Breakthrough Thinking from Inside the Box by Kevin P. Coyne, Patricia Gorman Clifford, and Renee Dye HBR December 2007

Why brainstorming doesn’t work? Assign task of slicing and dicing the old boxes in new ways Almost always produces only small to middling insights (albeit for different reasons) “ Database” corresponds to insights that are already recognized not ones that aren’t Recrunching numbers will probably be discovered by competitors’ Customers can rarely tell you whether they need or want a product that they have seen or imagined Two common techniques Encourage people to go wild and think out of the box Most people are not very good at unstructured, abstract brainstorming Outside the box possibilities could make the product bigger, smaller, lighter or heavier, prettier or more rugged…which dimensions are fruitful? “ There are no bad ideas” only compounds the confusion

Assign task of slicing and dicing the old boxes in new ways

Almost always produces only small to middling insights (albeit for different reasons)

“ Database” corresponds to insights that are already recognized not ones that aren’t

Recrunching numbers will probably be discovered by competitors’

Customers can rarely tell you whether they need or want a product that they have seen or imagined

Encourage people to go wild and

think out of the box

Most people are not very good at unstructured, abstract brainstorming

Outside the box possibilities could make the product bigger, smaller, lighter or heavier, prettier or more rugged…which dimensions are fruitful?

“ There are no bad ideas” only compounds the confusion

Asking the right questions leads to the Middle Path Approach (between boundless speculation and quantitative data analysis) Ask questions that create new boxes to think inside Organization and conducting brainstorming sessions makes an enormous difference

Middle Path Approach

(between boundless speculation and quantitative data analysis)

Ask questions that create new boxes to think inside

Organization and conducting brainstorming sessions makes an enormous difference

21 great questions for developing new products De-average buyers and users Which customers use or purchase our products in the most unusual way? Do any customers need vastly more or less sales and service attention than most? For which customer are the support costs (order entry, tracking, customer specific design) either unusually high or unusually low? Could we still meet the needs of a significant subset of customers if we stripped 25% of the hard or soft costs out of our products? Who spends at least 50% of what our products to adapt it to their specific needs? Examine binding constraints What is the biggest hassle of purchasing or using our products? What are some examples of ad hoc modifications that customers have made to our products? For which current customers is our product least suited? For what particular usage occasions is our product least suited? Which Customers does the industry prefer not to serve, and why? Which customers could be major users, if only we could remove one specific barrier we’ve never previously considered? Explore unexpected successes Who uses our product in ways we never expected or intended? Who uses our product in surprisingly large quantities? Imagine perfection How would we do things differently if we had perfect information about our buyers, usage, distribution channels, and so on? How would our product change if it were tailored for every customer? Look beyond the boundaries of our business Who else is dealing with the same generic problem as we are for an entirely different reason? How have they addressed it? What major breakthroughs in efficiency or effectiveness have we made in our business that could be applied in another r industry? What information about our customers and product use is created as a by-product of our business that cold be the key to radically improving the economics of another business? Revisit the premises underlying our processes and products Which technologies embedded in our product have changed the most since the product was last designed? Which technologies underlying our product processes have changed the most since we last rebuilt our manufacturing and distribution systems? Which customers’ needs are shifting most rapidly? What will they be in five years?

De-average buyers and users

Which customers use or purchase our products in the most unusual way?

Do any customers need vastly more or less sales and service attention than most?

For which customer are the support costs (order entry, tracking, customer specific design) either unusually high or unusually low?

Could we still meet the needs of a significant subset of customers if we stripped 25% of the hard or soft costs out of our products?

Who spends at least 50% of what our products to adapt it to their specific needs?

Examine binding constraints

What is the biggest hassle of purchasing or using our products?

What are some examples of ad hoc modifications that customers have made to our products?

For which current customers is our product least suited?

For what particular usage occasions is our product least suited?

Which Customers does the industry prefer not to serve, and why?

Which customers could be major users, if only we could remove one specific barrier we’ve never previously considered?

Explore unexpected successes

Who uses our product in ways we never expected or intended?

Who uses our product in surprisingly large quantities?

Imagine perfection

How would we do things differently if we had perfect information about our buyers, usage, distribution channels, and so on?

How would our product change if it were tailored for every customer?

Look beyond the boundaries of our

business

Who else is dealing with the same generic problem as we are for an entirely different reason? How have they addressed it?

What major breakthroughs in efficiency or effectiveness have we made in our business that could be applied in another r industry?

What information about our customers and product use is created as a by-product of our business that cold be the key to radically improving the economics of another business?

Revisit the premises underlying our

processes and products

Which technologies embedded in our product have changed the most since the product was last designed?

Which technologies underlying our product processes have changed the most since we last rebuilt our manufacturing and distribution systems?

