From competitive to additive ideation

After a challenge has been stated, each team member silently develops a radical idea or a breakthrough solution during the individual ideation 'Garden' phase. These ideas are shared by the team members after the 'Garden' phase has been completed.

The  'Garden' phase is followed by a quick idea assessment phase to choose the best base idea to build upon. The best strategic idea is selected based on pre-defined evaluation criteria, such as Weighted Guiding Principles.

Team members vote on the proposed ideas and the most popular one wins through. Special "Gold Coin Cards" can be used to speed the voting process. The team leader make the final decision in case two or more ideas got an equal number of votes.

Afterwards, the team members are asked to generate ideas that add value to the base idea. During this 'Kitchen' phase, team members work in a supportive and collaborative mode to build upon the base idea and come out with a stronger concept. To align this intellectual teamwork strategically, the team leader, the sponsor or the trainer may state some desired outcomes and ask for ideas on how to get there. Team members can contribute their suggestions and constructively comment or add to the discussion. Thus more and more ideas are added to the base idea to make it more effective.

The 'Kitchen' mindset of a chief who is cooking a delicious dish out of available ingredients leads to a collaborative, constructive and additive atmosphere which results in amazing creative outcomes.