While the ideation process doesn`t necessarily have to conform to a universal pattern, there are general guidelines that people can follow to maximize the effectiveness of ideation generation and the resulting solutions. These sample sentences are automatically selected from various online information sources to reflect the current use of the word “idea.” The views expressed in the examples do not represent the views of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us your feedback. Ideation is a key part of any successful business. For example, in its early days, Google encouraged employees to spend up to 20% of their work time meditating on new ideas that intrigue them personally and potentially solve real problems. As the company has grown, it seems that this is not used as much as it used to be. This focus on ideation allows companies to innovate or remain competitive by increasing the likelihood of new product launches, increased customer acquisition, and superior financial performance. Ideation may sound new, but the word has been around since the 1800s. It feels like a mix of idea and creation, and it`s a brainstorming session is a kind of idea search. In medical language, ideation is “the formation of mental images.” In this sense, the word is often associated with suicidal thoughts – suicidal thoughts refer to someone thinking about committing suicide.

Unfortunately, this is the most common use of ideation. As an idea and ideal, ideate comes from the Greek verb idein, which means “to see”. The connection between seeing and thinking came from Plato, the Greek philosopher, who based his theory of the ideal on the concept of seeing and asserted that a true philosopher can see the essential nature of things and recognize their ideal form or state. Early uses of the idea, ideal, and idea in English were associated with Platonic philosophy; Idea meant “an archetype” or “a standard of perfection”, ideal meant “to exist as an archetype”, and ideate referred to the formation of Platonic ideas. But although ideate is related to ancient philosophy, the word itself is relatively a modern beverage. It first appeared in English about 400 years ago. Simply put, ideation is the literal act of building ideation, from its design to its application and implementation in the real world. Ideas and ideation can come from anyone indirectly or directly associated with a company or organization, including low-level employees, managers, customers, partners, and stakeholders. Real ideas can be the result of brainstorming sessions, online forums, seminars, team-building exercises, surveys, and social media platforms. The fact is, if employees spend 100% of their time focusing on the demands of their job, they don`t have time to think about new strategies or products in which they can grow or improve. Once the main weaknesses and their causes are identified, brainstorming sessions and other collaborative powwows can be launched to gather potential ideas and generate possible solutions to the problems posed. Ideally, these collaborations should merge right-brain and left-brain thought processes, as many problems require both creative and pragmatic approaches to developing viable solutions.

First and foremost, ideation doesn`t necessarily start with randomly generated thought. Instead, ideas are back-engineered to solve emerging problems. So, it is crucial to first clearly define the problem and understand its main underlying factors such as industry trends, business environments, customer needs, budget constraints, and other causes of the annoying problem. Ideation is the act of developing an idea, such as when a cartoon bulb appears above someone`s head. If you imagine a flying car and think about how to do it, that`s ideation. It`s a creative process. Innovative powertrains in electric vehicle technology The plethora of ideas generated during the collaboration is then reduced to a dominant idea that can best guide the Group`s future actions. This idea of Marquis is tested against the problem and adjusted if necessary. Subsequently, it is tirelessly reworked, retested and refined until a possible solution is developed. The idea is then implemented in the real world, and if it is considered successful, the ideation process is complete. Music theme by Joshua Stamper 2006©New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP Obstacles to ideation can be a hostile environment, vague goals, narrow-minded individuals, groupthink, philanthropists, ego, inexperienced teams, inability to think outside the box, and pessimism. Imagine, design, design, develop, analyze, test, scale (or run) Business Insider.

“The truth about Google`s famous `20% of time` policy.” Retrieved 4 January 2021. Increasing diversity in entrepreneurial and technical ecosystems These forums should invite open, unrestricted and unhindered dialogue in which participants feel safe to spread ideas without fear of ridicule. All ideas, from the most academic to the wildly imaginative ideas, should be enthusiastically embraced and treated with the same fairness and open-mindedness. Ideation refers to the process of developing and communicating prescriptive ideas to others, usually in a professional context.