Innovative Ideation Techniques

#LateralThinking, a term coined by Edward de Bono in the 1960s, or flexible thinking, refers to a problem-solving approach that involves looking at a situation or problem from unexpected angles, thereby enabling innovative solutions. 1. Encourages #Creativity: Lateral thinking taps into the imaginative aspect of our minds. By breaking free from conventional routines and patterns of thought, individuals can generate unique ideas and solutions that would otherwise remain undiscovered. 2. Enhances #ProblemSolving Skills: Traditional methodologies often rely on linear or logical progression, which can be limiting. Lateral thinking introduces a more dynamic approach, allowing for multiple potential solutions to be considered. 3. Fosters #Innovation: In business and technology, innovation is critical for maintaining competitive advantage. Organizations that promote lateral thinking among their teams are more likely to develop breakthrough products and services, as employees feel empowered to propose unconventional ideas. 4. Improves #Collaboration: By encouraging diverse perspectives and brainstorming sessions, lateral thinking leads to greater collaboration among team members. Different viewpoints can inspire a more inclusive environment that values contributions from all members, leading to richer, more robust solutions. Key Techniques for Cultivating Lateral Thinking 1. Questioning Assumptions: Begin by identifying and challenging the assumptions that underlie your thinking. Techniques such as the “Five Whys” can help dig deeper into the root causes of a problem. 2. Mind Mapping: This technique involves visualizing ideas and solutions around a central concept. By mapping out thoughts in a non-linear way, you can see connections between ideas that may not be apparent in a structured list format. 3. Random Input: Introduce an unrelated stimulus (a word, image, or object) into your thinking process. This random input can trigger novel associations and stimulate new ideas that can lead to unconventional solutions. 4. Role Play: Assume different roles or perspectives related to the problem at hand. For instance, thinking from the viewpoint of the customer, competitor, or even an inanimate object can provide fresh insights and reveal untapped solutions. 5. SCAMPER Technique: The acronym stands for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse. This brainstorming approach encourages you to manipulate and explore existing products or ideas, leading to innovation and new concepts. 6. Creative Constraints: Sometimes, placing specific constraints on your thinking can paradoxically foster creativity. For instance, limit your resources or time, or impose specific rules (e.g., generate only ideas that involve a specific color). In an age where change is the only constant, one thing remains clear: the ability to think laterally is a powerful asset for any problem-solver.

Stop asking AI to “brainstorm.” (Do this instead) If you type “Give me 10 creative ideas” into ChatGPT, you will get the average of the internet. You get generic, safe, vanilla patterns. The sea of sameness. To get breakthrough ideas, you need to force the AI off the beaten path using proven creative frameworks. I created this visual guide to replace unstructured requests with 8 specific techniques. Here is the full breakdown to upgrade your next session: 1. Divergent Thinking Focus on volume, not quality. Ask for 20 unique, unconventional ideas without judgment to clear the pipes. 2. Cross-Pollination Take two unrelated concepts and force them together. "Combine the hospitality of a 5-star hotel with the efficiency of a pit crew." 3. Constraint-Based Ideation Creativity loves constraints. "Generate ideas assuming we have only $100 and 24 hours to launch." 4. Role-Playing Scenarios (🌟 My Favorite) This is the most powerful unlock on the list. Pro Tip: Don’t just type this prompt.. use the Voice Mode (Siri-style) in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. Tell the AI: "You are my angriest customer. I'm going to pitch you my new idea, and I want you to tear it apart." Having a literal spoken conversation with a persona surfaces objections and nuances that text prompting often misses. 5. SCAMMPER Technique Don't invent from scratch. Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, or Reverse an existing idea. Modify twice! 6. Mind Mapping Ask the AI to explore the semantic web around your topic to find related sub-themes you haven't considered. 7. “What If” Scenarios Explore the extremes. “What if we had to 100x the value to our customers?" “What if it becomes free?" 8. Visual Brainstorming Switch modalities. Ask for visual concepts, scenes, and imagery descriptions rather than strategic text. Lazy prompts get lazy results. Treat the AI like an expert creative partner that needs direction, not a search engine that needs a keyword. Save this cheat sheet for your next strategy session. ——> Follow along with Matt Savarick to grow 💡 Repost to help your network grow ♻️

