Ideating, prototyping and testing
Step 1 / 4·Ideation: keep it separate from evaluation
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Learning objectives — after this module you will:
- Run ideation sessions that produce genuinely different options
- Build cheap, fast prototypes for an HR program
- Design small pilots before scaling
Ideation: keep it separate from evaluation
Run a brainstorm that actually works.
Most brainstorms fail for one reason: generating ideas and evaluating them happen AT THE SAME TIME. Someone offers an idea and immediately hears 'that's not feasible' — and within ten minutes the room stops contributing.
How to run an ideation session
- WRITE SILENTLY FOR FIVE MINUTES first — so the first speaker's idea doesn't frame everyone else's
- SET A QUANTITY TARGET: '30 ideas in 20 minutes'. The target forces people past the obvious first few
- DEFER ALL JUDGEMENT to a later stage — put that rule on the wall
- INVITE OUTSIDERS: people outside HR often bring the perspective that breaks the rut
- CONVERGE AFTERWARDS: cluster ideas, vote, pick two or three to prototype
Breaking the rut when ideas dry up
Flip the question: 'How might we make a new hire's first week as TERRIBLE as possible?'. List bad ideas freely — then invert each one. It's both fun and effective, and often surfaces exactly what the organisation is accidentally doing already.
Key takeaway: Keep ideation separate from evaluation; write before speaking, set a quantity target, defer judgement.