CHAPTER 2

Idea Generation (Secrets to Releasing Inner Creativity)

The first step for organizations to have ideas that may turn into dramatic profits is that staff members need to generate ideas. If we look at a visual form of the process, we see the process needs ideas to go into the Infectious Innovation Process funnel (see Figure 2.1). Ideas go into the top of the funnel, and increased revenues come out of the ideas that successfully make it through the entire funnel.

In order to be able to generate ideas, staff need time and space to free their mind to consider different possibilities. But how do they find time and space to generate ideas when today’s organizations are asking their staff to produce more results with less people? How can employees feel comfortable about spending time generating and submitting ideas, when their performance is measured by their immediate results? These questions will be answered in this chapter.

Please note that this chapter is geared toward individual staff members generating their own ideas, and then getting together to share their ideas and collaborate with others. This is because team dynamics can often alter an individual’s approach to new ideas. If, however, you are the type of person that believes you are more creative in a group than you are by yourself, feel free to apply these principles to an idea generation team of your own choosing.

Finding Time

Annual reviews are often centered on the outputs the employee has delivered during the year. In a results-based, competitive society, productivity is top of mind for many employees. Many companies are now conducting ongoing performance reviews, which further stresses to employees that immediate results outweigh long-term gain. In an effort to increase productivity, many employees often feel that it’s imperative to fit as much working time into the day as possible.

Figure 2.1 Infectious innovation process funnel

These employees are making a huge mistake! Studies show that productivity is lower when fewer breaks are taken. The Draugiem Group, using a time-tracking productivity app, found that:

“The 10% of employees with the highest productivity surprisingly didn’t put in longer hours than anyone else. In fact, they didn’t even work full eight-hour days. What they did was take regular breaks.” (“The Exact Amount of Time You Should Work in a Day,” Fast Company Magazine), 09/15/14.

In order for organizations to have a culture of innovation, employees need to be encouraged to take time to consider better approaches to the work they’re doing and to the products and services they’re delivering. How do employees in a guilt-ridden nation find time to consider breakthrough ideas?

The first step is to realize that most ideas don’t come out of the blue when your mind is focused on the task at hand. Time should be dedicated to consider different ways of doing things by turning your mind off. This will only happen when employees have dedicated time to generate ideas to feed into the organization’s innovation process.

As a starting point, employees should dedicate a few hours each week to idea generation. The work calendar should be partitioned off, and each employee will need to book the time so no distractions will interfere with idea generation. If there is calendar software available to prevent others from inviting you to a meeting, use the software to notify others that this part of your day is not available.

After dedicating a few hours each week for a few weeks, some employees will find this is more than enough time, while others may feel the need to increase the dedicated time. Adjustments should be made as necessary. Ensure your deliverables are being met, and ensure that you are dedicating necessary time to help your business thrive.

What is the best time to set aside? This will vary by staff member. Each staff member should attempt different hours of the day when starting out to find the best time for them. Adjustments should be made where necessary. Employees in customer interface roles will want to avoid the busiest times of their day, in order to avoid distractions.

The block(s) of time needed will also vary by employee. Some people find that an hour here and there is most effective, while others are more creative with two- or three-hour blocks set aside.

If an employee is looking for a reason to spend time on generating ideas, there are 85 billion reasons. When AT&T was looking for growth in 2016, they had essentially tapped out all of their own ideas. So, their plan for growth was to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion. That is a very expensive alternative to creating a culture of innovation that helps employees find time to generate ideas that can move the firm forward.

Finding Space

As organizations continue to reduce their office footprint, finding space where an employee can go for an hour or two to avoid distractions continues to become more difficult. It is imperative, though, to optimize creativity for employees by finding a space where they can spend some time undistracted to consider innovation for the greater good of their firm.

There are still a few offices with doors that close. They are ideal to avoid distractions, particularly if there is no window on the door, or if blinds may be closed to isolate the occupant. Some of my clients have created Quiet Rooms, and have scattered them throughout the office. These rooms may be used by employees in order to avoid distractions. Other clients offer libraries in their building, where employees are encouraged to work quietly with no distractions. Closed offices, quiet rooms, and libraries are excellent locations for employees to be alone with no distractions. This will allow the best environment for ideas to be generated, in order to cultivate a culture of innovation.

