1-day

ideation
workshop
Full agenda and
10+ tools included
Make this
guide your
own.
Feel free to tweak or remix any part of this guide,
as long as it’s for non-commercial purposes.
Good karma for you if you credit Board of
Innovation.

We make corporates innovate like startups

through strategy consulting, HR talent schemes,
and organizational transformation programs.

Some of the clients with whom

we are proud to work
What’s the WHY WE CREATED IT…
We want to empower people
HOW WE MADE IT…
We read all the research, 

WHAT CAN IT DO FOR YOU?
You can use this to host your

point of this to innovate by giving them the

tools they need to be creative
and come up with bigger,
held a gazillion ideation
workshops, compared notes
with other innovation
own 1-day ideation workshop.
You’ll find 3 possible agendas,
several proven ideation tools,

guide? better ideas. strategists, and then

summarized the lot in this
step-by-step instructions on
how to use them, as well as pro-
simple, actionable guide. tips based on our experiences.
Good luck!

3
Ideation
Where does it stand in the innovation process?
ideation •
n, the formation of
ideas or concepts
WHAT IS IT?

In the corporate environment, “ideation” is a process for generating new We run ideation workshops and brainstorm sessions with Fortune 500
ideas and concepts to solve specific problems. These can be problems companies. Check out some of our most popular programs below.
that your customers or clients are facing (enabling you to come up with
concepts for new products and services your organization can offer), or Innovation transformation
problems that your organization is experiencing (thus improving the
internal structure or processes).

Accelerators
In both these scenarios, you’ll need to gather the right set of people
from your organization and a good mix of facilitators (we can help with
that) to build awesome new ideas for your team to act on.

Design sprints
Ideation is the very first step
to innovation, right?

6
Ideation is the very first step
WRONG!
in innovation, right?

7
Where does ideation
stand in the innovation
process?

8
Where does
YOU MIGHT NEED TO TAKE A STEP BACK

Innovation doesn’t start with ideation. You should only ideate once

ideation stand in
you’ve identified a problem that’s worth solving. In other words,
coming up with new ideas (value propositions of new services or
products) is pointless if you’re ideating over problems that your

the innovation audience doesn’t actually face.

process?
So you should already have defined a specific problem (in the form of
a How Might We (HMW) statement) before reading this guide. If not,
stop what you’re doing and go through a 'problem discovery' phase
to unearth a clear problem that’s worth solving.
Need more
information?
At www.boardofinnovation.com/
tools, you’ll find a world of free
tools, guides, and other innovation
resources.

Explore our tools!

10
Where does Discover
Insight into the
Define
The area to
Develop
Potential
Deliver
Solutions that

ideation stand
problem focus upon solutions work

in the
innovation
process?
Ideation is the starting
point of the second
‘diamond’ in the popular
Double Diamond
framework.

Learn about Double Diamond Ideation

11
 Discover Define Develop Deliver
Insight into the The area to Potential Solutions that

Empathy problem focus upon solutions work

research
comes before
ideation.
Before ideating, you should do
empathy research to define a clear
problem that’s worth solving.

Learn about Double Diamond

Problem Ideation
Solving

12
Where to start.
The starting point of any ideation exercise is a challenge or
a question. This is sometimes referred to as a design brief,
a design challenge, or a problem definition. It basically lays
out the problem in a constructive way.



By reframing insights as How Might We (HMW) statements,
you can turn interesting ‘problems’ into questions worth
answering and tackling as a team.

HOW MIGHT WE
These three little words point the team in a direction that is:

Solution-oriented (How)

Optimistic (Might)

Collaborative (We)

Try our HMW statement builder

13
The 4 golden rules 

of ideation
Rule #1
There are no bad
ideas.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
The key to a good ideation session is that everyone in the room feels comfortable
contributing their ideas. How do you get there? By asking everyone to kill
judgment completely: no negative thinking, no “yes, but,” no nah-faces. If
someone hesitates in jotting down an idea, tell them, “At this stage, there are no
bad ideas.”

