Comments on: Idea generation: the M&Ms way

By: Ed Lahue

Ed Lahue — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 17:11:38 +0000

We hear this type of problem quite a bit. That many ideas are generated but not tied to specific insights and “hunting grounds”. Grant, you were probably attempting to decribe a “hunting ground” while the process was to far ahead churning ideas.

The insights need to be clearly defined as well as agreed upon “hunting grounds” have to be established prior to any worthwhile ideation. Otherwise it’s just random brainstorming. It’s about insights not ideas!!!

Ed Lahue
The ELM Group
http://www.elmgrp.com

By: I Speak of Dreams

I Speak of Dreams — Sat, 11 Dec 2004 01:31:17 +0000

The Spoiler

Have you ever noticed that some groups–especially groups convened to get a job done–just never gel, and you can’t put your finger on why? Grant has a clue–several, actually. Knowing what goes wrong is the first step to leading towards

By: Acad Ronin

Acad Ronin — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 16:46:30 +0000

Sounds like the process requires a moderator who “does not have a dog in this hunt”, and does have a large bag of M&Ms and a good throwing arm, at least if academics are involved.

By: T: Central

T: Central — Fri, 10 Dec 2004 10:59:53 +0000

Sounds very much like the “Independence” criteria for good group decision-making in James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds. The M&Ms are an interesting addition – an ENFORCEMENT mechanism.

Great blog, by the way, and congrats on the marriage.

By: steve

steve — Thu, 09 Dec 2004 19:16:11 +0000

This is one of the points I tried to make in my comment on “Name Them and Shame Them.” Brainstorming sessions are a time to turn down the critical sense; naysayers or “cadmium rods” are acting rudely and counterproductively during such sessions.

But wide-open brainstorming is just one stage of a working innovaton process. The critical editing function must be deployed immediately to point out the problems that were overlooked during the open-minded phase. This can result either in amendment of the idea generated or a new brainstorming phase where people have internalized the lessons of the critical phase.

This works for individual problem-solving as well. I once heard a graphic designer describe his process as RICE–Research, Incubate, Conceptualize, Edit–with returns to previous stages when the process got blocked at the end.

By: Foolippic

Foolippic — Wed, 08 Dec 2004 20:25:12 +0000

Interesting

This Blog Sits at the: Idea generation: the M&Ms way Of course, where I work I’d need an M&M airgun capable of full autofire with a bucket feed……