What do you do if your Business Strategy team is overwhelmed with innovative ideas?

Idea triage is a helpful technique to quickly group ideas into 3 primary buckets: 1. Emergency -- The highest priority! Need to take action immediately 2. Urgent -- Definitely have to get to these at some point 3. Not Urgent -- Ask why they aren't urgent, do they have impact? Are they feasible? Do the stakeholders have buy-in?

When your Business Strategy team is inundated with a deluge of innovative ideas, it’s essential to navigate the sea of creativity strategically. Preselect a subset of ideas that seem most promising. Once preselected, move beyond theory. Develop Proofs of Concept (PoCs) for these ideas. PoCs allow you to test the idea in a controlled environment. Based on PoC outcomes and risk assessment, make informed decisions. Some ideas may need further refinement, while others may be ready for implementation. Be prepared to pivot or discard ideas that don’t meet expectations. Share with your team the results of PoCs and the rationale behind decisions. Ensure alignment across the organization. Everyone should understand the chosen path forward.

As a leader, having your Business Strategy team overwhelmed with innovative ideas is a fantastic challenge to have! It speaks volumes about the creativity and forward-thinking mindset within your organization. In such a situation, the key is to prioritize and focus on the ideas that align most closely with company's overall vision, mission and strategic objectives. Encourage open communication and collaboration among team members to refine and enhance these ideas further. Consider establishing a structured framework or process for evaluating and implementing innovative ideas. This could involve cross-functional teams, pilot projects or even setting up an innovation lab dedicated to testing and refining new concepts.

Proposing ideas is typically a solo activity, whereas prioritizing those ideas is a team activity. ?? The selection and prioritization of ideas - whether to pursue, discard, adjust, or delay - should align with predetermined criteria, such as strategic alignment, business impact, feasibility, availability of resources, risk level, urgency, etc.

When overwhelmed with ideas, how do we decide which to pursue? Begin by asking: How does each idea align with our strategic goals? Next, consider feasibility: Can we realistically implement this idea with our current resources? Then, evaluate potential impact: Which ideas promise the most significant benefits? This process, akin to medical triage, helps prioritize ideas that require immediate action versus those that can wait. It’s not about discarding the rest but about organizing them for future consideration. How can we ensure our resources are focused on ideas with the utmost urgency and potential? Through systematic evaluation, we direct our efforts where they can thrive the most.

In my experience, an effective way to prioritise ideas/hypotheses is to do a war room where every member/group presents the idea in a consistent format: - Clear objective and how it is aligned to the business goals/north start metric - Linked measurable outcome - Effort and time This exercise can also help establish synergies between ideas and ultimately generate actionable POCs to implement.

Some ways that we manage overwhelming ideas : 1) Call a quick meeting with the necessary stakeholders internally and brainstorm on the need and the background for this idea 2) based on the discussion, put down the cost, process and timelines to analyse understand the project 3) discuss the impact of that idea on the market based on the average revenue that it will generate in the current market domestic and overseas. 4) never jump to start working on something just because the idea sounded too good or fancy. 5) a proper analysis even if time consuming, should be done right before jumping on to ideas.

Open communication is the key here. But ensure that there is a structure given to the dialogue. I have personally found '6-Thinking-Hats' methodology a very effective one.

Basic: if your company does not have an environment in which different professionals dare to express their point of view, you have a problem. The best points of view to implement an idea always come from those who are closest to the client.

I agree, by encouraging open communication and active participation from team members to share their perspectives, insights, and concerns about the ideas under consideration. Create a supportive environment where everyone feels comfortable expressing their opinions and challenging assumptions constructively. By promoting dialogue, you can stimulate creativity, identify potential blind spots, and foster collaboration among team members. This collaborative approach can lead to more robust decision-making and better outcomes for your business strategies.

It's crucial to manage your team's workload to prevent burnout and maintain productivity. ?? This might involve assigning specific team members to champion certain ideas, or it could mean bringing in additional resources to help with the workload. ?? The key is to ensure that every team member has a manageable set of tasks and that the team as a whole isn't spread too thin. ?? This allows for focused work on the most promising initiatives without sacrificing quality or team morale. ????

