Innovation Monster

Is an idea really a good idea?

I seem to have a bit of a reputation. I hear plenty of pitches for wild ideas that may solve intractable problems. When I do, I will have questions. I always have questions.

This is when people get nervous, because I may be about to tear their idea to pieces.

I find this reputation a little undeserved. Some ideas are so very easily torn to pieces that it takes very little effort to do so. If I am not very careful, upon even a cursory inspection this idea may come apart in my hands like wet tissue paper.

Am I blaming the victim?

Yes I am.

In a world of innovation texts, workshops, canvases, and start-up advice there are many tools with which ideas can be generated and tested. However, not every pitch is to be found in a formal workshop or presentation in which we have dedicated time to make our assessment.

Ideas are often encountered during informal discussions, as asides in meetings and during chance encounters. Some pitches are actually made in an elevator, and I’ve been on both sides of that exchange.

Therefore, I need to carry that workshop in my head.

I need an easily available set of tools ready to use at a moment’s notice. A workshop that I can deploy…