Working With Wild Ideas

Hands Holding a Seedling and Soil ca. 2000

A germinal idea requires the sanctuary of a mindspace that is totally nurturing. It requires a space to grow so that its wildness is not nipped in the bud. Who knows which weed will become the coffee bush? Let the wilderness flourish in a totally non-threatening atmosphere. Let the ideas grow high and tall. Leave all pruning for later. New ideas need to play freely, with no discipline. Suspend judgement, postpone reaction, extend effort.

Hindustan Lever has its innovation centers. Cognizant has budgets for its mavericks and no stop signs within those budget allocations. Mr. Lakshminarayan, CEO speaks of an innovation department that co-ordinates this.

Ask all the participants to make an impossible wish: zero cost, zero rejections or double productivity. Then proceed to tame the wish bit by bit using the innovation tools already learnt, like 6M. This process can be extended as you learn all the tools. So go ahead and spend time setting impossible goals and developing wild ideas.