How do we combine ideas from different functions in a strategy workshop?

Combine ideas from different functions by giving all participants the same focused challenge and inviting contributions beyond formal job roles. People from different parts of the organisation can identify different opportunities, risks and assumptions. The workshop should make room for participants to build on one another's ideas, not simply present separate functional positions.

How do we build a wider network around an innovation programme?

Build a wider innovation network by involving people with different skills, backgrounds and relationships to the audience, then creating regular opportunities for them to exchange views. A mixed group can bring more of the organisation's knowledge and blind spots into the process. Feedback from clients and stakeholders can also help direct ideas while they are still being developed.

Should an innovation workshop replace customer research and market analysis?

An innovation workshop should extend research and market analysis, not replace them. Research can establish the current market, customer and competitive context, while collective creativity helps participants explore what does not yet exist. An open workshop environment works best when people can challenge assumptions while still drawing on thorough insight.

How do leaders encourage people to share bolder ideas in an innovation workshop?

Leaders encourage bolder ideas by creating psychological safety and rewarding collaborative behaviour. Participants need to feel able to disagree, learn, test unfinished thoughts and be wrong without fear of blame. Celebrating team progress rather than individual ownership signals that co-creation is expected.

How should we structure an innovation workshop to develop better ideas?

Better ideas come from collective imagination, not isolated expertise

An innovation workshop produces stronger ideas when it is designed for collective creativity rather than relying on a single expert or function. Collective imagination brings together collaboration, future-focused thinking, permission to fail fast, openness to ideas from anywhere and investment in creativity. The workshop should give participants a shared strategic challenge to address while drawing on the different knowledge, risks and opportunities that each function can identify. Research, customer insight and market analysis remain valuable inputs, but they cannot determine what an organisation should create next. The workshop creates space for people to turn what is known today into possibilities for the future.

Sources: Investigating imagination: our research proves it drives business success, What’s next? The answer is already in the room, Forget the lone genius, creativity is a team sport

Cross-functional collaboration needs a clear focus and active participation

Cross-functional collaboration develops better strategic ideas when participants can contribute beyond their job title and focus on a single challenge without distraction. Bring together people with different functional perspectives, such as strategy, commercial, operational, creative and customer-facing roles, so that assumptions, opportunities and implementation risks can be surfaced in the same conversation. Schedule dedicated workshop time rather than expecting new thinking to happen alongside routine delivery. Encourage participants to build on ideas already in the room, not only to defend their own contribution. A workshop becomes more productive when leaders set the tone for co-creation and recognise teamwork as a meaningful outcome, rather than rewarding individual ownership alone.

Sources: Forget the lone genius, creativity is a team sport

A wider innovation network needs safety, diversity of thought and feedback

A wider network around an innovation programme should include people with varied skills, backgrounds and proximity to the audience or operational challenge. Different perspectives can reveal blind spots, give potential risks an airing and make emerging ideas more rounded. Diversity alone is not enough: participants need an open environment where they can disagree, learn, challenge assumptions and be wrong without being dismissed. Leaders should make collaboration visible through the way they set expectations, run creative processes and celebrate collective work. Client and stakeholder feedback also matters, because the people closest to the business can help steer an idea while it is still being shaped. The aim is not agreement at every stage, but a stronger shared view of what is possible and worth developing.

Sources: How to Turn Insights into Great Creative, Forget the lone genius, creativity is a team sport

We structure innovation workshops around the people who can make ideas real

We believe better innovation workshops start with the collective imagination already present in an organisation. That means bringing together strategists, account managers, writers and designers, rather than assigning the search for a big idea to one individual or discipline. We have seen people contribute far beyond their formal roles, with designers developing copy lines and account managers identifying campaign-driving ideas. We also believe collaboration needs more than goodwill: focused workshop time, creative leadership and recognition for teamwork make co-creation more likely to work. Our work is built around the view that strong ideas gain value as people test, develop and bring them to life together.