Of course, this is easier said than done. When developing new products/services/
business units, it’s very easy to be tempted by critical thinking. Indeed, initial
ideas often just sound absurd – and “this can’t work” may immediately jump to
mind. However, great business concepts are an unusual combination of (not-so)
crazy ideas that become meaningful when combined.

Consider each idea as a piece of a puzzle. No matter how insignificant it could

look at first, it may be a piece of a bigger picture later on.

15
Rule #2
Capture
everything.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
In the heat of the action, brilliant ideas might get lost (“it’s such a good idea,
tomorrow we’ll remember it for sure” – you won’t). There’s only one way to solve
this: capture every idea on a Post-It Note.

Too many ideation sessions happen during regular team meetings, without the
participants being fully aware that they’re ideating. Ideas are spoken and jotted
down in the meeting minutes. Instead, a key element of the best ideation sessions
is that each idea is tracked for use as a building block in following sessions.


A few extra tips:
1) One post-it, one idea. 

Simple. Don’t try to fit an entire business model on a 7×7 cm piece of paper. 

2) Use markers, not pens. 

This will help you find the most concise way to describe your idea – your
teammates will love you for it. 

3) Be visual. 

If possible, instead of using verbal language, draw a sketch of your idea.

16
Rule #3
Go for hybrid
brainstorming.
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
Group brainstorming is always better than individual brainstorming, right? Well,
not really. Research shows that combining individual brainstorming with group
exercises leads to more ideas and better ideas.

Best solution? Hybrid Brainstorming

Do individual ideation first, then group ideation. Starting an ideation session with
group brainstorming will make the loudest voices in the room set a determined
direction (thus narrowing the breadth of ideas), and frustrate the most creative
minds in the room. Instead, begin with an individual component. Once everyone
has set their own approach to solving the problem, move to the group session.
Leave enough time to discuss and build upon each other’s ideas.

17
Rule #4
Quantity
over quality.
WHAT IT MEANS
The old adage ‘quality over quantity’ doesn’t hold during ideation exercises.
Nothing stops the creative juices flowing quite like critically thinking about the
quality or feasibility of your ideas. Being selective is important, but it shouldn’t be
done during creative exercises. Go for quantity and worry about the quality later. 



Need help? Check out our free brainstorm cards – a collection of 52 cards to help
you come up with new ideas.

Download the cards

18
Ideation:
practical
information

19
Who can
facilitate?
Quick answer: Anyone with time to prepare
(since you’re reading this, you qualify).

Long answer: Facilitating an ideation workshop

is something which might be out of your comfort
zone, but as long as you understand the
exercises, you should be fine.

If you do feel like you need a hand, let us know.

Contact us

20
Who should
participate?
Quick answer: Anyone can and should
participate in an ideation session from time to
time.

Long answer: Innovation projects work best

when there’s a multi-disciplinary team driving
the venture, and the same goes for ideation
sessions. Try to get a good mix of technical
and commercial profiles from different
business units in the room.


PRO-TIP:
Involve your clients – this can be particularly
powerful in a B2B context.

21
How many
people should
participate?
Quick answer: Between 6 and 25 people.

Long answer: We’ve run ideation workshops

with as little as 2 people and with groups of
over 100 people. Generally, you should divide
big groups into smaller teams of 3 to 5
people. The more people in the room, the
more ideas you’ll get (and the more
complicated the workshop becomes). The
sweet-spot is 12 people.

PRO-TIP:
Ensure that you have a sufficient number of
experienced facilitators at hand. Our rule of
thumb is 1 facilitator per 15 participants.