Most people think innovation means starting from scratch. That’s nonsense. Some of the best ideas don’t start with a blank page... they start with a remix. And that’s exactly what I taught last week at the Milken Institute’s American Dream Festival and how to take what works over here and apply it over there. It’s called “This for That” innovation and it’s one of the most powerful tools I teach in my workshops. Want proof? Let’s play a little “origin story” game: 🚗 Uber = Taxis × Mobile App Convenience 👗 Rent the Runway = Netflix × High Fashion 🏠 Airbnb = Craigslist × Design-Conscious Travel 👶 Rover = Airbnb × Your Dog Let’s talk about that last one for a minute. A buddy of mine, Greg Gottesman, pitched the idea of “Airbnb for dogs” at a hackathon. He had a simple frustration: He loved his dog. He hated the kennel. So what if (like Airbnb) dog lovers could open their homes to other people’s pets? The pitch was catchy. The problem was real. The analogy? It killed. They built a prototype that weekend… That bad idea turned into Rover.com, which has now raised over $300 million and went public in 2021. Why does this work? Because analogies create a shortcut for both you and your audience. You can skip the “what is it?” confusion and start building or selling faster. And here’s the real unlock: If you can name a successful company you admire… And a customer group you love or understand… You’ve already got your next brainstorming prompt. It’s how Rent the Runway happened. Co-founder Jennifer Hyman looked at how Netflix let people rent entertainment… And wondered why you couldn’t rent style the same way. One analogy. One insight. One billion-dollar business. Want to try this yourself? Here’s the exercise I taught at Milken: 🧩 The “Idea Crossbreeding Grid” 1. Down the left side: Write out 10 businesses, startups, or models you admire. (Uber, Amazon, Calm, Substack, etc.) 2. Across the top: Write 10 customer groups or personas you know well. (New parents, teachers, Gen Z, freelancers, etc.) 3. In each box, write a mashup idea. No filters. No judgment. Just remix. It’s the best way I know to come up with a hundred ideas in under 30 minutes. Some will be hilarious. Some will be terrible. And 1 or 2 might be the foundation of your next big thing. TL;DR: • You don’t have to invent something new. • You just have to translate something great into a new context. • Analogies are your ideation cheat code. Stay tuned. I’m breaking down all 8 techniques from my Milken session in this series. Here's the link to the full article: https://lnkd.in/epUM8QtX

Hack Your Team's Mindset: 5 Unconventional Warmups for Innovation Workshops 🧠⚡ Ever run an innovation workshop that felt like trying to start a car with a dead battery? That first 30 minutes determines whether you'll get breakthrough ideas or recycled thinking. Something that I call getting into the “psychology of innovation”. After facilitating several sessions, I've discovered something surprising: the traditional "let's go around and introduce ourselves" kills creative energy before it starts. Your team's brains are still in operational mode—not possibility mode. Here are five unconventional warmups I've tested that rewire neural pathways for innovation in under 20 minutes: 1. The Impossible Question Challenge 🔥 Start by asking questions that have no "correct" answers: "How would you design a restaurant on Mars?" or "What if sleep became optional?" This immediately signals we're breaking free from conventional thinking. 2. The Reality Bending Exercise ✨ Have everyone write down three "unchangeable facts" about your industry. Then challenge teams to imagine a world where each "fact" is no longer true. As Steve Jobs said, "Reality can be distorted"—this exercise trains that muscle. 3. The Reverse Assumptions Game 🔄 List 5-10 core assumptions about your business. Then systematically reverse each one: "What if we charged more for less?" or "What if our customers became our employees?" This shatters mental models almost instantly. 4. The "Yes, And..." Chain Reaction ⛓️ One person proposes a wild idea. Instead of evaluating it, the next person must say "Yes, and..." adding something to evolve it further. Continue for 3-5 minutes. This dismantles our innate criticism reflex. 5. Two-Minute Futures ⏱️ Give everyone two minutes to draw what your industry will look like in 2040. The time constraint bypasses the analytical brain and accesses the intuitive one. The crude drawings often reveal surprising insights about shared hopes and fears. Remember: Innovation doesn't need fancy frameworks—it needs minds free from invisible constraints. These warmups aren't just games; they're pattern-disruptors that help your team escape their mental programming. What's your go-to innovation warmup? Have you tried activities that break conventional thinking patterns? #InnovationWorkshops #CreativeThinking #DesignThinking #TeamFacilitation #Creativity #TransformativeMindset

I don’t get my best ideas in forced ideation meetings. I get them during my 45-minute disconnect sessions. Most people think innovation comes from working non-stop. But real breakthroughs don't come from grinding harder - they come when you step away from: - Work - Screens - Constant hustle Research from UC Berkeley shows a striking finding: taking regular breaks from technology boosts creativity by 60%. Bill Gates does this through an annual think week - where he lives in an off-grid cabin in the woods just to disconnect and think. But that’s not an option for you and me, so here are my easier alternatives that consistently lead to breakthrough ideas: 1. Tech-free nature walks ↳ Nature walks without my phone force me to notice things I'd usually miss. The fresh air clears mental clutter, and new environments spark unexpected connections. ↳ Moving outdoors boosts my energy, making me feel more refreshed and open to new ideas. 2. Doodling and mind mapping ↳ It allows me to visually explore ideas and connect dots I'd normally overlook. ↳ The freeform process helps me think without constraints while giving my brain a productive break. 3. Zero-pressure brainstorming ↳ I ask “What if?” questions when there’s no need to do so, and welcome every idea without any judgment. ↳ It leads to bold, unexpected solutions because no idea is off-limits. ↳ By exploring all possibilities, I find more innovative answers. Following this routine fuels the kind of creativity that sets you apart. This intentional disconnection creates space for breakthrough ideas that others miss while stuck in their daily grind. What's your favorite way to disconnect? Has it ever led to an unexpected breakthrough? #breaksessions #productivityhack #personalgrowth

