Successful innovators know that great ideas don’t just come from R&D departments, but from people working on the ‘front-line’, customers, suppliers, even competitors. These are the people who are likely to know what the problems really are. They also know that the more ideas there are, the more likely one of them will be great.

Some of the ways you can do this include:

• Customer surveys
• Staff suggestion schemes
• Lunchtime staff workshops
• Customer/staff/supplier workshops

But keep them focussed on one problem at a time (Secrets 1) or you will get more ideas than you can handle.

Set a time limit. This helps to focus minds on the specific problem and gets you more ideas faster.

Download a summary of the  5 secrets of innovation.