It’s a good question and the answer lies in a simple framework – a structure, that ensures ideas are generated (the blue-sky process), and then judged and evaluated.
”Blue-skying” is the part of the process whereby you start coming up with ideas and let your creative side flourish. It is the part of the creativity process where you brainstorm, mind map, spin ideas about, let your inner child loose, and ask ”what if?” and “how about?” It is the time when you sit in museums and go for long walks to find inspiration. It is where you allow yourself to see things from different perspectives and different points of view. This is where you think “outside-the-box”; where you don’t hold back and just go to town.
The term “blue-skying” comes from the idea of an infinite blue sky full of endless ideas and possibilities. It also has roots in the adage of “pie in the sky”; the idea where anything goes.
The blue-sky process is where ideas need to be given a chance to develop and evolve without judgment and without restrictions. This is creative playtime where you keep the ideas and creativity flowing.
But there needs to be a point where the ideas are evaluated.
In our workshops we have created a model that explains thinking creatively as a big funnel. Here’s how “the funnel” works: basically you pour all your ideas into the top, let them filter through and out of the bottom comes a range of possibilities.
Up the top of the funnel are your objectives and parameters. These are the guidelines and constraints you need to work within. Remember, before you even start coming up with ideas it is vital to have these clear. You need to know the rules of the game and your limits. Remember too that without them you have no clear direction and will flounder.
Once you have those in place you can start coming up with ideas and start blue-skying. This is not the stage to make assumptions or judgments.
Once you have exhausted the blue-sky process you then need to filter the ideas into which ones are good, which have potential and which ones are not suitable. This stage is where we start making judgment calls. In my experience most people when blue-skying make the mistake of making judgments and assumptions way too early in the process. This limits and constrains the benefits of the blue-sky process and kills the creative progress. Judging ideas before they get a chance to evolve and be properly heard is creative suicide. Remember you have already set your direction through setting and clearly defining your objectives and parameters (which we covered in part two of this series), so let your mind do its thing and don’t hinder yourself or your team early on.
Once you’ve got a few potential ideas you can restart the process and place those back into the funnel for refinement.
Remember this main thing about “the funnel” is not to judge or restrict your ideas too early but give them a chance to evolve.
So remember, clearly define your objectives and parameters early on, as they keep you on track. Then when you blue-sky ideas just let the ideas flow unhindered. Once you have a bunch of ideas, filter out which ones have potential and which ones don’t. Next time we’ll look a little more into the blue-sky process and the different ways we all have of seeing things and coming up with ideas.
Nigel injects creative thinking into companies through ideas workshops and keynotes and is author of ‘Think BITS’. More information can be found at www.nigelcollin.com.au or contact Nigel at nigel@nigelcollin.com.au.
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