process, forecasting, ideaIn the process of generating business ideas:
If you imagine that the process of Ideation is mapping an “idea space”, then it’s a bit like playing the game Battleship, except that you often don’t realise when you hit or miss.
What can seem like a hit initially can turn out to not be a part of the Battleship you’re looking for but a rusted hull from an old ship. Conversely something that seems like a miss might have been really close but just need work to be turned into a hit.
New ideas are often formed by combining two or more well known ideas. Applying an idea from another unrelated area can be the creative spark. Putting a new twist on an old idea.
So:
Quantity vs quality. You may hit the perfect idea on the second or the thousandth try. It’s hard to predict. It also depends on whether the idea space you’re working in is finite or infinite. A finite space will perhaps yield a measure of how much of the space you have mapped, whereas an infinite space or an expandable idea space will not. You can be hunting for Battleships forever and still hit. So the question should be can you measure the size of the idea space?
Measuring the point of diminishing returns. Is the idea space finite? If not then you need a different indicator of success. e.g. The idea serves the purpose, is appropriate, is implementable, is combinable with other ideas, etc.
From a practical standpoint, it’s not quantity vs quality, it’s quantity vs human energy to process and be creative. Most humans don’t multitask or process large numbers well. So the more ideas could actually reduce the time you can spend to understand each idea well. That’s a trade-off and risk you take in the process. Hitting a “sweet spot” where the creative process rocks should be the target.
It may seem antithetical but I usually find defining the scope of the problem or design that the ideation process is targeted at, aids in the process itself, helping to judge the quality of ideas and when the space has been mapped as thoroughly as it can.
Kind of like drawing a border on the map where you’re going to fire, mapping hits or misses that lay outside of the border, then when looking at ideas concentrating first on ones that are inside the border or at least near the edge.
The best ideas are often formed when limitations are imposed and you ask the question what if..
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