“Every business today was once a thought in the mind of a person who was inspired by an idea. What makes a thought perfect is “perfect thought”. – Aiyaz Uddin

If some people are asked to name the main thing needed to start a business, I am sure they will name “money” first. Although money is important when starting a business, the first and most important requirement is having a good idea.

Getting good ideas for a startup is not as difficult as it is made out to be. The problem is that many of us have been brought up in an environment where we are made to believe that coming up with good ideas is the exclusive domain of “creative people.” Creative people are traditionally regarded as those who are gifted, artistic, imaginative and inventive. The traditional belief is that not many people are creative. However, this is not true as every human being is creative or imaginative to some degree, but is not conscious of it. Some people may be better in certain areas than others, which may help, but it does not mean that those who are not so endowed cannot develop such capabilities if they want to.

One of the main differences between entrepreneurs and others is that while others see challenges as problems and avoid them, entrepreneurs regard them as opportunities. These become a source of generating ideas. In other words, they turn “problems” into opportunities, and through self-belief and confidence, they do not need to know all the answers or how it will end. They are motivated to take action to solve that problem. Without a problem to solve, the business idea is just another idea, because nobody will pay for what does not meet a need. A business exists to offer a solution to a problem because people purchase products or services to solve their problems.

Business Idea Conception and Ideation

This is the first step in the startup process and is known by various terms such as “business idea conception”, “ideation”, “idea discovery”, “idea recognition” or “idea creation”.

We prefer to use “ideation” for this stage of the startup because it is the most appropriate, professional term signifying the systematic process of business idea generation, development, and refinement. While “idea generation” implies having thoughts, ideation refers to the entire structured process, from the initial spark of inspiration to the development and refinement of potential solutions to meet business challenges or opportunities.

Ideation

Ideation is the third step in the design thinking process. Design thinking was made popular by IDEO, a renowned design company, and is now used in business because it is a human-centred methodology. The main goal of design thinking is to solve complex, human-centric problems by developing innovative, practical, and user-friendly solutions. It focuses on a deep understanding of user needs (empathy) to create solutions that are desirable, technologically feasible, and economically viable. The process is designed to uncover the non-obvious pain points customers are experiencing and learn more about how the current solutions in the marketplace aren’t meeting users’ needs. It’s often in those gaps where companies can spot the best business opportunities.

Ideation is defined as “Ideation is the mode of the design process in which you concentrate on idea generation. Mentally it represents a process of ‘going wide’ in terms of concepts and outcomes. Ideation provides both the fuel and also the source material for building prototypes and getting innovative solutions into the hands of your users” (Dam and Teo, 2016).

Why “Ideation” is the Proper Business Term

Ideation is considered a strategic approach to idea generation because it moves beyond spontaneous brainstorming into a structured, intentional process that aligns creative thinking with business goals, user needs, and actionable outcomes. Unlike simply “thinking of ideas,” ideation provides a framework, often within design thinking, to uncover, develop, and select the best concepts for solving specific problems, making it a critical driver of innovation and competitive advantage.

Common Ideation Techniques

Ideation techniques are structured methods for generating a large volume of diverse ideas, fostering both creative (divergent) and analytical (convergent) thinking to solve problems. These techniques are essential for moving beyond obvious solutions and encouraging collaboration.

A structured ideation process provides a methodical framework, identifying problems, generating ideas, and evaluating, refining, and planning them, accelerates innovation, ensures alignment with strategic goals, and boosts efficiency. It moves beyond raw brainstorming to produce actionable, high-value concepts while reducing resource waste on unviable projects (Kaizen Institute, 2022).

Here are some of the most common and effective ideation techniques:

Brainstorming

It is the most frequently used technique, designed to encourage free sharing of ideas without immediate criticism. The best practice is to keep groups small (5-7 people), set a strict time limit (e.g., 20 minutes), and focus on quantity over quality. The rules are to defer judgment, encourage wild ideas, build on others’ ideas, and stay focused.

SCAMPER.

SCAMPER is a mnemonic for seven thinking techniques that help modify existing products, services, or processes to create new ones.

The process involves:

• Substituting. Swapping components or materials.
• Combining. Blending ideas or features.
• Adapting. Modifying something for a new purpose.
• Modifying/Magnifying. Tweaking or amplifying features.
• Putting to another use. Finding alternative applications.
• Eliminating. Removing unnecessary elements.
• Reversing. Flipping the process or perspective.

Brainwriting

Brainwriting is a technique in which participants write down their ideas on paper (or a digital board) independently before sharing them.  In the 6-3-5 Method, 6 people write 3 ideas in 5 minutes, then pass them to the next person for further development, generating 108 ideas in 30 minutes. The benefit is that it allows quieter team members to contribute equally and reduces the impact of dominating voices.

