Evaluation Session Lists (Lateral Thinking)
After a lateral thinking session, ideas are sorted into three lists: ideas of immediate usefulness, areas for further exploration, and new approaches to the problem. This evaluation requires creative effort to extract value from ideas that might otherwise be discarded.
THE IDEA
At the end of the evaluation session there should be three lists:
- Ideas of immediate usefulness.
- Areas for further exploration.
- New approaches to the problem.
The evaluation session is not just a mechanical sorting, for some creative effort is required to extract usefulness from ideas before they are discarded or to spot an idea that looks as if it ought to be discarded but can in fact be developed into something significant.
When to use it
In a product development meeting, after a brainstorming session, sort generated features into the three lists to prioritize immediate development, further research, and strategic shifts.
In a scientific research group, use the framework to evaluate hypotheses and experimental results, identifying which can be applied immediately, which need more study, and which may challenge existing paradigms.
In creative writing, categorize plot ideas or character arcs into those ready for the first draft, those to develop further, and those suggesting a completely different story angle.
FROM THEORY TO EVERYDAY LIFE
In practice
Brainstorming Follow-Up
After a team brainstorming session for a new product feature, the team categorizes each idea into one of the three lists. For instance, a simple UI tweak is placed in 'immediate usefulness,' a novel but risky concept goes to 'areas for further exploration,' and a radical approach that questions the product's core purpose becomes a 'new approach to the problem.'
Design Thinking Workshop
In a design thinking workshop, participants generate multiple solution concepts. Using the three lists, they identify which concepts can be prototyped right away, which need more user research, and which suggest entirely new design directions.
A MOMENT TO REFLECT
Put it to work.
How can you creatively extract usefulness from an idea that initially seems impractical or irrelevant?
What criteria would you use to decide whether an idea belongs to 'immediate usefulness' versus 'areas for further exploration'?
Can you recall a situation where an idea that looked like it should be discarded later turned out to be significant? What made it valuable?
CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION
Source texts
- Lateral Thinking A Textbook of Creativity (Edward de Bono)