In the following we will go through an example of a 48 hour camp.
The camp example is a ”solution camp” where ideas are generated, developed and turned into business concepts for companies/organisations.
You may also want to check out 3 videos for illustration…
The camp is divided into two main parts:
- The creative part – where new ideas are generated and developed.
- The innovative part – where new ideas are developed into concepts that can be launched in the marked and turned into a business.
In both phases the work process switches between creative and critical thinking like in the figure below.
The steps of the camp are:
- Prepare camp
- Introduction
- Idea Development 1
- Idea Development 2
- Idea Development 3
- Idea Development 4
- Idea Selection 1
- Idea Selection 2
- Conceptualization
- Selling the Idea
- Next Step
Prepare camp
A camp must be prepared thoroughly in detail. For every minute you must consider potential problems or needs. This will allow participants to keep full focus on their assignment.
Introduction
The purpose of the introduction is to introduce the way of working at the camp and the assignement to work on.
Idea Development 1
In the first round of Idea Development participants should develop ideas for a solution based on their current understanding of the problem they are solving. It is important that they don’t spend their time asking clarifying questions. They must focus on generating ideas based on their current understanding of the problem.
Idea Development 2
The purpose of the second round of Idea Development is to think about new ideas. They must understand that it is not about getting one good idea, but to get a lot of different ideas to choose from.
Assist idea development with creative techniques in this phase.
At the end of this phase groups will help eachother develop the ideas further.
Idea Development 3
In the third round of Idea Development the purpose is to let participants help eachother develop ideas and utilize the knowledge that each group member possesses.
Idea Development 4
In the fourth round of Idea Development the purpose is to combine knowledge and principles from different fields in order to come up with radically new ideas.
Idea Selection 1
In this phase the group will start selecting the most promising ideas internally. They will sort and rank the ideas by using different methods like the NAF-method, where Novelty, Attractiveness and Feasibility are the main criteria.
The group will prepare the best ideas (e.g. three) for presentation.
Idea Selection 2
In the second phase of Idea Selection the best ideas will be presented in plenum – could be in front of an expert panel.
The purpose is to get feedback and knowledge from people outside the group – that is the other participants or experts in a panel.
Conceptualization
The purpose of Conceptualization is to build a full concept and business model based on selected ideas.
Selling the Idea
The camp final is prepared and an efficient and convincing presentation is prepared. The presentation must clearly show the need, the solution, the customer value and the overall concept and business model.
The purpose is to create a presentation that will convince decision makers in the organisation of the problem owner.
At the end of this phase the presentation is delivered in front of the judges.
Next step
Immediately after the final the group should meet and evaluate the goals and motivations of each group member and agree whether and how to continue with the project. An rough project plan is sketched out and next meeting is scheduled.