Crazy 8s

Crazy 8s is a fast-paced sketching technique in which participants draw eight distinct ideas in eight minutes. The goal is to force individuals to move past their first (often least innovative) idea and encourage rapid, creative thinking. It is popular in design and prints.

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a visual technique that maps out relationships between a central problem and potential solutions. It involves writing the core problem in the centre of a board, then drawing branches to related ideas, keywords, and solutions. The main benefit is it helps to break down complex problems into smaller, manageable, and interconnected parts.

Worst Possible Idea

This is a “reverse” brainstorming technique where participants focus on generating the worst possible solutions to a problem. Why it works is it removes the fear of criticism and allows for a fun, creative atmosphere. The “worst” ideas are then flipped to discover hidden, innovative, and positive solutions.

Storyboarding

A visual storytelling method is used to outline the user’s journey or process, similar to a comic strip. It helps to understand user experience and identify potential flaws or opportunities in a process.

How Might We (HMW) Questions

HMW is a method that reframes problems into opportunities by starting questions with “How might we…”. The benefit is it helps to translate user pain points into actionable challenges (e.g., “How might we make check-out faster?”).

Role-Playing / Role-Storming

This involves acting out a scenario or adopting a persona (e.g., “How would Steve Jobs solve this?” or “How would a child use this?”) to gain new perspectives.

Assumption Testing/Challenging

It involves listing all assumptions about a problem and then intentionally challenging or reversing them. This helps break traditional thinking patterns and sparks innovation.

Summary of Best Practices

Tips For Conducting Ideation Successfully

Successful ideation requires a structured approach that defines a clear problem, encourages diverse perspectives, and separates idea generation from evaluation. Key steps include setting a user-centric goal, using techniques such as Crazy 8’s or SCAMPER, capturing all ideas on post-its, and prioritising the best concepts for development.

Main Principles for Success

Structured and Unstructured Ideation

Structured and unstructured ideation are two distinct approaches to generating new concepts, with structured methods prioritising organised, goal-oriented processes, and unstructured methods favouring free-flowing, spontaneous brainstorming. Structured ideation reduces groupthink and ensures participation, while unstructured ideation is often better suited for quick, creative thinking.

Structured Ideation

Structured ideation is a methodical framework for generating, evaluating, and refining ideas to solve specific business problems or create new products. It provides a clear, organised process with goals, rules, and sometimes pre-work, making it highly effective for complex, multi-faceted problems.

Main Characteristics

Unstructured Ideation

Unstructured ideation is a free-flowing, spontaneous, and informal approach to generating ideas, often in a relaxed setting without a predetermined agenda or strict goals.

Main Characteristics

Comparison of Ideation Approaches

When to Use Which Method

Often, the most effective approach is to combine the two, for example, using a quick unstructured brainstorming session to generate ideas, followed by a structured approach to evaluate and develop them

Online Ideation and In-Person Ideation Workshops

Online ideation workshops offer superior efficiency, easy documentation, and broader accessibility using digital tools like Miro or Mural. In-person workshops excel at fostering high-energy collaboration, building emotional rapport, and enabling spontaneous,, nuanced communication. The best choice depends on team location, time constraints, and the need for intense bonding versus broad,, quick ideation.

Main Differences & Considerations

Which One to Choose

Tips for Success

• Online. Use a dedicated digital whiteboard and mix individual and group ideation.
• In-Person. Focus on the venue, energy, and physical comfort of participants.
• Both. Utilise professional facilitation techniques and clear, measurable goals.

Drucker’s Seven Sources of Innovative Opportunity

Many ideas are generated by people when they least expect, for example, a musician who was interviewed said he gets his musical ideas while using the toilet. He keeps a journal in the toilet in case he needs it. Others may have ideas while driving, sleeping or gardening and so on, but the most important thing is to note or record them in writing.

Peter Drucker, regarded as the “father of modern management”, states, “Innovation does not come as a tempest but with the rustling of the wind” (Drucker, 2015). This quote, famously articulated by Peter Drucker, highlights that innovation is rarely a sudden, earth-shattering event (a tempest). Instead, it is usually a quiet, systematic, and intentional process (a rustling of the wind) that arises from observing changes already occurring in the environment. 

The Main Theme of “The Rustling of the Wind” Innovation

The common misconception is that innovation requires a brilliant, lone inventor or a massive scientific breakthrough. However, in Drucker’s view, innovation that generates the greatest impact is not often revolutionary or the invention of a new product, but a change in an existing business model that creates consumer demand. According to Drucker, innovation requires knowledge, ingenuity, diligence, perseverance, and commitment as follows:

Drucker’s Five Principles of Innovation

Peter Drucker’s Five Principles of Innovation emphasise that purposeful, systematic innovation requires focusing on opportunities rather than risks, starting with analysis, and maintaining simplicity. These principles, outlined in his work on entrepreneurship, are analysing opportunities, focusing on a specific, simple need, starting small, aiming for market leadership, and actively seeking change. 

