Techniques and Tools for Generating New Ideas and Thinking

This presentation explores various techniques and tools that can be used to generate new ideas and thinking. It covers mind mapping, decision making hats, lateral thinking, and random word generation. It also discusses the conditions for innovation, issues that impact innovative thinking, innovation drivers and enablers for Sim's Hardware, personal leadership style for positive innovative thinking, requirements to promote sustainable innovative activity, means to promote knowledge transfer, risks associated with innovation and possible mitigation strategies, strategies to promote creative thinking and innovation, resources required for innovation, strategies to foster workplace culture capable of encouraging innovation, potential barriers and risks to innovation along with strategies to respond, and reflection on the importance of developing an innovative organizational culture.

ASSESSMENT 3

Techniques and tools that can be used to
generate new ideas and thinking
There are various techniques and tools that can be used for generating new ideas
and thinking such as:
 Mind mapping is a common brainstorming technique used for generation of new ideas.
 Creating a checklist and asking six questions: why, where, when, who, what and how
 Focusing on six decision making hats: facts, emotions, caution, judgement, creativity
and control
 Lateral thinking in which problem is solved through creative approach.
 Random word generation in which content is tried and tied with two random words
generated.

Conditions for innovation and issues that can
impact innovative thinking and creativity
Conditions necessary for innovation are:
 Innovative culture
 Clearly defined innovation strategies
 Available finance for innovation
 Prevailing market conditions
 Using professional knowledge management system
 Questioning current existing organizations structure
Issues that impact individual or collective innovative or creative thinking are:
 Not thinking productively
 Being afraid of rejection of failure
 Never changing or adopting new situation or changes
 Not thinking proactively

Innovation drivers and enablers for Sim’s
Hardware
 Technology is one of the most powerful driver that had helped Sim’s Hardware in both
innovation and evolution (Le Masson, Weil and Hatchuel, 2017).
 Using scalable technology and connecting it with growth had worked as a top driver for
Sim’s hardware.
 Alignment of business strategies to innovation is another innovation enabler.
 Empowering cross functional teams also helps in building innovative culture within an
organization and work as an innovation enabler for Sim’s hardware.

Personal leadership style to model positive
innovative thinking and practise
 Personal leadership style is a style that helps in determining one’s own leadership style
in taking right decisions.
 This personal leadership style can help in modelling positive innovative thinking and
practises.
 As these kinds of leaders believe in innovative thinking and realize its importance for
growth and development of the business.

Requirements to promote sustainable innovative
activity for operation context and people involved
Following are the requirements to promote sustainable innovation activity in an
organization for operation context and people involved:
 Align business strategy
 Obtain executive support
 Develop a suitable innovation management process
 Identify all kinds of tasks and roles required
 Determine check metrics
 Build a suitable process and strategy
 Establish an innovative culture for the employees so that they can think innovatively.

Different means to promote knowledge
transfer
There are various ways through which knowledge transfer can be promoted such as:
 Creating a right mindset and environment can help in promoting knowledge transfer
 Leveraging social space where people can share and create knowledge within social
context (Carayannis, Sindakis and Walter, 2015).
 Team leaders or seniors should lead as an example by sharing and opening for
significant ideas or valuable information.
 By creating a rewards and recognition culture of employees so that they get motivated
and knowledge transfer can be promoted.

Risk associated with innovation and
possible mitigation strategies
There are three main types of risks associated with innovation such as:
 Failing to meet quality and cost requirements associated with innovation
 Failing to attract new customers towards new innovative product or service
 Investing in unsuccessful innovative projects.
 Possible mitigation strategies are:
 Before investing in large innovative projects professional advices should be taken and a
insight should be gained so that risk associated with the innovative project can be
identified.
 Continuous feedbacks should be taken and thought on
 Remain updated with the ongoing market research.

Strategies to innovate and promote creative
thinking techniques, innovative practise etc.
There are various strategies that can be used to promote and innovate creative
thinking, technique, practises, products, services are:
 By training staff in innovative techniques
 Tolerating mistakes and improving them so that innovation and creative thinking can be
promoted.
 Actively socialise and ask for suggestions and implement them in order to promote
creative thinking and innovation.
 Creating various challenges for employees so that they can think of some creative
techniques or practises to overcome such challenges.

Resources required for innovation in
organization
There are various resources that are required by the organizations for innovation such as:
 First resource is no doubt money as every innovation requires some money to be
invested (Rajapathirana and Hui, 2018).
 Another resource is people who can think innovatively and bring innovation within the
organization
 Third is time as each innovation required undefined time period to be completed.
 Fourth is equipment’s whether they are hardware’s or software’s so that company can
easily work on innovative projects without any hurdle.

Strategies to foster workplace culture
capable of encouraging innovation
There are various strategies that can be used to foster workplace culture capable
of encouraging innovation:
 First is to ask of new ideas so that employees can think and develop skills to work on
innovative projects and think differently.
 Allowing employees to devote their working hours in inventing new things.
 Allowing employees to make mistakes so that they can bring improvement within
themselves.
 Building effective and efficient teams who can work on achieving organizational
objectives.

Potential barriers and risk to innovation
along with the strategies to respond
There are various barriers to innovation such as:
 Lack of skilful brainstorm facilitation
 Lack of proper leadership
 Lack of resources of capabilities
 Lack of collaboration and coordination
Strategies to overcome such barriers are:
 Team building exercises can help in improving collaboration and coordination among team
members
 Providing proper training so that employees can work on their brainstorming abilities or
skills
 Empowering middle managers can also help in driving innovation strategies.

Reflection
 As an innovation and development consultant I think one of the most important things
required for innovation and adopting innovation practises is to develop an innovative
organizational culture or environment.
 I can review my performance by asking feedbacks from employees and brainstorming
on it so that if any kind of improvement is required then I can work on it.
 As I have already explained above that one of the major risks associated with
innovation or barrier of innovation lies within the organization like lack of
brainstorming skills, lack of creative thinking etc.
 According to me proper training should be provided to the employees so that they can
build creative thinking and can also think of innovative ideas or think differently.

References
Books and Journals
 Carayannis, E.G., Sindakis, S. and Walter, C., 2015. Business model innovation as
lever of organizational sustainability. The Journal of Technology Transfer. 40(1). pp.85-
104.
 Le Masson, P., Weil, B. and Hatchuel, A., 2017. Design theory: Methods and
organization for innovation. Springer.
 Rajapathirana, R.J. and Hui, Y., 2018. Relationship between innovation capability,
innovation type, and firm performance. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge. 3(1).
pp.44-55.

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