In many companies there is no obvious strategy for selecting or even evaluating ideas. According to author Robert B. Tucker, a clear set of criteria for screening ideas and having properly-trained people on the selection team is critical to systematic innovation.
When brainstorming, it's not enough to generate a large quantity of ideas. You must have an organized way to evaluate the ideas you have generated. Charles "Chic" Thompson, in his excellent book, What a Great Idea! Key Steps Creative People Take, suggests this valuable list of evaluation idea questions.
When looking for solutions to problems, we humans have an unfortunate tendency to embrace the first solution that comes to mind. That can be counterproductive, but it can also blind us to more creative, effective and ultimately more profitable solutions, according to Jeffrey Baumgartner.
Whether you're inventing teabags or nail polish, innovations that solve actual problems make more common sense to consumers than "bright ideas" that "assume" a problem.
Idea management technology helps organizations to gather ideas from all employees, evaluate them and bring them to market faster than ever before. Learn more about the typical features of these powerful tools, and the benefits they can provide to firms like yours.