In the realm of organizational management, vigilance over the allocation of team workload is imperative to safeguard against the perils of burnout while upholding productivity. Much akin to a conductor orchestrating a symphony, deliberate measures such as designating champions for specific ideas or augmenting resources are paramount. Striking the delicate equilibrium is the essence; ensuring each team member bears a manageable load, thereby fostering an environment conducive to sustained excellence. This judicious approach paves the way for concentrated endeavors towards the most auspicious initiatives, preserving both quality output and team morale.

With everyone on the same page and having the right attitude for the same direction we all can agree that without exception all humans have talent. As leader you should have the ability to inspire others to succeed, bring them up to speed with their skills and motivation and then pace the process to achieve the desired outcome.

The best way to manage workflow is to add more LinkedIn collaborative articles. It’ll be a great way of consolidating and raising productivity.

Me resulta útil -Ordenar en caos -Comunicar el cambio y la utilidad de las nuevas iniciativas -Escuchar los temores sin tomarlo de forma personal -Enfocarme en que en equipo tenga claridad en las prioridades y ayudarle a gestionar recursos.

Adopting incremental innovation is an excellent strategy. It allows teams to tackle complex projects in a more manageable way and reduces the risk of stagnation. By breaking down ideas into smaller, actionable steps, each phase of the project becomes an opportunity for learning and continuous improvement. Additionally, this methodology facilitates progress visualization and maintains team enthusiasm, which is vital for morale and stakeholder engagement. It's a practice that encourages agility and adaptability, key elements in today's dynamic business environment.

Ensure everyone on the team that understands the mini milestones and what constitutes “completion” i.e. exit criteria from the mini-task or mini-milestone

Run an innovation tournament. Let everyone (not just strategy) contribute, vote, build on the ideas, and ideas with most votes advance to the next stage of further detailing and repeat, till there are ideas that seem to have most impact across the organization. Some of these ideas will be moon-shot goals, and some urgent pain-fixes. All ideas will have a fair chance this way - else other than urgent fixes, or louded voices, all other ideas would be lost.

Before breaking the ideas into smaller ideas, let's not forget that it is necessary to break the big goals and policies of our team and company into smaller goals and visions.

When inundated with innovative ideas, focus on efficiency and return on investment (ROI) to manage and prioritize effectively. Implement a data-driven evaluation process to assess each idea's potential impact against key performance indicators, such as cost savings, revenue generation, and market competitiveness. Use agile methodologies to test small-scale prototypes of the most promising ideas, allowing for quick feedback and iteration. This approach enables you to streamline the innovation pipeline, ensuring that resources are dedicated to ideas with the highest potential for positive ROI and strategic impact, thus accelerating the path from concept to value creation.

Innovative ideas are very easy to get but developing them is another issue. Is quite an experience to get them into market and turning them into cash flow so don't expect to do them all. Focus only on one or two and develop them to its full extent. See if they work and if not, learn from it and choose another one. Yes, it will require to expend money so choose carefully and wisely.

I get that it can be overwhelming! ??? Take a step back and start establishing feedback loops that give room for constant assessment and modification of ideas. Implement testing mechanisms, collect data and seek feedback from your team and clients. This refining process based on practical feedback ensures your business strategy is now more insightful than ever. ?? Remember, agile and adaptable approach is the key in today's fast-paced business world. ??

Different methodologies can be employed for different sets of ideas. For a complex and cost-intensive activity/idea, incremental innovation approach could be useful as it allows monitoring during development and incorporate necessary corrections. Further, it allows to keep the activities aligned with corporate strategy and external business environment. For ideas on relatively smaller tasks, fostering dialogue could be better option to conclude and implement the activity.

