Transcript Sealed Air Workshop - University of the Pacific

Innovation Leadership Training
Day Three
February 19, 2009
All materials © NetCentrics 2008 unless otherwise noted
Welcome
• Welcome back to innovation training
• Today we’ll quickly recap the learnings from
the last program
• Then turn our attention to idea generation
techniques
What We Want to Accomplish
Goals for this section
• Our goal this section
– Recap the important aspects of brainstorming
– Examine some other idea generation techniques
Key Points
• Brainstorming is the most commonly used
method for idea generation
– Also the most commonly abused
• Other idea generation tools exist and are
useful in specific situations
– Brainwriting, analogies, bugs-me, guaranteed
failure, mind mapping
• Use the appropriate tool for the need and the
setting
Follow up
• One other aspect of a successful brainstorm is
the follow up or actions after the brainstorm is
complete
– Who takes ownership of the ideas
– How are they prioritized
– What are the clearly defined next actions
• Without this follow up, ideation becomes an
interesting exercise with no tangible results
Risks/Challenges
• Poor facilitation and planning
– Leads to little accomplishment and frustration
• Dominant personalities
– Most participants aren’t able to contribute
• Pressure to generate ideas in the session
– Some individuals place too much pressure on
themselves to generate ideas in a short session
• Perceptions and expectations
– Too much judging and critique limits idea
generation
Discussion
• Any other points of discussion on
brainstorming?
Brainwriting
• Brainwriting is a technique similar to
brainstorming
• Less interactive but often more insightful
• Ensures that one or two people don’t
dominate the discussion
• Participants write down five ideas, then pass
the paper to the next person in line
• That person reviews and builds on existing
ideas and adds new ones
Why Brainwriting
• Still leverages the group but eliminates
dominant personality issues
• Generates more ideas in less time
• Gets ideas on paper that might not have been
submitted
Exercise with Brainwriting
Your Thoughts
• What did you like or dislike about the two
approaches?
• When is one approach more practical than the
other?
Other Ideation Tools
• Now we’ll shift from well-known ideation
tools to tools and methods that are practical
but used less frequently.
• Many of these can be used in a group dynamic
or by one individual
Bugs-me Journal
• Bugs-me is great for identifiable problems you
encounter on a regular basis
• The approach can be used individually or in a
group setting
• When a problem or challenge “bugs you”
write down the problem and five to ten ideas
to resolve
• Keep a journal to track what “bugs you” about
things you encounter
Guaranteed Failure
• Excellent in a group setting, especially when the
team is having a hard time getting started
• Rather than seek optimal solutions for a challenge or
opportunity, ask what we should do to guarantee
failure.
• Example – if we wanted to secure cash in a bank,
some ways to guarantee failure would include:
– Eliminate auditing
– Store bundles of cash in the lobby
– Take out all security measures (cameras, guards, etc)
Guaranteed Failure
• Generate a list of items that would guarantee
the failure of your objective without trying to
resolve the failures
• Then return to the list and seek solutions for
the success of the objective against every
possible failure
• This can be hard to do beyond two or three
failure points because the urge is to solve the
problems
Guaranteed Failure Exercise
Mind-Mapping
• Mind Mapping grows out of the concept of
semantic information maps
• These concepts were first described during
the 1960s
• Mind mapping has become a very popular
method for generating and organizing ideas
• Usually a tool used by an individual but can be
used by a team
Techniques
• Mind maps can be very structured in a
tree/branch format or very loosely structured
• You can use a very hierarchical model or use
pictures to tell a story or define the narrative
Example Mind Maps
Benefits
• Depending on the developer, a mind map can
be non-structured, non-hierarchical or very
structured and very hierarchical
• Interactive and visual
• Demonstrates organization or relationships
• Effective at an individual level and to a certain
degree at a group level
Analogies
• Analogies or shifting perspectives is another great
way to generate ideas
• Less an ideation technique and more frequently used
as a discussion topic or workshop procedure
• Example: The underbanked opportunity in the
banking community is similar to the underinsured
issue in health care. How is the insurance industry
thinking about that issue and what analogies can we
draw?
Analogies / Perspectives
• How would we view this problem or
opportunity if we were:
– A startup firm with no capital
– A firm in a different industry seeking entry into
this market / opportunity
– The leader in the market
– A struggling third or fourth tier competitor
Other tools/techniques
• Tools based on research from Altschuller and
others
– Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT)
– TRIZ
• These tools are based on the concept that all
innovation share some common elements
Keep an innovation journal
• We recommend that any innovation advocate
or innovation team member keep an active
journal of their ideas
• Write down the ideas that come to you at
work, at home
• Use the camera in your cell phone to capture
situations, issues or challenges
Key Takeaways
• Good idea generation is based on careful
preparation, good facilitation and clear goals
and expected outcomes
• There are a number of techniques that can be
applied, for live sessions and distributed
sessions, group or individual work
• Our goal is not to make you an expert but to
demonstrate some of the tools and provide
best practices
More Reading
• A Whack on the Side of the Head by Roger von
Oech
• Group Genius by Keith Sawyer
• Think Better by Tim Hurson
Prep for Next Class
• Read the white paper Innovate on Purpose
• Read articles on innovation process, methods
and roles/responsibilities