Innovation · Sources of ideas · Component
Idea log
The single register where every idea is entered, acknowledged and given a first decision, whichever route it arrived by.
The deliverable
What it is
Ideas arrive through meetings, emails, sales calls and corridor conversations. Without one place to record them, most vanish and the rest are remembered by whoever happened to hear them.
The log is deliberately light. Its job is to capture, acknowledge and make a first call — test, park or decline — so that the pipeline only receives ideas someone has already looked at.
One level in
What it is made of
Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.
First decision
The initial call on the idea — test, park or decline — with the reason, taken within an agreed time of logging.
3 attributes: Decision · Reason · Decided
LearnReply to the originator
The answer sent back to whoever raised the idea, saying what happened to it and why, whatever the decision was.
2 attributes: Replied · Message
Learn
Measure the time from logging to reply. When it grows, the sources that depend on goodwill begin to dry up.
The other components in sources of ideas
Source map
The routes by which new ideas can reach the organisation, with who watches each one and what each has produced so far.
LearnSearch brief
A short written statement of the problems the organisation wants new ideas for, and of what it has decided not to pursue.
Learn