What Are Generative Processes?

What Are Generative Processes?

Generative processes – and there are many approaches, models, and methodologies for generating ideas – are in essence ways to diverge from a starting point and create choices. Generative, or divergent, thinking has several characteristics and all of the methods have the outcome of increasing the number of options being considered. During idea generation, individuals and groups work to identify new ideas and solution and see things differently then they are now. There are a notable number of processes to use to generate ideas. Some include:

·       brainstorming ·       role playing ·       story telling ·       storyboarding ·       collaboration ·       critiquing ·       empathy research

·       sketching ·       prototyping ·       positive turbulence ·       creative problem solving ·       mind mapping ·       brainwriting ·       worst idea technique

·       headlining ·       image collaging ·       user experience ·       impromptu video ·       wish technique ·       whiteboarding ·       forced analogies

In studying these and other methodologies and have boiled the essence of these down to six steps. The graphic below shows these steps relative to each other.

I find that creating intentional intersections in ways of knowing, various disciplines, and different practices helps to increase the variety and number of ideas. To move groups in that direction, early in the process you need to limit or completely remove habits of judgment. Helpful ground rules in the process include: understanding the objectives or the problem, deferring judgment, focusing on quantity, withholding criticism, welcoming unusual ideas, combining and improving ideas, and questioning anything you don’t understand.

During the preparation step, it is important to consider how participants can enter a state free of judgment and full of creativity. Much depends on the setting and the facilitator. The process cycles between states of stimulating thinking, capturing what is offered, and building on ideas. Eventually, the energy of the group wanes and idea generation slows down – a perfect time for a new stimulus. When the group has covered the ground the can or when the generation process hits its target, it’s time to wind down the process and prepare for the next steps.

For the methodologist readers, let me review the six steps as a series of questions for consideration along the way.

1. Considerations for Preparation:

Who will lead or facilitate the sessions?

Who will participate in the sessions?

Where will the sessions be held?

What will the environments be like?

What materials are needed (easel, paper, white board, pens, etc.)?

What are the ideation sessions desired outcomes?

2. Techniques for Stimulation:

What techniques do the facilitators have at their disposal to get new ideas flowing when the first wave of ideas wanes?

Should you include turbulators in the session (individuals placed there intentionally to stimulate participants)?

If so, who would do a good job in the role?

What artifacts will you have on hand to further stimulate the flow of ideas (handouts, data, video, pop up speakers, etc.)?

How can you switch ideation techniques midstream to encourage stimulation (whole group, small group, individual, writing, post it notes, etc.)?

Can you change the environments or settings?

What other elements of surprise can you bring to the sessions?

3. Sharing and Offering:

How many facilitators will be necessary?

How will participants know when to share ideas?

Will only one individual be asked to speak at a time?

Will offers be written down or just verbalized?

Which facilitator will take the lead in directing the offers?

How will facilitators preference builds (new twists on the last idea, more on that later) versus new ideas?

How can facilitators cut off deep discussion, critical responses, and other distracting comments?

How can you get the sessions back to ideation if it turns into something else?

4. Capturing Ideas:

What media will be used to capture ideas?

What level of detail will be captured?

Will the sessions have secondary media (audio or video recording, transcription, note takers, etc.)?

How many facilitators will be needed to record ideas?

How can the capture be visually presented throughout the session?

How much technology will be used (remember when it goes bad, it usually really goes bad)?

What can you do during capture to make your life easier when synthesizing outcomes?

5. Building on Ideas:

Not every offer is a good idea – but, even bad ideas can lead to great ideas later. How can you create an environment where builds are encouraged?

Is there a way to encourage participants to say when an idea is a build, or does that even matter?

Should you capture builds in the original idea stream or make some kind of note/format to remember them later?

Progressive ideation is a powerful technique. How can you take the results of early ideas and intentionally build on them to create better ideas?

How can you use the design of the sessions to layer builds?

6. Concluding the Ideation Session:

When will you know you have enough ideas?

Can you ensure that everything was captured and recorded? It can be difficult to reconstruct notes later.

What comments will be made to conclude the session?

What feedback will be given to participants?

When will a summary be available?

How do you plan to synthesize the results?

To what degree was the problem statement addressed?

Will follow up sessions be needed?

With this in mind, I will move on to describe the prototyping process, and in the post that follows, bring the two together by explaining a specific technique I have found useful in designing generative processes for strategy crafting.