Ideation 101
Global warming! World hunger! Mass shootings! These are some of the major problems that are prevalent in the real world 🌏 today, that you and your teammates are determined to solve. But how do you take that passion and come up with a solution💡?
Once you and your team have decided on a problem that you’re all passionate about addressing in the Conrad Challenge, the next step is to brainstorm 🧠🌧 potential solutions. Don’t worry if you don’t know where to start! Everyone has to start from the beginning, and that’s why we’re here to help.
Brilliant innovators need great tools 🛠 to maximize their brainstorming ability. Here are some of the favorite tools that Conraders use to accelerate their ideation.
Miro! Miro is a cutting-edge online whiteboard tool for collaborative work that is quickly becoming the gold standard for ideation and creative companies. Miro enables you to effectively write out ideas on virtual sticky notes and color code them to your liking! They even have great brainstorming templates to help you get started fast. Miro comes highly recommended from Conrad alumni, especially those who work in remote teams. Give Miro a try! Who knows maybe this is how you will find your winning idea?
Post-its and Whiteboards. For our teams who are able to work in person, working on paper 📄 can be even better than brainstorming digitally. Visually writing everything down and color coding promotes creativity and helps keep track of ideas.
Google Docs. Lastly, we all have our Google Docs lovers! Sometimes all you need is a blank document to write in. An easy click 💻 allows you to share your document with someone right next to you or someone on the other side of the world. Working collaboratively on a document is perfect for ideation and what better way than our well-known Google Docs!
Now that you and your team are set up on a tool that works for you all, it’s time for the actual brainstorming!
Here are our favorite tips for ideation shared by Conrad alumni!
Go fast ⚡! You shouldn't worry about being perfect at this stage. You only have a short period of time between the Activation Stage and Lean Canvas Stage, so don't dwell on perfecting your ideas right away. You'll have time ⏰ to refine in the later stages!
Keep them short! You don’t need to list out the terms and conditions while brainstorming! Focus on getting more ideas out. In this stage you want to solve for quantity, not quality.
Yes, and…! By the end of your brainstorming session, this should be your team's catchphrase! Build off of each other’s ideas 🫂, and make sure to hold off the criticism. You don’t want to interrupt the flow by critiquing an idea or explaining why it won’t work. That time comes later! This is a moment for “divergent thinking.”
Have everyone participate! Invite your teammates to speak! The best brainstorming sessions collect the widest range of ideas. A welcoming environment in your team dynamic is setting you up for success in future rounds as well. You're not just coming up with a solution but also building the foundation for a strong Conrad team 🤞. You'll need to work together for many more months to come.
Keep the ideas ownerless! Attaching your or your teammate’s name to an idea ("Jane’s idea for XYZ") can create a few obstacles in the long term for your team’s dynamic.
“How might we…?” Are you struggling coming up with ideas? Use this question as an ideation accelerator ⏩ and pitch it amongst your group. Take a look at this website to learn more on “How might we…?” questions.
Now that you have a long list of potential ideas to work from, you’ll need to converge on your favorite. There are many ways to do this, but some of our favorite methods include voting 🙋♀️…. Pick a few of your favorite solutions to explore further. See whether the idea is feasible and unique by going through the Lean Canvas prompts or listing out pros and cons! Remember that Conard is an innovation competition. It’s really important you try to focus on something that's new or different, not just replicating something that already exists.