Ideation

Ideas pile up without a frame. The page starts with frameworks that judge a company's position from the outside in, then moves to visual and free-form ways of generating ideas, and ends with a short format for structuring a prompt or brief.

The first frame looks at where the company stands. SWOT Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) is a framework used to evaluate a company's competitive position and to develop strategic planning; SWOT analysis assesses internal and external factors, as well as current and future potential. Where SWOT mixes inside and outside, PEST analysis (political, economic, social, and technological) is a management method whereby an organization can assess major external factors that influence its operation in order to become more competitive in the market. As described by the acronym, those four areas are central to this model.

Once the position is known, ideas still need to be laid out and linked. Spider Diagrams are the tool for that: a spider diagram organizes and displays data in a logical, visual way. Spider diagram features include the main concept positioned in the middle of the diagram, with lines extending radially to link related ideas and sub-topics. More ideas branch out from there, and you end up with a diagram resembling a spider. 2 is a second guide that uses space, color, and images to organize concepts that way, with details on how to create one.

A diagram still starts from constraints. Blue Sky Thinking drops them: it is the free ideation approach a company can enable to generate a cascade of innovation ideas, written as a practical guide for businesses.

The last frame is RCEF - role context example format, a way to shape the request itself before the ideas start.