How I come up with new ideas

Written on the 1st of February 2011 by Jen Storey

Given the market entry work that I do for various brands, ideas and products, I am often asked this question.
"How do I come up with a new idea?"

It's an age old question. One that many companies specialising in the Innovation space [tough problem] and Second Road have training, methologies and design processes to determine. If you've got the budget, you can commission the big consultancies like McKinsey&Co, Booz and Bain to find an idea that might work for you and your business.

IDEO which is a ''hero" company of mine, exist purely on finding new ideas, solutions, innovation and gaps in the market.

So how do you come up with a new idea. Unfortunately most 'new ideas' aren't new.
That's ok too. Execution of the idea is imperative too. If new slants on the same idea didn't have legs there would be no competition - only one bank, one type of pizza and one brand of lipstick.

Innovation drives both new ideas and improvements on old ones.
How you plan, develop and take your new idea to market is the game changer.

Ask any entrepreneur. Many started off with what they thought was an idea, but often it quickly evolved into something different to what they planned. As they explored the original idea they discovered the 'hole', the 'gap' and therefore the opportunity.

One thing that I can guarantee that will kill off a good idea is a 'devils advocate'. No one wearing that hat brings anything to an idea. You need to explore an idea down several paths before the right opportunity appears. If you stop too soon in your idea exploration because someone says "I'm just going to play devil's advocate" is an idea killer.

So that's how you come up with a new idea. Look for a hole that no one else has fallen into yet - then work out why there is a hole and what you can do about it.

Want to do some reading? Check out my innovation reading recommendations.