1.1 Using the Fast Idea Generator Tool
Two short examples of using the fast idea generator are given in the case studies below.
Case Study 1: Babu’s use of the Fast Idea Generator Tool
Babu runs a school in Kathmandu, Nepal, founded on a social mission to support underprivileged children. He wants to establish a cooperative for those parents who are unemployed, so that they can work together to generate their own income. He brings together all interested parents to a meeting, and uses the Fast Idea Generator Tool to explore what sort of business the cooperative might deliver.
Case Study 2: Babette’s use of the Fast Idea Generator Tool
Babette works for a small non-governmental organisation (NGO) in Blantyre, Malawi. Her outreach team of three people works with local schools and health centres to promote good practice regarding water, sanitation and hygiene. Monitoring and evaluation suggests that the team is having a positive impact. However, Babette wants to know whether or not they could be doing even more. She brings her team together and uses the Fast Idea Generator Template to come up with lots of new ways they could try to convey their message to the local schools and health centres with which they work.
In both of these case studies, the issue to be addressed has been clearly defined:
Case Study 1: What sort of business could the parents’ cooperative deliver in order to generate income?
Case Study 2: What else could the outreach team do to promote good practice regarding water, sanitation and hygiene, working through local schools and health centres?
Key point
Make sure your problem is well-defined before using the fast idea generator to begin exploring it from different perspectives.
Activity 1
For each of the statements below, select whether the activity it describes would or would not benefit from the Fast Idea Generator Tool.
a.
Would benefit
b.
Would not benefit
The correct answer is a.
a.
Would benefit
b.
Would not benefit
The correct answer is b.
a.
Would benefit
b.
Would not benefit
The correct answer is a.
a.
Would benefit
b.
Would not benefit
The correct answer is a.
a.
Would benefit
b.
Would not benefit
The correct answer is a.
Discussion
The only activity from the list that would not benefit from the Fast Idea Generator Tool is (b) I don’t know exactly what the problem is, so I want to define it. Before using the tool, it helps to have a very clear definition of the issue you are looking to address. All of the other activities would benefit.
1 When to use the fast idea generator