22
 Workshop Checklist
ROOM SETUP
Provide a workshop location outside the office with spacious rooms

What do I
teams and facilitators will be walking around the room a lot so we need the space

Provide a creative workspace, preferably open, bright spaces

we can provide tips for inspiring workshop places

Provide enough wall space to hang posters, templates, post-its: +/- 3m per team

need? The rooms should have 1 table-island per team of 4-5 people and 1 table and chairs
close to the screen for our facilitator(s)

Beamer or white wall for presentations

1 flip-chart per team of 4-5 people (can vary)

Quick answer: A dedicated space,

participants, Post-Its, and markers FOOD & DRINKS

Make sure people have drinks all day long: coffee, tea and water

Long answer:
 Preferably lunch outside the room so that people can get some air
Have a look at our workshop checklist.
Preferably a light lunch

2 coffee breaks one in the morning one in afternoon

Download the checklist

DOCUMENTATION

We will take pictures to use in our marketing efforts

If we’re pitching at the end of the workshop, it’s always great to film that!

About this tool
 the right material is If you have any questions
Use this checklist to essential to a great about the workshop
prepare yourself and the workshop! To be sure preparation contact your
team for the upcoming about the perfect setup facilitator. printsize: A4
workshop. Setting up a try to have most op the boardofinnovation.com/tools
proper room and having boxes checked. 


23
Ideation
workshop:
agenda 1
 09:00 Introduction & Warm-up

09:30 Opposite Thinking

10:30 Break

Agenda 1 10:45 Tech & Trends

12:30 Lunch

GOAL 13:15 Analogy Thinking

To come up with a large number of innovative ideas

14:00 Selection
and inspire participants with disruptive cases, future
tech and trends, along with opposite thinking. 14:45 Break

THE SPECS 15:00 Concept development

Facilitators: 1-2 experienced facilitators
Participants: 12-30 16:00 Pitching

Difficulty level: Medium


16:45 Wrap-up
Time: Full day (adjust the length 

of each exercise to suit your goals)
Output: 1-2 concept cards per participant

25
h 9.00
INTRODUCTION AND WARM-UP
A good ideation session starts with pulling people out of their
comfort zones and getting the energy level right. Don’t start
with a 30-minute presentation on why you are organizing this
session. Instead, follow this 3 step approach:

Step 1

Take two minutes to Introduce yourself and the context.
Pro-tip: Ask everyone to put away laptops and phones, and
tell them they are welcome to send an email or take a call
outside if they have to.


Step 2

Ask everyone to draw their neighbor. Yes, really. Then tell them
to give said neighbor the drawing and introduce themselves.

Step 3

Put a ridiculous HMW statement on the board (eg. How might
we improve the life of monkeys in the zoo?) and distribute
brainstorm cards for a quick 10-minute brainstorming exercise.

26
h 9.30
OPPOSITE THINKING
Constraints and mental blockages have no place in an
ideation session. To overcome these inhibitions, we
designed the Opposite Thinking Tool.



This tool is as easy to use as it is powerful. Opposite
Thinking asks you to familiarize yourself with the
opposite side of things in order to stretch the horizon
of possibilities. The goal: To boost your brainstorming
session by solving assumptions and coming up with
additional, more creative ideas.

For instance, when designing a chair, you can list the

assumptions of a chair (it needs to have legs) and
think of its opposite (no legs?!) to trigger additional
ideas (eg. what if chairs were hanging from the
ceiling?).

Download the tool

27
h 9.30
OPPOSITE THINKING – PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
 Step 5

Individually list 2 assumptions you Keep repeating steps 3 and 4 until you
have either about the problem you’re have identified opposite realities and
trying to solve, or the solutions you potential solutions for all assumptions. 
have in mind. 
Pro-Tip: Encourage participants to build
Step 2
 upon the opposite realities or proposed
Share your assumptions and write solutions of your team members!
them down in the left column of the
Opposite Thinking template.  Step 6

Review all proposed solutions as a team
Step 3
 and build on each other’s ideas. 
Individually pick an assumption and
define one or two opposite realities in
the second column.

