In our last post we looked at some of the big brand companies and how they are leveraging crowd sourcing to improve their business.
In this post we introduce a collection of innovation and evaluation tools that will help you identify opportunities around people, product, process and communication.
If you’re after brainstorm tools we have another book called “Collaborative Creativity”.
Visit us here to find out more.
With the following collection of tools we have included one brainstorm tool around innovation called SCAMPER.
SCAMPER is a checklist of idea-spurring questions.
To use SCAMPER:
Think of a spoon
Before you innovate you need to know where you’re at. Use this tool to do an audit around what is “fixed”, “flexible” and “inconvenient” around your brand.
This tool looks at different origin points for innovation, allowing you to project potential ideas for future commercial gain.
The Idea Generator, Ken Hudson 2007
Consider any processes greater than 2 years old and how they could be radically improved.
This is a technique that is used for innovation steering committees to draw out relevant experiences which can overcome challenges or capitalise on opportunities.
Source: Young President Organisation
Use this tool to identify opportunities or areas for your business to innovate in.
The Phoenix Checklist is a checklist developed by the CIA to get their agents thinking about ways to solve a problem – great to apply to your business:
Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono
You can use this chart to evaluate the potential impact your idea might have over the short, medium and long term.
When assessing innovation it’s important to see what might be possible even though there will undoubtedly be many hurdles and obstacles. This tool helps you predict possible blockades before they occur.
In our next post we'll discuss the advertising cycle and why the emotional mind is so important in the decision making process.