Imagine you’re planning to renovate your home with a partner or roommate. Before going off to buy gallons of paint and new furniture, you’ll probably spend a few days, weeks, or even months exploring and discussing different color palettes, lighting designs, and flooring options. Hopefully, you’ll eventually agree upon a style that suits everyone and start decorating.

This process is called ideation. As the name suggests, the goal is to come up with and explore a wide range of ideas, weighing the pros, cons, and suitability of each one.

Ideation is a key phase in design thinking, product development, marketing strategy, and problem-solving processes. Participants in an ideation session gather with open minds to generate as many ideas as possible before selecting and refining the most promising ones for implementation. This process involves both divergent thinking—generating a broad range of ideas without judgment—and convergent thinking—narrowing down those ideas to identify the best options. 

To ensure the session remains focused and productive, teams must first define the problem they are trying to address—typically through a “problem statement” that outlines the challenge or a “point of view” (POV) that reframes the problem from the user’s perspective. While the problem statement clarifies what needs to be solved, the POV helps illuminate why it matters to the people impacted, guiding the ideation process back to user needs.¹

It's important to note that ideation isn’t simply about putting a bunch of people into a room with some pens and paper and getting them to “ideate.” There are many established techniques and methodologies that help to structure and guide ideation to ensure optimal outcomes. Each approach is typically applied at different stages of the process. Here are just a few examples below:

• Brainstorming: A method where participants build on each other’s ideas in a free-flowing session, encouraging collaboration and spontaneous thinking.
• Brainwrite: Participants write down their ideas individually before sharing them with the group, minimizing the pressure to speak up and allowing for more diverse contributions.
• Worst Possible Idea: Encourages participants to suggest deliberately bad ideas, which can help break down mental barriers and inspire creative solutions by reversing negative concepts.
• SCAMPER: An acronym for Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, and Reverse. This technique prompts thinking through modifications of existing ideas or products.
• Mind Mapping: A visual technique that organizes ideas around a central concept, helping participants explore connections between different thoughts and identify new directions for problem-solving.

Another important aspect of successful ideation is establishing a judgment-free environment. Ideation sessions will often have a facilitator whose job it is to guide the discussions and ensure that everyone’s perspectives are heard and respected. They are also responsible for maintaining the “there is no such thing as bad ideas” mindset within the group—after all, some of the world’s greatest ideas were initially labeled as “bad.” Take, for instance, Thomas Edison’s light bulb which was ridiculed by Henry Morton, a leading scientific mind and president of the Stevens Institute of Technology, as a “conspicuous failure.”² Thankfully, Edison and Morton never sat together in an ideation session.

Brainstorming: A group creativity technique used to generate a large number of ideas for solving a problem. 

Convergent Thinking: A thought process that focuses on finding a single, correct solution to a problem by logically narrowing down multiple ideas or options. It involves analyzing and evaluating alternatives to identify the best or most effective solution.

Divergent Thinking: A thought process that involves generating many different ideas or solutions to a problem. In contrast to convergent thinking, divergent thinking emphasizes open-ended, free-flowing thinking to explore a wide range of possibilities without immediate judgment or evaluation.

Problem Statement: A clear, concise description of the issue or challenge that the ideation process aims to address. It serves as a guide to focus creative thinking and ensure the generated ideas are relevant to solving the problem.

Point of View (POV): In design thinking, a POV is a perspective or angle on a problem that is framed from the user’s needs and experiences. It helps teams approach the problem with empathy and clarity during the ideation process.

Design Thinking: A human-centered, problem-solving approach that involves understanding users' needs, brainstorming creative solutions, prototyping, and iterating based on feedback. 

Groupthink: A psychological phenomenon where the desire for harmony or conformity in a group leads to poor decision-making. Members of the group may suppress opposing opinions and agree with the majority to avoid conflict. 

Signal Detection Theory: A psychological framework used to understand how people make decisions under uncertain conditions. The theory originated in the field of radar technology during World War II but has since been applied to various disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral science.

Humans have been generating, discussing, and arguing over ideas for millennia. The ancient Greeks, for example, were masters of cross-pollinating ideas, leading to over 500 years of intellectual and cultural innovations (including the first true alphabet).³ Outside the scientific realm, the first recorded uses of the words ‘ideate’ and ‘ideation’ were actually discovered deep within the parchments of famous metaphysical and lyrical poets. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest known use of the verb “to ideate” was in the early 1600s, with the English poet John Donne using the term in 1610. Fellow Englishman and writer, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, is credited with first using the word ideation in 1818. 