Step 4

Individually think about these new
realities, how they affect your problem,
and add potential solutions to the
third column. 

28
h 10.45
TECH & TREND MATRIX
Ideation starts by looking around you and by getting
inspired. We developed the Tech & Trends Matrix to:

Introduce your team to new technologies and

trends that can trigger innovative ideas. Explaining
each technology and trend by using inspiring
startup and corporate innovation examples makes
these high-level concepts extremely actionable.


Explore how specific trends and technologies can

impact the challenges at hand.

Download the tool!

29
h 10.45
TECH & TREND MATRIX
Step 1
 Step 5

Download the PDF and print it on an Give the HMW/Trends presentation. 
A2 sheet. If you can’t print it, you can
also draw it on a piece of paper. Step 6

Ask people to select 4 Trends they find
Step 2
 inspiring.
Frame your challenge.
Pro-tip: Provide handouts of your Tech &
Pro-tip: How Might We… these three Trends presentation.
little words set the team in a direction
that is solution-oriented (how), Step 7

optimistic (might), collaborative (we). Ask the participants to ideate on each
HMW statement and use the selected
Step 3
 Trends as triggers to come up with new
Select relevant Social/Tech Trends. ideas.
Aim to select around 8 Trends.

Step 4

Ask participants to define 4 HMW
statements related to the challenge at
hand.

30
h 13.15
ANALOGY THINKING
80% of new ideas come from analogy thinking. Pablo
Picasso knew this when he said, “Good artists copy;
great artists steal.” 



What is it? Analogy thinking is a method for
identifying those factors that make a business,
product, or service successful and translating them to
your context – not simply copying existing products or
business models.



We’ve looked all over the world and identified 50+
business models from famous multinationals to
obscure startups which you can use as inspiration for
this exercise.

Download the tool

31
h 13.15
ANALOGY THINKING – PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1
 Step 5

Individually look for 2 inspiring Individually try to apply those lessons to
examples (1 within your industry and 1 your problem or solution, don’t just copy,
outside your industry). build on what makes it great. 

Step 2
 Step 6

Present the examples to each other. Have a group discussion to build on each
Don’t take more than 1 min per other’s ideas. 
example. 
Step 7

Step 3
 Repeat steps 4-6 for the remaining 2
Decide on the 3 most inspiring examples. 
examples as a group and take 1
analogy thinking template per Tip: Replace step 1 by downloading
example.  the 50+ business models you should copy. 

Step 4 

Individually list what makes the
example great and put it on Post-Its on
the left side of the canvas. 

32
h 14.00
SELECTION
The first phase of an ideation session is all about diverging and
generating as many ideas as possible. The second phase is where
you narrow things down and select the best ideas to take further.

This is a crucial part of an ideation exercise and it is also the

hardest part. Guiding your participants through this process
requires patience. People tend to snap back into corporate mode
and insist that everyone should review all ideas, it’s your job to
explain to them that this isn’t feasible, so you’ve designed a
process to weed out the most promising ideas.

Start by repeating the scope of the ideation exercise and explain

the selection criteria (next page). You’ll need the Idea Shopping
Cart tool for this process.

Download the tool!

33
h 14.00
SELECTION
Step 1
 Step 3

Download the Idea Shopping Cart Hand out the Idea Shopping Cart. Explain
(previous page) and print it on an A3 that everyone should fill in the top half of
sheet of paper. You can also draw the the template by selecting and copying (not
diagram on a sheet of paper if you taking off the wall) 6 ideas:
can’t print.
An original idea
Step 2
 An idea for in 5-10 years
Tell everyone to walk around the room An ‘implement now’ idea
(all posters with ideas should be An idea addressing a new market
hanging on the walls), read through An idea about a new offering
the ideas and indicate the ones they An idea you just really like

like with dot-votes.
Pro-Tip: Change the 6 criteria based upon
Pro-tip: Encourage discussions but try your goals.
not to let people spend 10 minutes
discussing 1 idea. Step 4

Ask people to sit down and turn their 6
ideas into a top 3.

