How do you select the best idea from many?

1 Clarify your goals

Before you start evaluating your ideas, you need to have a clear understanding of what you are trying to achieve. What is the problem you are solving, the opportunity you are seizing, or the value you are creating? What are the desired outcomes, benefits, and impacts of your innovation? How will you measure your success? Clarifying your goals will help you define the criteria and indicators that you will use to assess your ideas.

2 Use a scoring system

One way to compare your ideas is to use a scoring system that assigns numerical values to each idea based on how well they meet your criteria. For example, you can use a simple 1-5 scale, where 1 means poor and 5 means excellent, to rate each idea on dimensions such as feasibility, desirability, viability, originality, and alignment with your goals. You can then add up the scores for each idea and rank them from highest to lowest. A scoring system can help you quantify and standardize your evaluation, but it can also be subjective and biased, so you should use it with caution and transparency.

3 Apply a matrix

Another way to compare your ideas is to use a matrix that plots them on two axes based on two important criteria. For example, you can use an effort-impact matrix, where the x-axis represents the effort required to implement the idea and the y-axis represents the impact it will have on your goals. You can then categorize your ideas into four quadrants: quick wins, major projects, fill-ins, and thankless tasks. A matrix can help you visualize and prioritize your ideas, but it can also oversimplify and ignore other factors, so you should use it with flexibility and context.

4 Seek feedback

A third way to compare your ideas is to seek feedback from relevant stakeholders, such as customers, users, partners, experts, or peers. You can use various methods to collect feedback, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, or prototyping. You can then analyze the feedback to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each idea, as well as the level of interest, satisfaction, and support they generate. Seeking feedback can help you validate and improve your ideas, but it can also be time-consuming and conflicting, so you should use it with balance and openness.

5 Make a decision

After you have evaluated, compared, and prioritized your ideas using the methods and tools above, you need to make a decision on which idea to pursue. There is no one right way to make a decision, but you should consider the following factors: your intuition, your data, your resources, your risks, and your commitment. You should also communicate your decision clearly and confidently, explaining the rationale and the next steps. Making a decision can be hard, but it is also essential to move forward with your innovation.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?