Which customers’ needs are shifting most rapidly? What will they be in five years?

Better orchestrating the process Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly Select participants who can produce original insights Ensure that everyone is engaged Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you Focus every discussion using your preselected questions Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away Before meeting clarify what constitutes the criteria for, and boundaries of, a good idea in your particular Consider the parameters of the particular problem you’re trying to solve Tailor the language of your questions to fit your goals and constraint Wording that generates radical ideas differs significantly those that will generate , moderate, low-risk ideas i.e. How to reduce costs? replaced by What element of our business would we have to cut to eliminate costs by 50%?

Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly

Select participants who can produce original insights

Ensure that everyone is engaged

Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you

Focus every discussion using your preselected questions

Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session

Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away

Before meeting clarify what constitutes the criteria for, and boundaries of, a good idea in your particular

Consider the parameters of the particular problem you’re trying to solve

Tailor the language of your questions to fit your goals and constraint

Wording that generates radical ideas differs significantly those that will generate , moderate, low-risk ideas

i.e. How to reduce costs? replaced by What element of our business would we have to cut to eliminate costs by 50%?

Better orchestrating the process Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly Select participants who can produce original insights Ensure that everyone is engaged Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you Focus every discussion using your preselected questions Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away Make sure enough people who can contribute Choose people who know from first-hand experience

Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly

Select participants who can produce original insights

Ensure that everyone is engaged

Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you

Focus every discussion using your preselected questions

Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session

Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away

Make sure enough people who can contribute

Choose people who know from first-hand experience

Better orchestrating the process Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly Select participants who can produce original insights Ensure that everyone is engaged Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you Focus every discussion using your preselected questions Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away Incent, Incent, Incent participants Getting 100% of participants to work at 100% of their capacity 100% of the session

Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly

Select participants who can produce original insights

Ensure that everyone is engaged

Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you

Focus every discussion using your preselected questions

Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session

Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away

Incent, Incent, Incent participants

Getting 100% of participants to work at 100% of their capacity 100% of the session

Better orchestrating the process Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly Select participants who can produce original insights Ensure that everyone is engaged Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you Focus every discussion using your preselected questions Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away Use social norm of four, where everyone participates Use five sub-groups to get “views” of five versus “one” Put all dominate, pushy people in one group to avoid silencing the others

Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly

Select participants who can produce original insights

Ensure that everyone is engaged

Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you

Focus every discussion using your preselected questions

Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session

Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away

Use social norm of four, where everyone participates

Use five sub-groups to get “views” of five versus “one”

Put all dominate, pushy people in one group to avoid silencing the others

Better orchestrating the process Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly Select participants who can produce original insights Ensure that everyone is engaged Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you Focus every discussion using your preselected questions Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away Explicitly state the ground rules you’ve decided on (i.e. big ideas or incremental improvements, budget) Such boundaries –> outline your new box -> channels creativity Divide into small groups, give each highly focused task (20-30 minutes) and report back to large group just the best ideas from that question Leads to complex, multi-layered notions -> higher likelihood of being killer idea

Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly

Select participants who can produce original insights

Ensure that everyone is engaged

Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you

Focus every discussion using your preselected questions

Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session

Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away

Explicitly state the ground rules you’ve decided on (i.e. big ideas or incremental improvements, budget)

Such boundaries –> outline your new box -> channels creativity

Divide into small groups, give each highly focused task (20-30 minutes) and report back to large group just the best ideas from that question

Leads to complex, multi-layered notions -> higher likelihood of being killer idea

Better orchestrating the process Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly Select participants who can produce original insights Ensure that everyone is engaged Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you Focus every discussion using your preselected questions Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away Multifaceted process, not an event Gather data before meeting Schedule follow-up meeting or two Provide a way to gather additional information

Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly

Select participants who can produce original insights

Ensure that everyone is engaged

Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you

Focus every discussion using your preselected questions

Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session

Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away

Multifaceted process, not an event

Gather data before meeting

Schedule follow-up meeting or two

Provide a way to gather additional information

Better orchestrating the process Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly Select participants who can produce original insights Ensure that everyone is engaged Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you Focus every discussion using your preselected questions Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away Perform task of selection during the session Should be simple, not necessary to be complex selection process Resolve fear of disappointing participants if one of their ideas is not chosen

Bound the range of acceptable ideas, then select and tailor the question accordingly

Select participants who can produce original insights

Ensure that everyone is engaged

Structure the meeting to ensure social norms work for you, not against you

Focus every discussion using your preselected questions

Do not rely solely on one brainstorming session

Narrow the list of ideas to the ones you will seriously investigate right away

Perform task of selection during the session

Should be simple, not necessary to be complex selection process

Resolve fear of disappointing participants if one of their ideas is not chosen