Tip 6

Build a Prototype of the Idea

Before you react to a new idea you encounter, it is important that you truly understand what the idea is all about. Each of us has a tendency to believe that people know what we know, see the world in the same way we do, and understand what we are talking about. As a result, when others approach you with a new idea, they may not provide critical clarifying details to reach a level of shared understanding.

One effective strategy is to ask that all new ideas be prototyped so you and others can interact with them and can understand and appreciate what they are about. These preliminary prototype representations of an idea can illustrate how a new product might work or what we mean when we talk about a new concept, process, or service. If you decide the idea has merit and should be pursued further, the prototype can also help you begin to build support for the idea with key stakeholders.

Creating a prototype of an idea should not be time-consuming or costly. It should be something simple that represents the idea and fleshes out some of the specifics so it is more easily communicated. Here are a few examples:

• Create a narrated PowerPoint presentation.

• Fashion a mock-up from found objects.

• Find illustrative photos.

• Draw pictures.

• Create a process flowchart.

In many ways, creating the prototype serves as a simple extension of the creativity used to create the idea in the first place. We know a process engineer who had an idea for a better process to sort and refine various powdered chemicals. To help executives understand what he was proposing and why it was important, he drew a diagram depicting the 25 steps in the current process. Beside it he drew a diagram illustrating the significantly fewer steps that the new process he envisioned would entail. Not only did he depict the gist of his new idea, but visually showing the two processes side-by-side easily illustrated why his idea was a good one that could save time and money.

Or consider a beverage industry executive who had the idea for a new soda and took an even simpler approach. His idea was to use light-flavored fruits to add flavors to soda, without overpowering the original soda taste. He chose a photo of a pear and a photo of a bottle of soda and merged the two together as a shorthand prototype of his idea. He didn’t go to the time and expense of actually creating a formula for everyone to taste. Instead, his simple visual telegraphed the gist of his idea as he shared it with the team. People were able to quickly “get the picture.”