Page 119 - Free the Idea Monkey

HOW TO FIND YOUR COMPANY’S GREAT THINKERS
Obviously, the people you would most like to

produce ideas on demand are your company’s great
thinkers. But who are they? (You may know some of
them—among your direct reports for example—but
do you know everyone organization-wide?) How do
you identify and enlist your company’s best and
brightest—the Idea Monkey —even if they are not
usually part of your company’s marketing efforts?
It’s easier than you may think. Here are three ideas:
Encourage Fun and Games. Your first challenge is to attract
the “ideators,” the people who traditionally come up with the biggest
ideas, regardless of the topic. Great ideators tend to be a bit competi-
tive. Tap into that. Post challenges—through
your intranet, bulletin board or e-mail sys-
tem—on behalf of clients, and offer prizes
for anyone who can come up with the answer
within a set period of time.
Build on this idea: We often use this technique when we are
trying to name a product or service. The best names come from con-
necting hundreds of ideas with specific insights. So this technique
really drives quantity.
Competitive, inventive people will respond with hundreds of
novel ideas that you can adopt. The prize can be simple: a free lunch
or sports tickets. If you have cash in the budget, even better.

If you don’t have a current client project
in need of solving, you can make one up. For
example, if vacuum cleaners did not exist,
how would you clean floors? The ques-
tion isn’t as important as the answers. The
responses you get will give you a great list of
innovative thinkers.

104 H O W T O P R O D U C E B I G I D E A S O N D E M A N D