However, many workplaces are not ideal. They either don’t have closed offices, quiet rooms, or libraries, or don’t have enough resources to accommodate all the needs of their staff. Luckily, there is a plethora of alternatives that may equally provide employees with an undistracted environment in order to generate ideas. Home offices are becoming more common, as technology evolves and office costs escalate. If the office does not give enough opportunity for employees to find a space where they can avoid distractions for a certain period of time, employees should be encouraged to spend a few hours a week at home to generate ideas. If a home office is used, ensure that a space is used where distractions will be at a minimum.

Similarly, the office may be located near a public library, where employees could go to find a space that is more conducive to generating ideas than a typical office cubicle. Also, meeting rooms may be used as an alternative to quiet rooms where possible. As well, employees with closed offices may be willing to share their office space when they are at meetings or off-site.

A lack of distractions is essential for ideal generation of ideas, so finding a space without distractions is very important. Also important is what the space includes. Some people need a simple desk and chair, while others prefer a comfortable lounge chair. Some people prefer a small pad to write on, while others prefer a large whiteboard with many differentcolored markers. Still others prefer a laptop or tablet, while a few people may prefer crayons. Whatever tools you deem essential for idea generation, ensure you find a space that can accommodate them.

Free the Mind

Finding time and space to generate ideas is imperative to optimizing the process of generating ideas. Once the time and space are selected, an employee is often left in an empty room with a lot of things to think about. The next step, however, is to not think about anything and to free the mind.

There is no room for filters when considering new ideas. Ideas need to flow freely, and this will only happen when the mind is first set free. A few simple steps can accomplish this.

First, close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths and count to seven. Then focus your mind on a large, empty white circle. Imagine the circle getting bigger and bigger until all you see is white.

Let Your Mind Wander

With time and space set aside, it is now time to fill the mind with thoughts. For some people, this is the easiest part. Their mind is always wandering, and thinking of different ways of doing things. For most of us, though, aids are needed to help us come up with creative ideas. This section outlines several tips and tools to aid your mind in creating new and innovative thoughts.

There are several aids that may be of assistance. They can be broken down into external stimuli, areas to consider, and recording apparatuses. Some people find listening to music can help the mind wander and veer off the path of work that is waiting outside the Quiet Room door. Some find classical music to be of most help, while others need heavy rock to get the heart pumping in order to be creative. When starting out, it is best to experiment with various genres to see which helps you the most. Remember to use headphones or earplugs if coworkers are in the immediate vicinity.

Another possible external stimulus is art. Paintings, photographs, and drawings are often open to multiple interpretations. Creativity can be stimulated by examining the minute details of what the artist or photographer has created, and by considering the impact of how the details help to create the larger picture. Similarly, creativity may be stimulated by considering what the artist’s frame of mind must have been when he or she created that piece of art, or by considering why the photographer chose to take that picture at that time.

A third possible stimulus is poetry, or other types of fiction. There are many distractions, at a conscious or subconscious level, that are drawing your mental energy as you try to create new ideas. By reading poetry or other types of fiction, your mind can turn its focus to a fictional world, which is really the place where innovation currently lies. That is, any innovation would, by definition, require a change from the way things are to another way. So the new way is now fiction, since it doesn’t currently exist.

Another possible stimulus for fiction is a movie or play or television show. By watching videos, which is easier now than ever with smart-phones, and an entertainment world that is available 24 hours a day, people can escape the current situation they’re in and start imagining another world of wonder.

The above stimuli are useful if you are restricted in where you can go. Another possibility is to get out of the office and wander outside your normal office environment. Soak up the sights and smells around you, and think about your surroundings.

With the mind free, either through external stimuli or through internal efforts, it is time to focus your thinking. Since the intent of this exercise is to come up with innovative ideas that will help your firm’s business position, it is helpful to consider ideas toward that end. In an ideal world, you have been given an objective for the year, and you can focus your thoughts on alternatives to reach that objective. If this is the case, then the issue becomes one of brainstorming. See Chapter 3 for tools on how to brainstorm when the objective is known.

