Innovation · Sources of ideas · Component
Search brief
A short written statement of the problems the organisation wants new ideas for, and of what it has decided not to pursue.
The deliverable
What it is
An open call for ideas produces a wide scatter, most of it unconnected to anything the organisation is trying to achieve. A search brief narrows the call to problems that matter, which makes both the ideas and the replies to them more useful.
The brief is also where exclusions are stated. Saying what the organisation will not pursue spares people effort and makes the declined ideas easier to explain.
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.
Problem to solve
One problem the organisation wants ideas for, phrased so that several different solutions could answer it.
3 attributes: Problem · Linked goal · Priority
LearnExclusions
What the organisation has decided not to pursue in this period, and the reason, so declined ideas can be explained.
2 attributes: Out of scope · Reason
LearnOwnership and validity
Who owns the brief and until when it holds, so it is reviewed on a date instead of drifting out of relevance.
2 attributes: Owner · Valid until
Learn
If the brief has no exclusions, it has not yet made a choice. Add one thing the organisation will not pursue this year.
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.
LearnIdea log
The single register where every idea is entered, acknowledged and given a first decision, whichever route it arrived by.
Learn