The hidden cost of traditional ideation: A company spent: - $25,000 on a 2-day ideation workshop - 240 person-hours of senior staff time - 3 months evaluating concepts - $1.2M developing the best ideas Result: Market failure Why? They were solving problems customers didn't have, and they were not aligned around which ideas were "best." Outcome-Driven Ideation flips this equation: - Pre-validate which customer outcomes are underserved - Focus ideation only on those specific outcomes - Evaluate concepts against quantifiable metrics - Build cross-functional alignment before development even begins The ROI difference is staggering: - 86% vs. 17% success rate - 60% faster time-to-market - 40% lower development costs Innovation doesn't have to be a gamble.

I get asked at least once a week how we come up with growth hack ideas at Delve. Here's the secret: — It's not that we have a different creative muscle. It's not that we're just naturally creative and if you're not creative, you can't do it. We just have a simple playbook. And here it is: — (1) Find an ordinary thing people don't think much about and put a clever twist on it. For example, one day while walking over a doormat, I thought to myself that it's just free real estate. I thought it would be quite amusing if we used it as "ad space." So we decided to send out doormats to the 100 hottest startups that said "Your shoes look good. Do your SOCs 2?" We generated millions of pipeline from this alone. — (2) Take inspiration from past successful hacks. A year ago, Antimetal distributed 1,000 boxes of pizza, calling it SaaS (slices as a service). We saw that, thought it was brilliant, and used it as inspiration for our own campaigns. Earlier this year, we sent out 10,000 donuts in boxes that said "The only hole in your security we approve of." — (3) Get the whole team involved. If you're searching for an idea, you won't be able to come up with one. You have to let it process in your subconscious, or get the whole team involved to help ideate. When everyone on the team is thinking about it in the background, someone will inevitably come up with a clever idea. — Once we use these 3 methods to generate ideas, here's how we determine what's a good idea: We index for ideas that are stupid but brilliant. We want people to think "that was kind of stupid for them to pull off, but the more I think about it, it's actually kind of brilliant." Like flying a plane over a conference with a banner saying "Delve: SOC 2 made plane and simple." These types of ideas are always the ones that go organically viral. — To all the builders and innovators out there, hope this helps!

𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰 — 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲. You don’t wait for it. You 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝘁: Early in my career at Microsoft, I thought innovation came from sudden “aha” moments — brilliant flashes from out of the blue. But then I joined a team where our 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 was to surface blockers, share raw ideas, and run fast experiments — no slides, no overthinking, just momentum. We didn't just talk about innovation. We practiced it — like reps in the gym. That’s when it clicked: 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿. Here’s how to build your 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝗰𝗹𝗲 this week — one atomic practice per day: 1. 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 – 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 Ask: “𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮?”     2. 𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 – 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗣𝗲𝗻 Sketch one idea in under 3 minutes. (Fast is clarity.)     3. 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 – 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁 Borrow one idea from outside your field — remix it.     4. 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 – 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝘁𝗼 𝟭 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 Get a perspective from someone wildly different than you.     5. 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆 – 𝗥𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁 & 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘅 Write 1 insight + plan 1 small experiment for next week. 𝗦𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀. 𝗕𝗶𝗴 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘀. Master your innovation muscle — and you’ll make magic. — Follow me for more 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 in 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽.

I’m a big fan of The Walt Disney Company’s “plussing” principle. Here's how it works: when someone presents an idea, instead of poking holes, you build on it. You add to it. You make it stronger. You say, "Let's plus that idea to see how we can make it better." Too many innovative solutions die in conference rooms or video calls where smart people tear ideas apart in the name of rigor. It looks like this: Someone shares an idea. The room shifts into evaluation mode. Questions fly. Concerns surface. The idea's champion spends 30 minutes defending instead of developing. Even well-intentioned critique kills momentum and discourages fresh thinking. Plussing flips this entirely. When you ask people to add to an idea rather than assess it, they stop being judges and become collaborators. Their fingerprints are on it now. They're invested. You've just converted fence-sitters into co-creators. Three ways to start: 1. Model it. Next meeting, resist the urge to evaluate. Add something: "Yes, and what if we also..." 2. Make it explicit. "We're spending 15 minutes plussing this idea. Everyone adds one thing that makes it stronger." 3. Replace critique with construction. Build something worth evaluating before you evaluate it. The people you need on board will commit faster when they've helped shape the idea, not when you've defended it. What's one idea your team could plus this week?                                                   #innovation #solutions #ideation