Etymology aside, the process of ideation didn’t start to emerge fully until well into the mid-twentieth century when Alex Osborn, an American advertising executive, proposed a novel way to structure creativity-related group processes. As the co-founder of the BBDO advertising agency, Osborn quickly became frustrated with the inefficiencies of traditional group meetings. He came up with a concept called “think up” which describes a process in which a group attempts to find a solution for a specific problem by bringing together all the ideas spontaneously identified by its members.⁴ Osborn’s approach clearly worked and by 1951, BBDO became the second advertising agency in the U.S. to pass $100 million in billings. Eventually, Osborn popularized the approach under the new name “brainstorming” in his 1953 book Applied Imagination.⁵

The basic rules of Osborn’s brainstorming laid the groundwork for what we now call ideation. First, the end goal of the brainstorming process was to generate as many ideas as possible, favoring quantity over quality. Second, no one was allowed to criticize an idea. Third, wild and outlandish ideas were welcome and even encouraged. And fourth, participants of a brainstorming session were allowed to combine or improve upon other people’s ideas. Finally, Osborn stressed the importance of having a facilitator to guide the process and train the participants on brainstorming rules and techniques beforehand. 

Another important development in the history of ideation was J. P. Guilford’s work on the cognitive processes behind creative processes. In 1956, he coined two important terms: convergent and divergent thinking. The former describes thinking processes that are focused on finding one well-defined solution to a problem, while the latter describes a more creative process that seeks to generate multiple solutions to a problem.⁶ Both types of thinking play an important role in the ideation process. Divergent thinking accounts for the first half of the process when groups explore as many ideas as possible. Later, divergent thinking is complemented with convergent thinking where all the ideas are analyzed and filtered to find the best solution.

By the late 20th century, ideation started to play a central role in design thinking, a non-linear, iterative problem-solving process that teams use to understand their users, redefine problems, and create innovative design solutions. IDEO, a design consulting firm founded in the 1990s, and Stanford University’s d.school (also known as the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design), both played an instrumental role in popularizing design thinking as a human-centered approach to innovation. In d.school’s five-phase design thinking model (empathize-define-ideate-prototype-test) ideation typically comes after defining a workable problem statement (based on initial user insights and research) and before prototyping ideas.⁷

The internet and digital technology have transformed ideation into a more collaborative, global, and democratized process. Platforms like online collaboration tools (e.g., Miro, MURAL) and innovation challenges (e.g., OpenIDEO) allow for real-time ideation across geographical boundaries, engaging diverse perspectives in problem-solving. Similarly, Crowdsourcing has emerged as a popular method for ideation, where companies and organizations seek ideas from the public. Platforms like InnoCentive, for example, allow organizations to post challenges, encouraging people from around the world to submit innovative ideas.

Alex Osborn

American advertising executive who is widely credited with developing the concept of brainstorming. Co-founder of the BBDO advertising agency, Osborn developed ways to help his colleagues generate creative ideas more effectively and eventually wrote about brainstorming in his 1953 book Applied Imagination.

J. P. Guilford

American psychologist best known for his pioneering work on the study of human intelligence and creativity. Guilford developed one of the first frameworks to assess divergent thinking which is closely linked to creativity.

Spencer Silver

American chemist and inventor best known for his role in developing the adhesive used in Post-it Notes. Silver made his discovery of the new adhesive in 1968 while working as a researcher at 3M and later developed the idea with his colleague Art Fry.

Art Fry

American inventor best known for co-inventing the Post-it Note alongside Spencer Silver. Fry, also an engineer and scientist at 3M, played a pivotal role in transforming Silver's adhesive discovery into one of the most iconic office products ever made.

Ideas are a bit like pancakes—the first one comes out pretty bad, but the ones that follow are usually much better. Ideation is an iterative process, allowing groups to go beyond their initial hunches to develop more in-depth and defined solutions. 

Ideation is applied across a range of sectors to improve outcomes and enhance people’s efficiency. In education settings, ideation is used to encourage creativity in classrooms, helping students think critically and solve problems. Project-based learning often incorporates ideation as students work together to generate solutions to real-world problems. In business settings, ideation can improve employee engagement. When involved in ideation processes, employees can feel more valued and invested in a company and its products. 

Aside from the practical impact of ideation on organizations, businesses, and other sectors, creative idea generation is believed to improve psychological well-being. In the same way that unburdening a secret can be liberating, studies suggest that generating creative ideas can generate a similar feeling of relief.⁸ However, being creative can also be a double-edged sword. A study conducted by Sahoon Kim, Jack Goncalo, and Maria Rodas found that while being creative can boost feelings of autonomy, ideation can also increase feelings of being judged.⁹

To generate the most ideas possible, ideation is typically done in a group (although as we’ll discuss below, individual ideation may be more effective under certain circumstances). However, group dynamics can heavily impact the ideation process and its outcomes. 

Take, for instance, groupthink, the psychological phenomenon in which people strive to maintain cohesion and reach consensus within a group. When we’re interacting with others, we tend to avoid acting or thinking differently from what we perceive is acceptable. This cognitive barrier can lead to a type of collective closed-mindedness which can stifle innovative thinking and prevent new ideas from appearing. 

