What is Ideation Innovation and Why It is Important?

What is Ideation?

Ideation is quite simply the process whereby ideas and solutions are generated.  The term "ideate" was first recorded in the 1600s and originates from the Latin "ideare" and the Greek "idea", signifying "model," "pattern," or "notion."

From the earliest instances of collective problem-solving to the sophisticated ideation methodologies employed by modern organizations, the pursuit of new ideas has been a constant driving force in societal and technological progress.

The ideation process serves to collect as many ideas as possible before the organization subsequently filters through them to determine which ones are worth pursuing. It can involve several techniques but should facilitate a company-wide approach as this statistically yields more ideas.

Ideation As Part of the Design Thinking Process

Knowing how to generate ideas is important. However, it is also important to understand how ideation fits into the context of design thinking - a human-centred approach to innovation that prioritizes empathy and problem-solving. 

Ideation is the third stage of design thinking process, following the phases of ‘empathize’ and ‘define’. The ideation phase is followed by the ‘prototype’ and ‘test’ phases. A brief outline of the design thinking process is as follows;

• Empathize - gaining a deeper understanding of the intended client's needs.
• Define - identifying the user’s needs and the problem that you plan to solve.
• Ideation - generating ideas to propose potential solutions.
• Prototype - creating potential products from the best ideas generated above.
• Test - trying the solution to confirm feasibility and desirability.

While all five stages are important, the other processes are largely focused on following processes to identify an issue and test a potential solution. However, it is the ability to ideate that provides the creativity and foundation of innovation.

The Ideation Process

The ideation process isn’t solely about generating ideas linked to the issues identified in the first two phases of the design thinking process. It is equally important to ensure that ideas are within the company’s capabilities and actively aligned with its overall objectives, as well as client demands. 

During the ideation process, ideas may not be completely new. In fact, innovation often thrives on the combination and reimagining of existing concepts. This can involve building on existing ideas through incremental innovation, where small improvements are made to enhance functionality or efficiency. Alternatively, ideation can also focus on architectural innovation, which involves restructuring existing ideas in a novel way to create a new solution.

Moreover, the ideation process may also encourage the exploration of disruptive and radical innovation, where completely new and groundbreaking ideas are proposed. This type of innovation challenges the status quo and pushes boundaries, paving the way for revolutionary changes in products, services, or processes.

Five-Stage Framework for Ideation

Stage 1: Define the Challenge

For ideation to be successful it is important for the challenge to be clearly defined. To make this process easier, innovation leaders can:

• Align the challenge with strategic goals: Ensuring that the ideation efforts directly contribute to the organisation’s overarching objectives is paramount.
• Employ "first principle thinking" by breaking down complex problems into their fundamental components. This enables a deeper understanding of the challenge and facilitates the identification of root causes.
• Frame the challenge with "How might we..." questions: This technique fosters a solution-oriented mindset and encourages participants to explore a wider range of possibilities.

Stage 2: Generate Ideas

This phase focuses on generating a diverse and abundant pool of ideas. Key considerations include:

• Cultivating a psychologically safe environment: Individuals must feel empowered to share ideas without fear of judgment or criticism.
•  

Emphasising quantity over quality: In the initial stages, generating a high volume of ideas is more important than focusing on their immediate feasibility or practicality.910

Leveraging individual brainstorming before group sessions: This approach mitigates the risk of groupthink and allows for the exploration of a broader spectrum of perspectives.1112

Employing visual thinking techniques: Tools such as mind maps, sketches, and diagrams can facilitate idea articulation, foster connections between concepts, and stimulate new insights.

Incorporating brainstorming cards or external stimuli: These prompts can spark creative thinking and challenge conventional assumptions.13

Meticulously capturing all ideas: Utilising post-it notes, markers, and visual aids enhances clarity and ensures that no valuable idea is overlooked.14

Stage 3: Select and Prioritise Ideas

This crucial stage involves evaluating generated ideas and selecting the most promising candidates for further development. Key activities include:

Establishing clear evaluation criteria aligned with strategic goals: This provides a consistent framework for assessing ideas and ensures that the selection process is objective and aligned with organisational priorities.4515

Employing a structured approach for idea evaluation: Tools such as the Impact-Effort Matrix facilitate a systematic assessment of ideas based on their potential impact and required effort.1617

Incorporating techniques to mitigate groupthink: Methods such as anonymous idea submission, devil's advocacy, or the six thinking hats method can help to ensure a more balanced and objective evaluation process.

Ideation is about generating ideas from new perspectives. Before you can ideate effectively, though, you must learn how to write an innovation problem statement. It is a simple move that will provide a framework for all further idea generation processes.

Techniques used during the ideation phases include, but are not limited to;

• Brainstorming,
• Mind maps,
• Storyboarding,
• Sketch dumps,
• Worst possible idea,
• Brain dumping,
• Challenge assumption,
• 6-3-5 brainwriting
  
  

Brainstorming Techniques

Brainstorming is an essential practice for any organization, which involves coming up with as many ideas as possible. A number of key brainstorming techniques can help to generate more creative ideas and spearhead innovation:

1. Question brainstorming

Here participants come up with as many questions about a problem as possible without trying to answer them. This can help to understand the problem before generating solutions.

2. Hybrid brainstorming

This technique combines group brainstorming and individual brainstorming sessions where people first brainstorm ideas by themselves and then share and discuss them as a group, which can give them more inspiration and give the idea legs.

3. Mind mapping

Mind mapping is one of the most commonly used techniques to get your creative juices flowing. It starts with a central topic or question. Then, it expands with branches and nodes. This helps to explore related ideas and connections.

4. Starbursting

This technique involves asking a series of questions using the 5Ws and one H (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How) approach to explore different aspects of a topic.

5. Brainwriting

This is an approach whereby participants write down ideas on paper and then pass them to someone else to build upon, which can snowball more creative and diverse ideas.

Ultimately, there should be no limits to the processes used as long as they encourage both bottom-up and top-down idea generation. At this stage, the key is to focus on gaining as many ideas as possible. Following this, the best ideas can quickly be filtered out from the rest while simultaneously ensuring that key learnings are taken from the undesired ideas.