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#1: How to Implement Ideas from an Ideation Workshop

If you’ve ever held an ideation workshop, you know how fun it can be when people come up with fantastic ideas and everyone gets excited. And then what comes next?


… Crickets.


It’s almost like it’s one of the great mysteries in life (or work) – how to implement ideas from an ideation workshop? We mean, how to actually see an idea through from concept all the way through to it being launched as a great product or service.


In this 6-part series, we’ll take a look at why some great ideas never reach it to the finishing line and, more importantly, what you can do to make sure more of them actually do. This way, you’ll know how to implement ideas from an ideation workshop, turn them into great proposals, and end up with a viable concept for a successful product.


Why some ideas don’t come to fruition

Ideation is an exciting process. The possibilities are endless. The sky is the limit. The sticking point is that people often deal with ideal scenarios at this point. Ideation identifies the consumer’s needs and generates ways to meet them, but the process takes place in a vacuum.

As a result, there is often a disconnect between what should be and what is. When the team breaks the huddle and each member goes their separate ways, that’s when reality sets in. People start realising that there might be legal issues that were not considered or design implications that might make mass production impossible or at least impractical.

What happens to the list of great ideas from the workshop? Nothing. It stays exactly what it is – a list of great ideas.


So, how to implement ideas from an ideation workshop? Let’s look at steps to take to keep those ideas moving along the creation pipeline.


Set yourself up for success in the first meeting

To make sure that the idea does not die once the brainstorming process ends, it helps to identify potential problems in the early stages and deal with them in the first meeting.



#1: Keep an open mind to all ideas

Adopt a “yes if” mindset and ditch the “no but” mentality when dealing with all the valid points raised during the workshop.


It may be tempting, but don't think about what is possible and what's not when shortlisting ideas. Are you about to kill an idea because we don't have the manufacturing capability? Hold it right there. YES we can...IF we were to invest in a new machinery...? Perhaps that is a discussion we can take to management and make it a reality.


Stay tune in the coming weeks for more bite-sized tips on how to implement ideas from an ideation workshop!




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