In many cases, the objective is not known. Employees are encouraged to generate ideas to help the business move forward, but there are, effectively, no limits. In cases such as these, there are many directions in which to go.

To move the company forward, there is incremental innovation and there is explosive innovation. Incremental innovation requires small changes to make things different. In the product arena, an example of this would be a toilet paper company making its rolls larger. In the service area, an example would be adding a warranty to assist buyer confidence.

Explosive innovation requires larger changes. It typically involves completely changing the way things are done. An example would be Google, a search engine provider, getting into self-driving cars. When considering ideas to help innovation move along in your organization, it is good to explore both incremental and explosive innovation. Incremental innovation is often easier to provide a business case for, since it’s based on something that is already a known variable within the organization. Meanwhile, explosive innovation is a greater risk, since it’s often venturing into new territory for your organization.

There are several directions your mind can wander in that may allow for either incremental or explosive innovation.

One direction worth exploring is the world of the contrarian. Instead of considering simple extensions (such as a cell phone company considering more features), look at things that your company would never be involved with. Try to list 10 things that your company would never do. This could involve product or service ideas, or how the company interacts with its customers. Ask yourself why your company is not involved with these things, and consider the possibility of what would happen if they were to be involved with these things.

Another possible direction is to consider cross industry success. That is, look at how a different industry has achieved success in a certain area, and consider if it’s possible that its success could be duplicated in your industry. An example would be a service provider looking at the success of Netflix. Part of Netflix’s success is its pricing strategy, where customers pay a monthly fee for unlimited movies. Could that pricing model be applied to other services?

A third direction to look at is the process model. Try to map out the processes within your organization. Look at how your products and services are conceived, and then selected, marketed, created, and delivered. What part of the process seems to be the most successful? Which is the least successful? Are there areas to make strong parts stronger, or do you have ideas on how to strengthen the weakest links? Consider as well if some steps can be avoided altogether.

Customer feedback can be a wealth of information for generating innovative ideas. Customers may be able and willing to tell you what expectations they have that are not being met. Similarly, they may give you suggestions on what other industries or some of your competitors are doing that you’re not. Unfortunately, customer feedback can be hard to process, so some companies do not take it seriously enough. One of my clients was an educational institution that had over 75,000 students come through their doors every year, and over 150,000 students taking courses online. They kept great track of the numbered responses on their evaluation sheets, since it was easy to track and compare year over year. Unfortunately, the textual comments were much harder to track. They had one person to examine and address the comments for improvement, which was woefully insufficient. A great source for business innovation was lost!

Another direction is personal interests. What are you most passionate about? Could you generate ideas to create a more ideal working environment? Is there a possibility of better aligning your company’s products and services with your personal passions? Turning new ideas into action will require a lot of work and/or persuasion, so passion is a key ingredient to have.

Also consider the way things are done now. Are they serving the business well, or causing issues? When new employees ask the veterans why things are done a certain way, the response “because it’s always been done that way” is inexcusable. If something irks you about the way certain things are done at your organization, consider alternatives.

A few years ago, I interviewed Isadore Sharp, the Canadian founder of the Four Seasons hotel chain. He started with a construction business, purchased a hotel in Toronto, and turned the business into a global success story with luxury hotels in every corner of the world. While speaking with him, I asked him how he was able to come up with innovative ideas that changed the luxury hotel industry while ignoring the advice of many of the naysayers at the time.

Another consideration is form versus function. What is the function of the products and services your company is providing? The function of banking has not changed over the last 30 years, but the form has changed dramatically. If people want to pay my firm for a service, the money is still transferred from the client’s bank account to the vendor’s bank account. But 30 years ago, the form was predominantly checks, while today, the form is predominantly electronic. This has provided many benefits for the service provider.

Thirty years ago, I worked in the engineering department at a major bank. I was hired for four months on a work term, and I figured I might as well open an account with the bank. After two weeks, they gave me a paycheck, which was the norm back then. I went to a branch of the bank and deposited a check from that bank. Although it would probably be unheard of today, the check was held for five weeks until my identity and the check were verified!

