Brainstorm Better to Kick-Start Innovation
The idea-generating framework to create your next big idea
Collaborating on a burgeoning idea is one of the most exciting aspects of business, but identifying the first idea to build from can be one of the most frustrating.
Ideating is like building a fire — adding logs to an existing flame is easy, but creating the initial spark to start the fire is much harder. Of course, there is a plethora of collaboration tools to help organize and extrapolate existing ideas (think infinite whiteboards, mind maps, etc.). But how can technology help spark an initial creative thought that snowballs into an entire brainstorm? How can an innovator go from a blank sheet of paper or an empty whiteboard to their first provocative concept that’s worth exploring further?
Unfortunately, the longer organizations adhere to certain ways of working, the harder it becomes to challenge norms and consistently create novelty. This is natural but not inevitable.
The following innovation style provides one approach — among many we use at Slalom ARC Labs — to overcome the cultural current toward limiting beliefs based on what’s worked and failed in the past. This style is intentionally not a framework or a methodology because it’s not meant to be rigidly adopted, but rather — much like a good first idea — thoughtfully adapted and iterated to match the unique scenario.
Prompting innovation
A blank canvas is a tough place to start, but having something — even an absurd thing — to react to provides a solid surface for the tread of creativity to grip onto and move across. However, a single prompt can feel just as limiting as no prompt, like asking someone on the spot to say something funny or recount their favorite memory of the last decade.
The more contextual the prompts, the more achievable the task becomes. For instance, instead of broadly asking for a favorite memory, asking for someone’s favorite memory from the past two weeks centered around food with a friend or significant other helps narrow the scope of possibilities and increase the ease of recall.
Similarly, for business innovation ideation, consider a variation of the following four prompts, filling in the blanks with a variety of vocabulary relevant to the industry of focus.
1. I am a _____.
Starting with a persona or user identity grounds the ideation in a unique set of problems and takes the innovator out of their own head and perspectives. This helps avoid one of the most common innovation pitfalls: the anecdotal fallacy (making assumptions based on personal experience or limited examples). It’s natural to focus your perspective on a problem from the lens of your personal experience or that of your peers. But most innovation serves a wide breadth of audiences, and framing ideation from another person’s perspective immediately provides an opportunity for new insights. In most scenarios, the needs of a pregnant mother differ from those of an elderly retiree, just as the needs of a loyal customer are unique from a first-time buyer.
2. I need to _____.
Stating an action the established persona must take provides purpose and intent to the ideation. If the innovator knows what the intended outcome of the action should be, they can begin breaking down the steps to get there and looking for shortcuts to simplify the process, or unique additions for the process based on the persona. The need doesn’t have to directly relate to the topic of ideation; it can represent common human needs — like wanting to get home early for dinner, shorten their to-do list to spend time with their kids, or make the right decision to look good and get that next promotion. Given the two prompts provided thus far — a specific type of person who needs something — the innovator can begin to paint a picture of the future, even if (perhaps ideally if) the prompts are completely unrelated to each other.
3. Unfortunately, _____.
This is what scriptwriters call “the hook.” It’s something that prevents the normal chain of events from happening and causes a problem for the character of the story to overcome. Think of both commonplace and extraordinary inconveniences that could occur in the topic of ideation, from a temporary computer glitch causing a delay to a severe weather event that knocks out power for weeks. The range of inconveniences creates constraints that force more unique solutions than otherwise may be brought forth by the previous prompts.
4. Random element: _____.
Finally, add a completely random element — something totally unrelated to the innovation topic at hand — to help spark lateral thinking. Prompts can vary on the spectrum from food to sports to celebrities to furniture to places. The more arbitrary, the better. However, it’s important to maintain commonplace comprehension of the random element. For example, suggesting the boysenberry fruit as a prompt won’t be nearly as helpful for most people as suggesting the more common and familiar banana, which could spark ideas around safety and preventing slipping, or biodegradable wrapping to protect something and then safely decomposing after opening.
Putting it all together
To bring this innovation style to life, here is an example of filled-out prompts for the purpose of innovating a company’s customer return experience:
Prompts for the customer return experience:
1. I am an: elderly customer.
2. I need to: return a plant.
3. Unfortunately: I’m hangry.
4. Random element to incorporate: dogs.
Elderly customer: I don’t want to be on my feet in line, so maybe someone could come to my car to get my plant — or, even better, come to my house.
Return a plant: Am I returning the plants because they’re dead? Or maybe I bought the wrong ones? What if the store’s app had a care guide for plants with notifications to water them based on when I bought them? Or a plant subscription program to always send me plants in season based on my geography and/or living space?
I’m hangry: I probably would want quick access to a wide range of snacks to fill a sudden craving. Could there be a variety of snacks for purchase available at the return desk, including some healthy options?
Dogs: If I have a dog, I might want dog treats at the return counter. Or I could be more willing to support the business if they partnered with a local dog shelter to put puppies out for adoption on the weekends. Maybe I could have a return grace period or a gift card on top of my return if I sign up to foster a puppy?
As illustrated above, ideas generated from each prompt don’t have to connect with ideas from other prompts, and they can be as audacious as entirely new business models (like plant subscription programs), or as simple as putting some snacks for sale by the return counter.
To take full advantage of this four-prompt innovation style, consider the following:
- Start alone. There is a variety of research on how group brainstorming leads to a more limited field of ideas since one person’s idea influences and reframes the rest of the group’s thinking. Individual brainstorming, in contrast, gives each person’s unique experiences a chance to inform their ideas unconstrained by what others have said. Coming together as a group after initially thinking independently allows the group to take advantage of both individual perspectives as well as team collaboration.
- Add a time constraint. This will help protect innovators from either perfectionism or skepticism killing a nascent idea before it has a chance to mature into a viable concept. Naturally, the first idea will likely vary widely from its finalized iteration, but final versions don’t exist without rough first drafts. In the words of Nobel Prize–winning novelist Ernest Hemingway, “The first draft of anything is s***.” The exact time limit will differ per person, but the goal is to allow enough time to generate a few ideas, without enough time to get bogged down in the logistical details. Start with between two and five minutes per set of prompts.
- Repeat the exercise at different times throughout the day and week. Not only are different people creative at different times, but there is also fascinating research showing that humans are often the most creative in their subconscious. So engaging with this ideation style and then stepping away and going about life allows the mind to continue processing possibilities and considering alternatives before reengaging with the activity. Additionally, studies indicate that more ideas lead to better ideas, so returning to this exercise and increasing the quantity of output will likely improve the output quality as well.
Since each scenario will likely feel a little wacky at first, keep it fun, keep it moving, and make note of high-potential ideas to pursue along the way. Harnessing your creativity to produce innovative ideas has the power to change the world, so don’t let a blank canvas prevent a great idea from forming. With this innovation ideation style, there’s always a place to start; the question to focus on is where the innovation will end up.
Slalom is a global consulting firm helping people and organizations dream bigger, move faster, and build better tomorrows for all. Learn more and reach out today.
