Cultivate an idea

Cultivating ideas requires the perfect blend of creativity and methodology, plus a touch of commitment and inspiration.  You can inspire creativity in a number of ways:

• Regularly host creative brainstorming sessions
• Allow more time for cross-functional collaboration & networking
• Offer an outlet for creative ideas
• Share best practices from other industries
• Reward creativity in team settings
• Get comfortable taking risks

Once you've built your idea funnel, you'll need to determine which ideas move forward into development. A handful of questions can help you manage the funnel:

• Does the idea address an unmet need? Or create new value?
• How common is the unmet need? How broad is the opportunity to create value?
• Is the idea new or unique? If not, why did it fail in the past?
• Who will value the idea? Why?
• How will the idea change the way things are done today?
• What are the barriers to the adoption of the new idea?