Henry Ford once commented that if he’d asked his customers what they wanted they would have replied “Give me a faster horse”.
Sometimes in New Product Development we have to take a Quantum leap in imagination so that we can develop products which no one else has imagined.
“Brainstorming” is one techniques to help that process:-
1) Form a team of maximum 10 people drawn from all levels of the organization.
2) The “Chairperson” should be mid level with no obvious authority.
3) Provide some drinks and snacks to create a relaxed atmosphere.
4) Go round the table asking each one in turn what products they think the Company should be developing.
5) Don’t reject anything at this stage.
6) Don’t criticize anyone else’s contribution.
7) Get someone to list all the contributions on a whiteboard.
8 ) When all contributions are exhausted arrange them into different categories.
9) Vote on the top 5.
In the next post we will explore how to take these ideas forward.
chris@projectsguru.co.uk