Pro-tip: Explain that they don’t have to

copy ideas literally – they can build upon
existing ideas and tweak them. 

34
h 15.00
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
We believe innovation is the commercialization of
good ideas. An idea might seem great to a lot of
people, but that’s often because different people
understand different things.


To review ideas in a structured manner, we developed
the Concept Card. Print this out and hand it to
participants during the session. They will use it to:

Summarise your concept by answering critical

questions. Who is your target audience? Which
problems are you solving? What is the solution? 


Make an initial idea more mature. The Concept

Card is a great way to make sure that important
aspects of an idea have been thought through. 

Download the tool

35
h 16.00
PITCHING
Pitching is an art and, as a facilitator, you’ll need to be the time
keeper.

Pro-Tip: Energy levels at the end of the day might be low. Try
an energizer exercise or take a break to bring everyone
outside for a walk!

First, tell people what they should be pitching and how long
they have (this will depend on the number of people/teams
in your group). Give them some pitching tips, and copies of
the pitching checklist.

Start the pitch and be strict on your time-keeping.


Pro-Tip: Ensure that the audience applauds at the end of each

pitch – people are getting out of there comfort zones here:)

Download the checklist

36
h 16.45
WRAP UP
At Board of Innovation, we have 2 key rules for each
session we do: Always end on a high, and always end
on time! Make sure the pitches are done 15 minutes
before the published end-time so you have time to:

Ask for feedback.

Always ask for feedback it shows participants that
you care about their opinion and it’s a great
opportunity for you as a facilitator to learn.

Recap the day.

Provide a quick overview of what you did during the
day and give some examples of ideas that were
generated. 


Pro-Tip: End with an inspirational sentence, such as, “I

hope that the ideas generated today will help you…
Thank you!’ The ‘thank you’ in the end should trigger
an applause.

37
Ideation
workshop:
agenda 2
 09:00 Introduction & Warm-up

09:30 Opposite Thinking

Agenda 2 10:00 Analogy Thinking

11:00 Break
GOAL
Short session to inspire participants and enable
11:15 Selection
them to come up with new ideas.

11:45 Concept Development

THE SPECS
Facilitators: 1 -2 experienced facilitators
12:05 Pitch
Participants: 12-30
Difficulty level: Medium

Time: Half a day (the timing of each activity will 12:25 Wrap-up

depend upon your goals)

Output: 1-2 concept cards per participant

39
h 9.00
INTRODUCTION AND WARM-UP
A good ideation session starts with pulling people out
of their comfort zones and getting the energy level
right. Don’t start with a 30-minute presentation on
why you are organizing this session. Instead, follow
this 3 step approach:

Step 1

Take two minutes to Introduce yourself and the
context.
Pro-tip: Ask everyone to put away laptops and
phones, and tell them they are welcome to send an
email or take a call outside if they have to.


Step 2

Ask everyone to draw their neighbor. Yes, really. Then
tell them to give said neighbor the drawing and
introduce themselves.

Step 3

Put a ridiculous HMW statement on the board (eg.
How might we improve the life of monkeys in the
zoo?) and distribute brainstorm cards for a quick 10-
minute brainstorming exercise. 40
h 9.30
OPPOSITE THINKING
Constraints and mental blockages have no place in an
ideation session. To overcome these inhibitions, we
designed the Opposite Thinking Tool.



This tool is as easy to use as it is powerful. Opposite
Thinking asks you to familiarize yourself with the
opposite side of things in order to stretch the horizon
of possibilities. The goal: To boost your brainstorming
session by solving assumptions and coming up with
additional, more creative ideas.

For instance, when designing a chair, you can list the

assumptions of a chair (it needs to have legs) and
think of its opposite (no legs?!) to trigger additional
ideas (eg. what if chairs were hanging from the
ceiling?).