In today's fast-paced business world, adaptability is crucial. As CEO at Jie An, I know that robust feedback loops aren't just strategic—they're essential for staying ahead. These loops guide us through market shifts, helping refine our strategies with insights from customers and team members. They're not just data tools; they drive growth and innovation, fostering a culture of excellence. At Jie An, feedback loops are our business's lifeblood, steering us toward sustainable success. I'm dedicated to using them to advance ethical production and eco-friendly materials, seeking partnerships with luxury brands who share our vision. Let's innovate together!

A feedback loop is the part of a system in which some portion (or all) of the system's output is used as input for future operations. Each feedback loop has a minimum of four stages. During the first stage, input is created. A feedback loop is a process that “loops” the outputs of a system back in as inputs. In business, this means using customer or employee feedback to improve a product, service, or workplace: a business uses the insights gained from feedback to initiate change.

Idea Bank should be structured in a way that clusters ideas with similar objectives. This clustering will facilitate further (re)evaluation and prioritization.

It will be better to conduct a fish-bone analysis to comprehend the depth and suitability of such ideas. This way unnecessary ideas would be removed or could be stored for later use. Most importantly ideas that make business-sense will prevail.

Establishing an 'idea bank' is like cultivating an innovation garden, where every creative spark harbors potential for impactful solutions. This structured repository safeguards against idea loss and cultivates a culture of continuous improvement. Every idea, regardless of scale, becomes a cornerstone for future innovation, poised for refinement when opportunities emerge. Serving as the pulse of organizational ingenuity, the idea bank encourages collaboration and strategic foresight. It translates abstract concepts into actionable strategies, propelling businesses toward greater success and adaptability.

The idea bank is the perfect solution as long as you know where to draw the red line - above gets focus and effort Below gets left until capacity is available Remember to refresh the bank before going again as things and technology change so fast these days One last piece of advice is avoid following the fads unless they help the organisation improve

First of all, don't dismiss any ideas offhand, even if they seem unmanageable right now. Second, prioritize! Identify which ideas align with your business goals, and focus on those. Thirdly, delegate the remaining ideas to your team members, within their capacity. And most importantly, create an 'idea bank' ?? to store all the innovative concepts that can't be actioned right now, but could be useful in the future. This bank should be organized and searchable so you can revisit these ideas when ready or when specific needs arise. In this way, no good thought is wasted and it will serve as an invaluable resource for future planning. ????

One thing I’ve found helpful is to prioritize the ideas into three categories. 1. Most quickly attainable. At the end of the day, progress over perfection. If it can be implemented quickly and effectively it gets priority. 2. Cost. Fitting the idea into the budgetary constraints of the organizations current financial strategy is important. 3. ROI. The impact of the innovation is critical. The bigger the bang for the buck, the higher the idea should move up the value stick.

Prioritise: Identify the ideas with most potential impact on your business goals and focus on those first. Create a roadmap: Develop a strategic plan for implementing the ideas over time, considering resources and feasibility. Form sub-teams: Divide the workload among smaller groups to tackle different ideas simultaneously. Set clear criteria: Establish criteria for evaluating ideas, such as alignment with company objectives, feasibility, and potential ROI. Pilot projects: Test promising ideas on a small scale to gather data and assess their effectiveness before committing resources fully. Foster collaboration: Encourage team members to share ideas, collaborate, and build on each other's suggestions to refine and strengthen concepts.

Focus on potential synergies. Try to follow up on those ideas which can be linked to what your organization already does, using the existing resources to build up the additional areas, until they become strong enough to attract resources by themselves.

Managing a flood of creative ideas can be greatly aided by pilot projects: ? Testing the idea ? Managing Resources. ? Gathering feedback. ? Mitigation of risk. ? Insights into Scalability.

This is the most common situation to be in and also a good position. As a manager it is really hard to select which idea to proceed and which idea to withdraw but here are few of the steps which we use to shortlist a idea and proceed further: - one on one idea discussion - Pitch deck presentation will end to end model - group presentation with all the team members - Voting on feasibility, viability and sustainability of the idea (0-5 points) - Basis the score and bandwidth we categories the idea into compliance, business, growth...etc - basis the score and category of idea we pick the idea and move remaining idea into backlog grooming - we plan bandwidth and implementation accordingly with Product and project team.