A well-run ideation workshop can unlock bold thinking, align teams around customer problems, and create the momentum needed to drive real innovation. But good outcomes don’t happen by accident. Here are four important considerations when thinking about how to structure your workshop for meaningful, inclusive and imaginative idea generation.
1. Assemble for diversity of thought
The most transformative ideas rarely come from a room full of like-minded people. Be intentional about curating participants from a range of backgrounds, functions, and levels of familiarity with the domain. Include individuals who are naturally curious and open to new perspectives, not just those with subject matter expertise. Research shows these kinds of participants are more likely to offer original insights and challenge established thinking
Where possible, recruit externals or people outside your core business to add unexpected perspectives. If that’s difficult, at least ensure the internal mix avoids cognitive homogeneity. In short: optimise for learning, not knowing.
2. Reach the “third third” of ideas
Most workshops generate the most obvious ideas first, safe, incremental, and surface-level. The truly inventive thinking lies beyond this, in what Professor Tina Seelig of Stanford University describes as the “third third” of ideas. Reaching this layer requires intentionally pushing past those initial, predictable suggestions.
One proven approach is to structure ideation in rounds: start with individual generation, then group sharing, and finally use creative stimuli, such as provocations, industry trends, or ‘assumption busters’, to jolt the room into new mental models
3. Set clear homework
Pre-work isn’t just admin, it’s foundational. It engages the subconscious mind, tapping into the brain’s ability to work on complex problems in the background. Just like when a name or idea comes to you hours after you’ve stopped thinking about it, giving participants time before the session helps their brains start solving challenges before they even enter the room.
It is also the way of flushing out the first and second third ideas prior to the workshop. So these can be captured at the beginning and then the rest of the workshop can focus on getting to the third third
Homework can also seed psychological safety: those who are more introverted or hesitant to speak in front of others are often more confident when they’ve had time to prepare their thoughts in advance.
4. Actively dismantle inherent bias
It’s crucial that idea generation happens individually, without input from others. Otherwise, the benefits of diversity are lost. The group’s value comes later, during idea improvement, when diverse perspectives can strengthen and build on early thinking. These two stages, generating and improving, should be kept separate and never overlap.
Where helpful, separate idea generation from evaluation. This can reduce the risk of “idea killing” too early and helps remove hierarchy from the equation. Later stages can apply structured critique and prioritisation, once the pool of ideas is rich and varied.
Diversity, structure, preparation, and facilitation discipline are what separate shallow workshops from the kind that produce compelling, testable ideas. Don’t just gather people and hope for the best, engineer the conditions for bold thinking to emerge.