Download the tool

41
h 9.30
OPPOSITE THINKING – PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1

Individually list 2 assumptions you Step 5

have either about the problem you’re Keep repeating steps 3 and 4 until you
trying to solve, or the solutions you have identified opposite realities and
have in mind.  potential solutions for all assumptions. 

Step 2
 Pro-Tip: Encourage participants to build

Share your assumptions and write upon the opposite realities or proposed
them down in the left column of the solutions of your team members!
Opposite Thinking template. 
Step 6

Step 3
 Review all proposed solutions as a team
Individually pick an assumption and and build on each other’s ideas. 
define one or two opposite realities in
the second column.

Step 4

Individually think about these new
realities, how they affect your problem,
and add potential solutions to the
third column. 

42
h 10.00
ANALOGY THINKING
80% of new ideas come from analogy thinking. Pablo
Picasso knew this when he said, “Good artists copy;
great artists steal.”



What is it? Analogy thinking is a method for
identifying those factors that make a business,
product, or service successful and translating them to
your context – not simply copying existing products or
business models.



We’ve looked all over the world and identified 50+
business models from famous multinationals to
obscure startups which you can use as inspiration for
this exercise.

Download the tool

43
h 10.00
ANALOGY THINKING – PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1
 Step 5

Individually look for 2 inspiring Individually try to apply those lessons to
examples (1 within your industry and 1 your problem or solution, don’t just copy,
outside your industry). build on what makes it great. 

Step 2
 Step 6

Present the examples to each other. Have a group discussion to build on each
Don’t take more than 1 min per other’s ideas. 
example. 
Step 7

Step 3
 Repeat steps 4-6 for the remaining 2
Decide on the 3 most inspiring examples. 
examples as a group and take 1
analogy thinking template per Tip: Replace step 1 by downloading
example.  the 50+ business models you should copy. 

Step 4 

Individually list what makes the
example great and put it on Post-Its on
the left side of the canvas.  

44
h 11.15
SELECTION
The first phase of an ideation session is all about diverging and
generating as many ideas as possible. The second phase is where you
narrow things down and select the best ideas to take further.

This is a crucial part of an ideation exercise, and it is also the hardest

part. Guiding your participants through this process requires patience.
People tend to snap back into corporate mode and insist that everyone
should review all ideas, it’s your job to explain to them that this isn’t
feasible, so you’ve designed a process to weed out the most promising
ideas.

Start by repeating the scope of the ideation exercise and explain the
selection criteria (next page). You’ll need the Idea Shopping Cart tool
for this process.

Download the tool

45
h 11.15
SELECTION
Step 1
 Step 3

Download the Idea Shopping Cart Hand out the Idea Shopping Cart. Explain
(previous page) and print it on an A3 that everyone should fill in the top half of
sheet of paper. You can also draw the the template by selecting and copying (not
diagram on a sheet of paper if you taking off the wall) 6 ideas:
can’t print.
An original idea
Step 2
 An idea for in 5-10 years
Tell everyone to walk around the room An ‘implement now’ idea
(all posters with ideas should be An idea addressing a new market
hanging on the walls), read through An idea about a new offering
the ideas and indicate the ones they An idea you just really like

like with dot-votes.
Pro-tip: Change the 6 criteria based upon
Pro-tip: Encourage discussions but try your goals.
not to let people spend 10 minutes
discussing 1 idea. Step 4

Ask people to sit down and turn their 6
ideas into a top 3.

Pro-tip: Explain that they don’t have to

copy ideas literally – they can build upon
existing ideas and tweak them. 

46
h 11.45
CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
We believe innovation is the commercialisation of
good ideas. An idea might seem great to a lot of
people, but that’s often because different people
understand different things.


