Tools and techniques for idea generation

This document discusses the importance of idea generation in innovation and enterprise. It explores the tools and techniques used for idea generation, such as Idea Challenge, SCAMPER Technique, and Brainstorm Cards. It also covers the management of ideas and provides tips for succeeding with idea generation.

Innovation and
Enterprise

Table of Contents
“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.”................1
ESSAY.............................................................................................................................................1
Tools and techniques for idea generation...............................................................................2
Management of Ideas.............................................................................................................4
Succeeding with Idea Generation...........................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

“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.”
ESSAY
Ideas are regarded to be the key to innovation. In the absence of ideas, there is nothing to be
executed as execution is considered as the key to learning and the necessity of new ideas is
central to make improvements (Bourke, Roper and Love, 2020).
As per the statement, ideas are considered as the first step to devising improvements. In context
of a company, it can be said that generation and collection of ideas via the employees is the most
effective way of uncovering tacit and creative knowledge. The capability of creating as well as
developing new ideas allows a business entity to stay relevant along with executing positive
changes within the company. Regardless of the goals and objectives of the company or the ideas
that are being looked upon, the main intent behind new ideas in improvement in the way of
1

operating. At a bigger level, economies are dependent upon innovation for driving growth and
development. Innovation leads to the creation of new technologies as well as ventures that
provide employment opportunities to individuals. So, innovation is not just about ideas in fact
they are a crucial part of the equation that binds them to each other.
Tools and techniques for idea generation
A number of tools and techniques are put to use by companies for generating the ideas. These are
briefly described as follows:-
Idea Challenge: It is a form of innovation whereby an opportunity or issue is raised for
generating creative solution. The purpose behind doing so is participation in ideation and
generation of ideas circumscribing a pre defined theme for a fixed time period. Before the setup
of an idea challenge, goals must be clearly defined (Gama, 2019). There are mainly two kind of
idea challenge, namely, problem centric and solution centric. It is important to determine
whether the intent is determination of challenges or development of potential solution for the
same. The achievement of outcomes in relation to idea challenge can be assured using the
parameters like time, channel, audience, themes etc.
SCAMPER Technique: This is a method which is widely used for the purpose of creative
thinking as well as problem solving. It is considered as a holistic way of application of critical
thinking for modifying the existent concept, idea or procedures (Knight and et. al., 2019). The
purpose behind using this technique is making some adjustments to existing ideas or concepts for
reaching to the best solutions. SCAMPER stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to
2

another use, Eliminate and Reverse. These are acknowledged to be the 7 actions that are used for
replacement of parts within the procedure.
Brainstorm Cards: This is regarded as a useful tool developed by the Board of Innovation to
come up with dozens of new ideas in relation to the challenge that is being worked upon. This
tool provides assistance in taking into consideration the external factors like new technology,
societal trend, regulations etc. This approach tends to allow the generation of several ideas with
only a little effort (Brym, 2019). Out of these, many ideas may seem to be unviable but
brainstorm cards still allow the organisation to tackle the creativity block.
3

Management of Ideas
While idea generation is regarded to be an easy task, their collection and management goes
haywire in the absence of a proper tool. Many organisations make use of physical or digital
notebook for jotting the ideas. However, this method is not suitable if such idea needs to be
shared with other individuals (Knight and et. al., 2019). For this purpose, companies now use
Idea Management Tool which acts as the backbone for idea management procedure. It is the
system whereby ideas are gathered, discussed, prioritized and progress is tracked.
Succeeding with Idea Generation
Prior to the engagement of people in usage of the above defined tools for idea generation, there
are certain consideration that can provide assistance in getting effective result from the ideation
methods:- Defining problem: The more accurately an organization is able to describe its perceived
or current problem, better is the probability of coming up with sound ideas. Before
4

beginning, maximum information related to the issue should be gathered to reach to the
heart of issue.
 Involving right individuals: It is important to indulge the right set of individuals in order
to make the ideation process as productive as possible (Knight and et. al., 2019). Only
such personnel should be indulged who have knowledge of the issue and are literally
interested to make a change within the company. Setting constraints: Communication of an idea being good might affect the creativity of
team, thus it is important to ensure that the goals set are specific as well as ambitious. In
the absence of constraints, individuals in the company come up with small advices having
negligible creativity. However, people are required to make extensive use of their
imagination in order to come up with desired outcomes.
On the basis of above discussion, it can be said the given statement is justified as well as
a stand is aforementioned in its strong favour.
5

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bourke, J., Roper, S. and Love, J. H., 2020. Innovation in legal services: The practices that
influence ideation and codification activities. Journal of Business Research, 109, pp.132-
147.
Brym, R. J., 2019. The innovation of ideation and ideology: an analytical framework and
application to the cases of Sabbateanism and Zionism (Doctoral dissertation).
Gama, F., 2019. Managing collaborative ideation: the role of formal and informal appropriability
mechanisms. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 15(1), pp.97-
118.
Knight, J. and et. al., 2019. Design Thinking for Innovation. Stress Testing Human Factors in
Ideation Sessions. The Design Journal, 22(sup1), pp.1929-1939.
6