Another phenomenon that can impede ideation is “fixation,” defined as something that blocks the successful completion of various cognitive tasks such as those involved in generating creative ideas.¹⁰ In one experiment conducted by David Jansson and Steven Smith, designers were given various engineering tasks such as creating a spill-proof cup or a measuring device for the visually impaired.¹¹ Half of the designers were given example diagrams with design flaws while the other half were left to their own devices. The group that received external stimuli (the diagrams) was more likely to incorporate obvious flaws into their designs because they became fixated on what they had been provided with. In the context of a group ideation session, participants may unconsciously conform to the external suggestions of a select few people, ultimately reducing the number of ideas generated. 

Others have cautioned that ideation, while a useful method for coming up with new designs or approaches, can actually be destructive for businesses and organizations. As the German-American entrepreneur and businessman Theodore “Ted” Levitt points out, too much emphasis on creativity can obscure the practical matters of implementation. That is, big thinkers often have great ideas but no idea how they need to be implemented, leading to company cultures dedicated to “abstract chatter” without any purposeful action. In these situations, Levitt argues, innovation is constantly talked about, but never actually happens.¹²

An important distinction exists, therefore, between ideation—the generation of ideas—and innovation—the implementation of ideas. According to Levitt, many people can ideate but very few can actually innovate.

Brainstorming or Individual Creativity?

The notion that “two heads are better than one” has led us to believe that when it comes to solving problems, putting our heads together is better than working alone. However, the saying also goes that “too many cooks can spoil the broth,” suggesting that the more people working on a task, the worse the outcome. The debate about whether collective thinking can outperform that of an elite individual has persisted since the Enlightenment. So which one is correct? 

Since Osborn popularized brainstorming in the 1950s, various studies have actually found that group work might not be the most effective approach to creative ideation. Overall, this body of research has explored the performance of both individuals and groups in creative processes, concluding that in general, brainstorming was no more effective than individual creativity. Not only that, across the studies, the nominal (or individual) control group engaging in idea generation generally produced more and better-evaluated ideas than the test group conducting a brainstorming session.¹³

So, what might be the key to ensuring that group ideation sessions are successful? Well, research on decision-making suggests that communication and competence are important for ensuring that teamwork triumphs over individual creativity. In a study conducted by the Interacting Mind Project—a collaboration between University College London and Aarhus University in Denmark—two participants worked either together or in isolation to make decisions about images.¹⁴  The task was to look into the distance and try to work out if a faint number was a three or an eight. The hypothesis, which was based on classical signal detection theory, stated that the joint decision could only be as good as that of the person with higher visual acuity. 

Initially, the participants worked alone, but if the pair gave different answers, they needed to discuss who gave the correct answer and come to a joint decision. To find out whether two heads are better than one, the individual and collective decisions were compared for performance. The results showed that two heads were indeed better than one, but more specifically, that their success improved when the pair were able to effectively communicate their level of confidence. It was critical that both players reported their confidence reliably; if one person wasn’t good at the task and wasn’t aware of it, the collective performance suffered.  

Ideation and the Humble Post-it Note

Post-it notes are a common feature of ideation sessions; participants often write down their ideas on these brightly colored adhesive squares and then stick them onto a wall or piece of poster paper for everyone to see. The Post-it brand even has a page dedicated to using its products as the go-to tools for rapid ideation.¹⁵

But did you know that the humble Post-it note itself was actually born out of a long, and at times frustrating, ideation process? 

In the late 1960s, Dr. Spencer Silver, a scientist at Minnesota-based industrial manufacturer 3M, accidentally developed a low-tack adhesive called “microspheres” that didn’t fully stick but could be repositioned easily. Initially, this new adhesive didn’t seem to have a clear practical application, and Silver struggled to find a use for it. However, he kept sharing his ideas with colleagues during internal ideation sessions and seminars, even though it was considered somewhat of a failure at the time. He even got the nickname “Mr Persistent” because he just wouldn’t give up.¹⁶

Eventually, Silver’s determination paid off when Art Fry, another scientist working at 3M, realized he might have a use for Silver’s unusable adhesive. Fry, a keen singer in a local church choir, was frustrated that the little pieces of paper he used to mark the pages in his hymn book kept falling out. Remembering one of Silver’s seminars that he’d previously attended, Fry suddenly realized that the new adhesive could be used to create a bookmark that wouldn’t damage the hymnal’s pages. 

Silver and Fry partnered together to start ideating and developing their new product. The new sticky notes were prototyped and 3M began testing the product across selected U.S. cities. Initially, it was not a major success. However, after trials where samples were given away to offices for free, users fell in love with the product.

The Post-it Note was officially launched across the U.S. in 1980 and has become one of the world’s most recognized stationary items, revolutionizing office work, personal organization, and even creative processes. It remains one of 3M's most successful and enduring products.

Group Decision Making: How to be Effective and Efficient

Looking for ways to overcome groupthink to generate more creative ideas? In this article, Yasmine Kalkstein offers some simple approaches to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of group sessions. 

Innovation

Ideation is the precursor to innovation. But is innovation always a good thing and how can we mitigate the harmful impact of innovations that benefit some but not everyone? This article delves into the pros and cons of innovation, exploring some well-known innovations that continue to shape our lives today.  

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