To review ideas in a structured manner, we developed
the Concept Card. Print it out and give it to
participants. This tool enables participants to:

Summarize your concept by answering critical

questions. Who is your target audience? Which
problems are you solving? What is the solution? 


Make an initial idea more mature. The Concept

Card is a great way to make sure that important
aspects of an idea have been thought through. 

Download the tool

47
h 12.05
PITCHING
Pitching is an art and, as a facilitator, you’ll need to be the time
keeper.

Pro-Tip: Energy levels at the end of the day might be low. Try an
energizer exercise or take a break to bring everyone outside for
a walk!

First, tell people what they should be pitching and how long
they have (this will depend on the number of people/teams in
your group). Give them some pitching tips, and copies of the
pitching checklist.

Start the pitch and be strict on your time-keeping.


Pro-Tip: Ensure that the audience applauds at the end of each

pitch – people are getting out of there comfort zones here:)

Download the tool

48
h 12.25
WRAP UP
At Board of Innovation, we have 2 key rules for each
session we do: Always end on a high, and always end
on time! Make sure the pitches are done 15 minutes
before the published end-time so you have time to:

Ask for feedback.

Always ask for feedback it shows participants that
you care about their opinion and it’s a great
opportunity for you as a facilitator to learn.

Recap the day.

Provide a quick overview of what you did during the
day and give some examples of ideas that were
generated. 


Pro-Tip: End with an inspirational sentence, such as, “I

hope that the ideas generated today will help you…
Thank you!’ The ‘thank you’ in the end should trigger
an applause.

49
Ideation
Workshop:
Agenda 3
 09:00 Introduction & Warm-up

09:30 Brainstorm cards

10:30 Break

Agenda 3 10:45 Tech & Trends Ideation

12:30 Lunch
GOAL
Short session to inspire participants and help them 13:15 Collaborative sketching
come up with new ideas.
14:45 Break

THE SPECS 15:00 Storyboarding

Facilitators: 1 -2 experienced facilitators

16:00 Pitching
Participants: 12-30
Difficulty level: Easy

16:45 Wrap-up
Time: Full day (adjust the session according to your goals)
Output: 1-2 concept cards per participant

51
h 9.00
INTRODUCTION AND WARM-UP
A good ideation session starts with pulling people out of
their comfort zones and getting the energy level right.
Don’t start with a 30-minute presentation on why you are
organizing this session. Instead, follow this 3 step approach:

Step 1

Take two minutes to Introduce yourself and the context.
Pro-tip: Ask everyone to put away laptops and phones, and
tell them they are welcome to send an email or take a call
outside if they have to.


Step 2

Ask everyone to draw their neighbor. Yes, really. Then tell
them to give said neighbor the drawing and introduce
themselves.

Step 3

Put a ridiculous HMW statement on the board (eg. How
might we improve the life of monkeys in the zoo?) and
distribute brainstorm cards for a quick 10 minute
brainstorming exercise.

52
h 9.30
BRAINSTORM
Use our free collection of 52 Brainstorm Cards to help your group
come up with new ideas. For best results, do the following: 


Step 1

Start from a challenge or problem.

Step 2

Use the cards for inspiration individually. Come up with ideas for 20
minutes.

Step 3

Share ideas in team and develop the best ones. 

There 4 types of cards, each featuring a different starting point

for innovation:

Technological trends
Regulation trends
Customer trends
Market trends

Download the tool!

53
h 10.45
TECH & TREND MATRIX
Ideation starts by looking around you and by getting
inspired. We developed the Tech & Trends Matrix to:

Introduce your team to new technologies and

trends that can trigger innovative ideas. Explaining
each technology and trend by using inspiring
startup and corporate innovation examples makes
these high-level concepts extremely actionable.


Explore how specific trends and technologies can

impact the challenges at hand.

Download the tool!

