Who should we involve in developing business ideas?

An idea's potential should matter more than its contributor's job title. The Frameworks brings strategists, account managers, writers and designers together when developing a major client idea, rather than leaving the task to one person or team. In that setting, designers have contributed copy lines and account managers have proposed ideas that drive campaigns.

The Frameworks also argues that people with similar skills and backgrounds can share blind spots. Its practice combines different perspectives within the team with feedback from clients, who know their businesses best. For a business developing ideas, the practical lesson is to invite contributions beyond established creative roles and involve colleagues whose knowledge can inform the work. Participation should allow people to contribute outside their usual specialism, rather than confining everyone to their job description.

Cross-functional discussion gives tentative ideas somewhere to develop before they reach senior decision-makers. The Frameworks describes the group as a safe testing ground where colleagues can refine proposals, contribute to ideas already on the table and raise opportunities or risks from different parts of the business. Helping an idea evolve matters alongside originating it.

A 2025 academic study by Yasheng Chen, Adam Presslee and Sue Yang found that functional diversity can increase proposal uniqueness while reducing usefulness. Varied participation therefore needs shared scrutiny, not an assumption that a mixed group will automatically produce useful ideas. Give colleagues room to question and improve proposals, and recognise contributions that strengthen someone else's thinking. The purpose of involving different functions is to examine possibilities together, not simply to collect more suggestions.