. If your general goal was to reduce costs, it is likely that people would suggest ideas such as spending less on office equipment or buying cheaper coffee for example. However, the ideas you will get will be a lot different if you had ask: “What could we do to save 70% on costs?”. Without constraints, people typically come up with small suggestions for improvement with little or no creativity. But when describing the challenge in more detail and setting more ambitious goals, people really need to use their imagination to achieve a desired outcome. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

23. The Timing Timing is important from a competitive perspective, and it led many businesses to prominence despite a chaotic and busy market at their time of entry. When YouTube came on the scene, for example, there were already dozens of video-streaming platforms. But because YouTube launched at a critical moment -- after high-speed Internet became the norm but before any other streaming service had risen to prominence -- it enjoyed radical early success. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

24. The Marketing (Commercialisation of the Idea) How you package and market your idea matters. An inferior product that is branded in a more appealing, exciting, and unique way will always outsell its superior product that happens to have plain, non-memorable branding. This point may seem superfluous, but it critically affects customers’ buying decisions. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

25. The Crisis Response No matter how well you plan or how hard you work, something is going to go wrong. How you respond to a crisis is far more important than how likely you are to avoid one. One poorly treated crisis can liquidate company or other consequences, so think carefully about your response plan. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

26. Summary The purpose of generating new ideas is about improving what already exists as well as coming up with something new. Idea generation can help you approach a problem or an opportunity from a new perspective. It enables you to expand the range of ideas beyond your current way of thinking which eventually leads to more ideas. There are several different methods and techniques that can be used to challenge that conventional mindset and to get more of those high-quality ideas. The knowledge of the techniques and success factors to idea generation help you to make ne cessary adjustments and maximize your chances for success. Copyright © 2021 Talent & Skills HuB

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