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This process is concerned with how we come up with a pool of ideas, analyse them and then divide them into a set of JIRA issues that will form the start of the development process to take them to implementation. It involves the filtering of the pool based on some measure or intuition of realism and the breakdown of what's left into clearly defined tasks.

Coming up with New Ideas

There are many ideas that will be conceived by individuals outside of any official call or process. These should be collected and not forgotten and the place they should go is here: Road Map Ideas

Ideas Call (monthly)

A more formal time in which to develop ideas is the monthly call. This will be used for brainstorming and without being too prescriptive, will broadly follow the SCAMPER and Six Hats of Critical Thinking methods to come up with ideas, develop suggestions for taking forwards those ideas and narrow down to solutions. SCAMPER is a bag of useful approaches to identify suggested courses of action. SCAMPER stands for: (S) substitute, (C) combine, (A) adapt, (M) modify, (P) put to another use, (E) eliminate and (R) reverse. Six Hats encourages looking at suggestions from different angles, represented by a hat colour. 

Coming up with New Ideas

Substitute

We think about our system and/or process, considering what can be replaced: 

  • What part of the suggestion can be substituted without affecting the whole project?
  • Who or what can be substituted without affecting the suggestion?
  • Can we replace the suggestion with simpler one?
Combine

We analyse the possibility of merging two steps or suggestions into a single more efficient result: 

  • Can we merge two steps of the suggestion?
  • Can we apply two suggestions at the same time?
  • Can we combine resources with another humanitarian partner?
  • Can we combine two or more components in our system together?
Adapt

We look at adjusting or tweaking existing products or services for a better outcome:

  • What would we need to change to produce better results?
  • What else could be done in this specific task?
  • How can we make the process more flexible?
Modify, minify or magnify

We look at substantive changes to products or processes:

  • How will modifying the process improve results?
  • What if we had a double consumer base?
  • If the market was different, what would the process look like?
  • Can we change the process to work more efficiently?
  • What if the product is double the current size?
Put to another use

We consider if the current product or process in another purpose or how to use the existing product to solve problems. For example, this technique can be used to learn how to shift an existing product to another market segment or user type. The questions in this technique can include the following:

  • What other parts in the company can use the product?
  • What are the benefits for the product if used elsewhere?
  • What if we target another market segmentation for the current product?
  • Can we add a specific step into the process to replace another?
  • What are other ways can we use it?
  • Can we recycle the waste for another use?
Eliminate or elaborate

As the name implies, this technique aims to identify the parts of the process that can be eliminated to improve the process product or service. It also helps to explore the unnecessary parts of the project. Questions related to this part includes:

  • What would happened if we removed this part?
  • How can we achieve the same output without specific part of the project?
  • Do we need this specific part?
  • What would we do if we had to work with half the resources?
  • In some situations, the unnecessary resources or steps in the process provide extra load for the project to achieve innovation and creativity. Eliminating these resources extends the ability to innovate and allocate more resources for creativity within the organizations.
Reverse

Finally, the reverse or rearrange technique aims to explore the innovative potential when changing the order of the process in the production line. Reversing the process or part of it can help solving problems or produce more innovative output. The questions in this part include:

  • What would happened if we reverse the process?
  • How can we rearrange the current status for better output?
  • What if we consider it backwards?
  • Can we interchange elements?
White hat

We start by sharing the information about the problem.

  • What is the available information?
  • What facts do we have?
Yellow hat

We think optimistically about the suggestion, highlighting the advantages and benefits of solving it.

  • What are the benefits?
  • Why is it workable?
Black hat

We then think cautiously to identify the drawbacks of the suggestion.

  • What are the risks?
  • Why is the suggestion not workable?
Red hat

We then consider our gut reaction towards the suggestion without attempting to understand the reason behind the feeling.

  • What is your hunch about the suggestion?
  • What do you like/dislike/love/hate about it?
Blue hat

This hat comes into play as and when needed as a control and moderation mechanism to manage the thinking process.

Solutions

We collate suggestions and then donning our green hat, we continue as set out below.

Green hat

Here we consider possibilities, alternatives and new ideas. One way to do this is with one or more of the other tools of the SCAMPER method which can be used as needed:

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