54
h 10.45
TECH & TREND MATRIX
Step 1
 Step 5

Download the PDF and print it on an Give the HMW/Trends presentation. 
A2 sheet. If you can’t print it, you can
also draw it on a piece of paper. Step 6

Ask people to select 4 Trends they find
Step 2
 inspiring.
Frame your challenge.
Pro-tip: Provide handouts of your Tech &
Pro-tip: How Might We… these three Trends presentation.
little words set the team in a direction
that is solution-oriented (how), Step 7

optimistic (might), collaborative (we). Ask the participants to ideate on each
HMW statement and use the selected
Step 3
 Trends as triggers to come up with new
Select relevant Social/Tech Trends. ideas.
Aim to select around 8 Trends.

Step 4

Ask participants to define 4 HMW
statements related to the challenge at
hand.

55
h 13.15
BRAIN WRITING
The brain-writing card helps you ideate
collaboratively with your colleagues. 

This tool is ideal to use in the solution-development

phase, after you’ve understood the problem and
you have a clear HMW defined. It also helps:

To keep the most extroverted and loudest people

from unintentionally dominating the sessions.
To make sure that everyone gets the opportunity
to present their thoughts and ideas so they can
be considered by the whole group.

Download & learn more

56
h 13.15
BRAIN WRITING – PARTICIPANT INSTRUCTIONS
Step 1 Step 4
Working alone, stick a Post-It Get inspired by the ideas your team
featuring your HMW to the top of members stuck to the sheet. Build
your card. Come up with ideas on their ideas by adding more Post-
pertaining to your challenge. Its.

Step 2 Step 5

Stick 1 or 2 Post-Its featuring your Pass the sheets around until multiple
ideas (drawings are great) on the people have built upon each idea.
card.  You might even receive your original
sheet a few more times.
Step 3

Pass the sheet to the next person in
the group. Receive your neighbor’s
sheet.

57
h 15.00
STORYBOARDING
Storyboarding helps you to develop concepts further
by visualizing them in a comic book style frames.
Storyboarding helps you to focus on the user and the
way this person interacts with your offering.

Ask participants to divide into groups of 2 and

select one artist and one director.
Each group should try to visualize the main
interactions of a key stakeholder with their offering.
If there are multiple key stakeholders, create
multiple storyboards.

58
h 16.00
PITCHING
Pitching is an art and, as a facilitator, you’ll need to be the
time keeper.

Pro-Tip: Energy levels at the end of the day might be low.

Try an energizer exercise or take a break to bring
everyone outside for a walk!

First, tell people what they should be pitching and how

long they have (this will depend on the number of
people/teams in your group). Give them some pitching
tips, and copies of the pitching checklist.

Start the pitch and be strict on your time-keeping.


Pro-Tip: Ensure that the audience applauds at the end of

each pitch – people are getting out of there comfort
zones here:)

Download the tool

59
h 16.45
WRAP UP
At Board of Innovation, we have 2 key rules for each
session we do: Always end on a high, and always end
on time! Make sure the pitches are done 15 minutes
before the published end-time so you have time to:

Ask for feedback.

Always ask for feedback it shows participants that
you care about their opinion and it’s a great
opportunity for you as a facilitator to learn.

Recap the day.

Provide a quick overview of what you did during the
day and give some examples of ideas that were
generated. 


Pro-Tip: End with an inspirational sentence, such as, “I

hope that the ideas generated today will help you…
Thank you!’ The ‘thank you’ in the end should trigger
an applause.

60
Now you’re
ready to make
your own!
Feel free to tweak or remix any part of this guide,
as long as it is for non-commercial purposes.
Good karma for you if you credit Board of
Innovation.

We make corporates innovate like startups

through strategy consulting, HR talent schemes,
and organizational transformation programs.

Some of the clients with whom

we are proud to work
 This guide was
brought to you by:

NICK BOGAERT
COO & Founder, Board of Innovation
New York

[email protected]

We help large enterprises

innovate like startups.
boardofinnovation.com

Contact us!
62