TURNING IDEAS INTO REALITY

Have you ever thought, “I’m reluctant to join an ideation workshop because I'm no good at sketching?” If you have, you’re not alone. It’s common for people to feel hesitant about generating ideas if they don’t have artistic talent, especially since conveying an idea often involves illustrations or diagrams. But the truth is, artistic skill isn’t the key to generating ideas— it’s finding the trigger that inspires creative thinking.

So how can you do this?

Metaphors and analogies

One simple yet powerful way is to use analogies—phrases such as works like, looks like, or use it like.  For instance, imagine asking, "What if a hotel worked like staying at a friend's house?" It could lead to an idea like Airbnb. Similarly, asking, "What if a café felt like a living room?" could inspire the concept behind Starbucks.

And this is where Synectics comes in.

Synectics

The Synectics method was introduced by William Gordon and George Prince in 1960. It involves four types of analogies:

• Direct Analogy

Compare your concept to something that already exists in the real world. For instance, a café that feels like a cozy living room.

• Fantasy Analogy

Compare your idea to something that doesn’t exist but could be imagined. For example, envision a car that operates like an airplane.

• Symbolic Analogy

Compare an aspect or quality of your concept to that of something else. You might think of a restaurant experience as being similar to a theatrical play, with a story, emotions, and an experience that unfolds.

• Personal Analogy

Step into the role of your concept or imagine what it would be like if you were the product or service. How would you feel, think, or behave?

One of my favorite techniques is combining the first two analogies: imagining what a product or service would be like if it were created by a well-known brand. For example, how would Nike solve this problem? What if Netflix approached this service, or Google tackled that issue? The strength of such a method lies in the way it breaks free of existing business models, enabling you to explore innovative approaches unrestrained by conventional boundaries.

But if this doesn’t work, or feel quite right for you, you could try role-playing.

Role-Playing

This is another dynamic method for generating ideas. You can assign different roles to several individuals and brainstorm as a group. Or you take on the persona of a target customer and talk about what you’d like to see. Whichever you choose, the goal is to fully immerse yourself in a different perspective. To break away from established company thinking.

That said, never forget that these roles are purely virtual. Role-players sometimes fall into the trap of asking the ‘persona’ to solve the problem. This defeats the purpose of the role-play, because even real consumers may not have the solution. And neither will a made-up persona. The real advantage of role-playing lies in experiencing the emotions and perspectives of the role you’re playing. That empathetic understanding is invaluable.

For instance, consider the following problem: ‘damaged goods have been delivered’. By role-playing, you can explore this issue from several different angles: the consumer, the delivery person, the contractor, the warehouse staff, or even the production facility workers. Then, to make the role-play effective, gather data related to each role and, if possible, invite real people involved in these roles to take part. By presenting them with all the relevant data beforehand – to fill them in on the scenario - and then asking them as many questions as possible about the imaginary situation, the role-players will be able to build up a detailed, fully-rounded picture from all perspectives. This means that when they begin to role-play - and think from the perspective of ‘their’ individual, they will stand a far better chance of generating well-rounded, thoughtful ideas.

Quality and quantity

But it’s also important to note one other factor. While quality is crucial, you can’t generate a brilliant idea by just thinking of one or two concepts and then stopping. In my experience, those who consistently produce great ideas generate lots of them. That's why quantity also matters—generating as many ideas as possible is essential to finding the few truly outstanding ones. 

Multiple angles

I want to finish by pointing out that the methods I’ve outlined here aren’t solely for group brainstorming— they work just as well for individuals. What’s important is to remember that when you have a structured way to look at problems from multiple angles, you’ll find it easier to keep the creative juices flowing without getting stuck in just one place. Quantity and quality. So why not give these methods a try and see what amazing ideas you come up with?