1. Begin with an Analysis of the Opportunity. Innovation must start by analysing the seven sources of opportunity (e.g., unexpected occurrences, incongruities, process needs).
2. Analyse the Opportunity to See If People Will Be Interested in Using the Innovation. The innovation must solve a real, analysed need (customer wants and expectations) rather than being a mere “pipe dream”.
3. Be Simple and Focused. The innovation should be focused on one specific thing; it must be “breathtakingly simple” to be effective and avoid confusion.
4. Start Small. Effective innovations start with a small, limited market, requiring fewer resources. This allows for refinement and adjustment as the market grows.
5. Aim for Market Leadership. To be successful, the innovation should aim for leadership in a specific niche or market from the start; otherwise, it is unlikely to succeed. 

Drucker’s “Do’s” for Innovation

• Create Value. Innovation must create new value and satisfaction for the customer.
• Systematic Practice. Innovation is a discipline that requires hard work, not just flashes of genius.
• Focus on Opportunities. Successful innovators are “opportunity-focused,” not risk-focused. 

Drucker’s “Don’ts” for Innovation

• Don’t be too clever. Over-complicating the innovation leads to failure.
• Don’t diversify or splinter. Trying to do too many things at once breaks focus.
• Don’t try to innovate for the future. Focus on the present needs. 

In addition to the Five Principles, Drucker highlighted seven key sources of innovation. These are unexpected successes, incongruities, and demographic shifts that organisations must actively monitor to find opportunities.

Below are five principles that can help take advantage of an innovation when it is discovered.

1. Begin with an analysis of the opportunity.
2. Analyse the opportunity to see if people will be interested in using the innovation.
3. To be effective, the innovation must be simple and clearly focused on a specific need.
4. Effective innovations start small. By appealing to a small, limited market, a product or service requires little money and few people to produce and sell it. As the market grows, the company has time to fine-tune its processes and stay ahead of the emerging competition.
5. Aim for market leadership. If an innovation does not aim for leadership from the start, it is unlikely to be very innovative to establish itself as a leader. Leadership here can mean dominating a small market niche.

Drucker’s 7 Sources of Innovation Opportunities

Drucker emphasised looking for these “rustlings” in seven key areas, moving from most reliable to least reliable: 

1. The Unexpected. The unexpected success, failure, or outside event.
2. Incongruities. The gap between what is and what should be.
3. Process Need. Perfecting an existing weak process.
4. Industry/Market Structures. Rapid changes in how an industry operates.
5. Demographics: Changes in population size, age, or education.
6. Changes in Perception. How people view the world, health, or fashion.
7. New Knowledge. Science-based innovation (which, surprisingly, Drucker argued is the least predictable). 

According to Drucker (2015), the first four lie within the business or industry. Though they are basically “symptoms”, they are reliable indicators of changes that have already taken place or which can be made to occur with little effort. The second set involves changes outside the business or industry.

“Rustling of the wind” innovation requires a discipline of looking for opportunities and a willingness to abandon yesterday’s practices. It is about changing behaviour and adapting systems rather than just waiting for a genius idea.

In his book “Innovate or Die”, Professor Jack Maston of Penn State University states “…ideas are the raw material for innovation and must be captured on paper and transferred into Idea Journal.” In other words, he is recommending that if we are interested in turning our ideas into innovation, we should have an Idea Journal, a book or a method for recording our ideas. This is the only way to prove that the idea exists, to allow us to investigate further and take it through the innovation process. An idea that remains in the head remains an idea unless it is tested and implemented through the innovation process.

It is also important to point out that a business idea must be backed by passion. The reason for saying this is that undertaking an entrepreneurial venture requires commitment and perseverance to follow it through. So, your idea must align with your personal values and what you love to do, as it will motivate you to persevere, especially when challenges arise. Passion is like fire. Without it, it can be demoralising and difficult to keep going when challenges arise.

References

Cote, C. (2020). How to Come Up with an Innovative Business Idea | HBS Online. [online] Business Insights – Blog. Available at: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/how-to-come-up-with-a-business-idea.

Drucker, P.F. (2015). Innovation and entrepreneurship practice and principles. London Routledge.

Hofstrand, D. (2010). Peter Drucker and Innovation | Ag Decision Maker. [online] Iastate.edu. Available at: https://www.extension.iastate.edu/agdm/wholefarm/html/c5-10.html.

Matson, J.V. (1996). Innovate or die : a personal perspective on the art of innovation. Royal Oak, Mich.: Paradigm Press.