The major banks have, for the most part, changed their form to continue to provide the same function of banking. Many businesses have refused to change their form, since they considered it part of their business. Early examples of this were the train companies. They were in the business of transporting people and goods from one place to another. Unfortunately, they saw themselves as transporting people and goods from one place to another by train. When the air travel industry came along, most train companies saw it as a threat, rather than a continuation of their services.

Similarly, major industry leaders have harmed themselves by sticking to the form of their business rather than its function. Blockbuster was in the business of renting videos to customers. Unfortunately, they saw themselves as being in the business of renting videos to customers at retail outlets. When they looked into renting videos online, which was the natural progression with their established customer base, some senior managers saw it as a threat to their retail outlets, so they did not want to pursue that business aggressively enough. Eventually, the function of renting videos online became so popular that Blockbuster declared bankruptcy.

Other organizations have attempted to redefine the function of what businesses do. Some have been an evolution. There was, for example, no need for search engines before the World Wide Web appeared. But as the number of websites skyrocketed, the need for search engines skyrocketed as well. Some redefinition of business functions has been an attempt to create new markets. The concept of “sharing” has redefined many industries by redefining the rules and regulations of major industries. Napster introduced the concept of wide-scale music sharing, where people could listen to music other people had purchased. Before Napster, you could go to your friend’s house and listen to a CD there, but Napster allowed this sharing to be done on a massive scale. A student in Louisiana could now listen to a CD on a computer in Montana.

Uber has attempted to redefine the taxi industry by calling their service a ride-sharing program. Some municipalities have accepted the new definition, some have opposed it, and some have created rules similar to those of the taxi industry that Uber must follow.

The form of the retail industry continues to evolve, while the function continues to stay the same. The function of a retailer is to sell products to a consumer. As the Internet grew, many consumers switched to online purchasing. A benefit to the retailers is that their reach has grown. Thirty years ago, it would have been hard for many customers to find a small store in Jacksonville, Florida, that specializes in specific gadgets. Now, anyone in the world may find that store. A detriment to the retailers is that with increased reach comes increased competition.

One of the issues now with online shopping is the length of time it takes for the product to be delivered. Retailers continue to investigate alternatives. Many major retailers, including grocery stores, are offering the option for customers to purchase online and then show up at the store for pickup. A typical trip to the grocery store used to take an hour; now the grocery list can be ordered from home, and picked up in two or three minutes at express parking spots. Amazon is attempting to use drones to fly products to your house in minimal time.

As you consider possible new directions for your organization, consider the functions and the current forms that you are using. Make a list of all the functions. What is it that your business actually does? After asking the What questions, ask yourself how the products and services are provided. Is it dependent on the form? Is there a way of removing the dependency of the form? What new forms are being used in the marketplace today?

The electric light is a great example of explosive innovation that created the same function (light) as a candle, but in a much different form.

Generating new business does not always come cheap. Many of the major carriers in the United States have seen their revenues flatline when most Americans have phones and a cell phone plan. With little room to grow, the carriers have looked elsewhere for growth. Since they have witnessed their client base’s need for constant entertainment, several of the large carriers have been trying to grow by buying entertainment content providers. Comcast purchased NBC. Verizon purchased Yahoo, and then AT&T offered $85 billion to acquire Time Warner. These carriers should have innovated sooner. The writing was on the wall that they were nearing their limit on the voice and data.

One Plus One Equals a Billion (Recording and Sharing Ideas)

Ideas may flow like the water in a gentle stream or like Niagara Falls. In either case, it’s important that the ideas are captured for later evaluation. There are many tools available to record your ideas.

The traditional method of recording ideas is using a pen or pencil on blank paper. Whether it’s a giant flip chart, or sheets of standard loose-leaf, grab your favorite writing tool (pens, crayons, colored pencils, etc.) and start drawing or writing. As computers become more prevalent, handwriting has become less popular due to the limited ability to edit and share the information. It is, however, a great way of recording your ideas and thoughts, unless your handwriting is completely illegible.

Since computers are more prevalent, you could start typing on a tablet, a laptop, or a desktop computer. This can be great for text, but is often more time-consuming for images.

