How to Come up With Ideas that Actually Work
We’ve all seen it happen countless times. A startup launches with sleek branding and strong venture funding, only to fizzle out in six months. A global corporation spends millions developing a new product that grows dusty on shelves, or worse, becomes an instant meme for all the wrong reasons. Even the smartest teams fall into the trap of thinking a "cool" idea is automatically a good idea.
But the truth is: ideas don’t win because they’re clever. They win because they solve a real problem for customers better than anything else available.
I’ve helped large and small companies develop new products and services across industries based on this innovation principle. If you’re trying to create something new for customers, whether it's your next product, service, or business model, here are five best practices to guide your process to help your creativity lead to real-world business success:
1. Don’t ideate; problem solve.
Innovation requires creative thinking, but if brainstorming isn’t tied to solving a real customer pain point, it’s just noise. Conduct research with consumers or customers to learn what’s broken, frustrating, or inefficient in their world, and then get to work fixing it.
2. Drive value before profits.
I’ve seen so many good ideas get killed too early in the process because they "won’t make enough margin." But some of the largest successes start with ideas that don’t immediately focus on profits. If you can create something so valuable that people need to buy it, then you can look at ways to optimize your costs to drive profitability.
3. Brainstorm inclusively.
The best ideas come from varied perspectives, so bring in people with different backgrounds, roles, and lived experiences into idea generation sessions. Diversity across race, gender, age, and functional expertise (e.g., marketing, sales, R&D, finance) expands the creative field and leads to smarter, more relevant ideas.
4. Be positive, then harsh.
In early stages, give every idea room to breathe; encourage boldness, weirdness, and stretch thinking. Even if something seems ludicrous, say it! You never know what might trigger someone else to think of a game changing idea. Once you’ve filled the wall with sticky notes, then it’s time to be ruthlessly critical about what survives.
5. Build, borrow, and bargain.
Innovation does not equal invention. In fact, many successful innovators borrow offerings, features, or business models and simply apply them in a new market or context. Look outside your industry and see what’s out there that you can apply in new ways, make more affordable for customers, or totally disrupt the status quo.
Innovation doesn’t have to start from scratch, but it does have to start with people. Solve real problems, invite diverse voices, and test boldly. The ideas that find success in the market aren’t just interesting or exciting, they’re impossible to ignore.
