Grounded, Blue Sky, Outer Space
What is it?
This tool helps you generate ideas quickly and move beyond your initial ideas and constraints to think openly and ambitiously about what you could do to tackle your challenge.
Why and when should I use this?
Once you have identified challenges, you can use this tool to start developing ideas to tackle them. This tool helps your team build on each other's thinking to quickly generate bold, ambitious concepts that stretch the limits of what’s possible. By visualising ideas together, it highlights expectations early and helps spot quick wins.
How much time should I spend on this?
20 minutes. Spending 10 minutes on your own, you will create lots of ideas. Spend a bit of time discussing with your group and more ideas will come up.
Who should I involve in this?
You can use this during any ideation phase with anyone that has a stake, interest, or influence in the subject or the prompt your are focusing on.
How to use it...
- Place your 'How Might We' statement at the top: This helps to keep the group focused on what you're trying to achieve.
- Start with the Grounded level: Individually, use post-its to note ideas that can be achieved tomorrow — simple, practical, and easy-to-implement solutions.
- Move to the Blue Sky level: Note down ideas that are innovative and would require more time, investment, or collaboration. These are the “wouldn’t it be nice if...” ideas—ambitious but still possible.
- Then finish with the Outer Space level: Note your boldest or most imaginative ideas—the ones that feel far-fetched or unrealistic right now, but could inspire future possibilities or shifts in thinking.
- Discuss as a team: Look for connections, push ideas further, and explore how even the wildest ones might spark something actionable.