There are also many alternatives. Many of my clients have Smart boards that allow one to use handwriting on a whiteboard, which then gets easily captured. Some of the handwriting may be translated into digital text, which effectively allows you to enter your thoughts as handwriting but store them as text. Many tablets also have the ability to translate handwriting into text.

Other alternatives for recording your thoughts are plentiful. Some people write their ideas on a whiteboard or flip chart, and then take a picture with their smartphone. Others may use an audio recorder, which allows them to think and speak freely, and then edit later. Still others use the video function on their smartphone to record everything—their handwriting and their spoken words.

As the need for innovation continues to grow in businesses of all sizes, there continue to be new solutions for recording and sharing ideas. A company named SoapBox has created an enterprise wide software solution to help companies record and share ideas. There is no doubt that more companies will create larger software solutions. The important thing to remember is that the software itself is no substitute for the human brain.

If you’re unsure of the best method in your particular case, different methods may be selected at the beginning to help you decide. The important thing here is that you record your thoughts for later consideration and review.

There are very few people in this world, particularly at a young age, that possess the ability to look at business ideas from technical, business, and financial perspectives. So it is good to share your idea with others before presenting it to your firm so that the idea will be strengthened.

I was involved in the early years of software development, and at that time, business people were unsure of what technology could actually provide. Young software engineers like me could see the potential, and, to a certain extent, thought anything was possible. To capture this enthusiasm, business teams would let the software engineers document the business requirements, and then the business team would hand down their comments and approval. Over the years, most businesses switched to a process where there would be a business analyst as an intermediary between the business team and software development team. These business analysts could then guide the software engineers toward something that could bridge the best of both client needs and the technology at hand.

Once your ideas are recorded, you should start asking some of your peers in different departments to get together and discuss the ideas. An ideal situation would be to have someone from each of the following departments: finance, business, and operations. If your business relies heavily on customer service, then ensure someone from customer service is present. If your business relies heavily on technology, then ensure someone from the technology group is there.

Once the team is assembled, follow the same process as discussed in the above sections. Dedicate time. Find a space that would be comfortable for the entire team and where there will be no distractions. Consider the ideas you have generated, as well as ideas some of your team members have created.

It is important to note that there should be very few restrictions on what is discussed in these team reviews. For instance, a technology expert does not have to limit his or her comments to technology. Objections do not have to be avoided in order to create harmony. In fact, objections from team members are excellent to note because they will probably appear later from other staff as the idea moves down the Infectious Innovation Process funnel (see Figure 2.1).

If the team is functioning well, there may be a lot of progress in a very short time. If so, it’s important to keep the team together, and perhaps switch to new ideas being generated on a team level.

There are several things that could go wrong with a team. I’ve seen teams where one or more members are not contributing at all. In this case, you could either excuse the noncontributing member, or advise the noncontributing member that they will be excused if they continue to lack input to the conversations. Sometimes, there can be strong yet opposing personalities in a team where each is trying to “win” the contest by getting the other members to agree with their solution. In these cases, the team should come up with a group consensus where possible. If not possible, then the team should be disbanded and reorganized to allow positive progress.

Another issue with teams discussing ideas occurs when organizations are offering incentives for innovative ideas. Team members may believe their input is more valuable than those of fellow team members, and may feel they deserve a greater slice of the incentive. In cases where there are financial incentives for these ideas, it is important for the person organizing the team to lay out the sharing of the incentive at the beginning. The incentive should always be shared equally among the team members.

This is a common issue with owners of start-up businesses. They often reach a peak where they need financing to grow. At this point, business leaders need to decide if they want a small piece of a big pie, or a big piece of a small pie.

The same situation occurs when an individual has an idea that may bring a big incentive. They have to decide if they would rather strengthen the idea by involving cross functional peers, or submit the idea to get the entire incentive. Synergy of a team will often provide a better idea submission, and then strengthen the chance of acquiring the incentive.

Once the ideas are submitted, they enter the collection phase.

Summary

Generate ideas to fill the Infectious Innovation Process funnel

Assign time to idea generation

Find the space needed to think

Free your mind

Consider external stimuli when generating ideas

Use several methods to generate business innovation ideas

Record ideas so they can be collected

Share ideas with a cross functional team to strengthen the idea