It’s been made clear to me, once again, that to be truly good at idea generation, a team must practice the skill.

Idea generation sessions, specifically those intensive one day long affairs, are really difficult days even for fluid ideators. It’s hard to stay focused on the challenge at hand, difficult to continue to crank out ideas and perfect them. Very few of us really think this way often. The result is that participants in these sessions invariably “lose it” and the stream of ideas thins out as the day goes on. This is to be expected, but it’s interesting that some people, like improv actors, can keep going for a much longer period.

Why? They practice, that’s why. If you spend 20 hours a week “‘making things up” you get pretty good at it.

Innovation teams need to do idea generation All The Time. Teams that do frequent sessions simply get better at coming up with fresh ideas. I’d suggest that every team meeting have at least one “divergent” component, as a way to flex the muscle and build it up. I’d also suggest revisiting a challenge that you think you’ve mined completely. Putting yourself up against the wall of “there are no more ideas” is a great discipline. This is the crucible where real innovation happens, don’t avoid it.