Cultivating big ideas can be, in essence, the most important part of your business. Without the right one, the best methods, prior team dynamics and forward-thinking motivation, you’re at a disadvantage. When it comes to custom software development, the most successful ideas are ones that are allowed to be cultivated, instead of held back; diversified, rather than pigeonholed.

Here are three central tenants for how your organization can begin cultivating big ideas:

Multidisciplinary Inspiration

While it almost seems trite, at this point, many companies still don’t take a multidisciplinary approach to ideation, problem solving or many other aspects of their business. This can be a serious detriment to cultivating big ideas, as you’re restricting yourself right out of the gate. Having different individuals and teams working together allows them to play off of each other’s strengths. Continuously introducing new members who haven’t work extensively with one another can help avoid complacency and aid in cultivating big ideas.

Even within established teams, it is important to view your ideas from a multifaceted plan of attack that utilizes multiple faculties. Bring in IT business intelligence, artistic and brand direction, marketing and other elements, even if they aren’t directly relevant, at this stage. It can have a major impact on successful outcomes and aid in driving completion and your bottom line. Another way of accomplishing this can be through letting people work independently, before joining the group for further brainstorming opportunities. This allows time for both independent and group thinking, while also encouraging members to work on further perfecting their own ideas.

Quantity and Creativity vs. Perfection

Want to create an atmosphere for cultivating big ideas? Remove strict limitations on potential ideas and outcomes. While starting with utilizing business intelligence and understanding the problem are key – see our ideation process blog, for more on that – the beginning stage of idea brainstorming should be broader, versus finite. We want to encourage teams and team members to use less of a filter and more of an imaginative, open approach: stimulating and maximizing concepts, instead of giving obstructive and overly detailed rules and regulations.

Cleaning up ideas, narrowing focus and perfecting the plan of action will come into play later on. For now, we want to maximize the potential for cultivating big ideas, instead of limiting them. This means we start the process with a larger potential for creativity and deep thought. Doing so can even spawn new projects and business avenues that weren’t originally assumed or planned for.

Set Lofty Goals and Plan for Success

Just as not limiting your brainstorming potential and using multiple approaches can amplify your impact, setting big goals can further encourage your team while cultivating big ideas. Instead of planning only for the quarter or year-end, bring in long-term goals for the future. Incorporate your 5-year plan, aim for expansion and plan for success. Make sure to share the big picture with your team members, so they can have a proper view of business scope. This will help add deeper insights to your team, increase overall business intelligence prospects, build trust and create a more opportunity-driven dynamic.

As long as scalability and proper planning are in play, cultivating a big idea really should include cultivating a big plan of action. Lofty goals can spurn action within and around your company that you didn’t think possible, prior to attempting what may initially seem like the impossible. What if production increased ten fold? What if your sales numbers increase by 400%? These are the types of situations that are important to have at the table, when cultivating big ideas.

Want to know how the team at Make cultivates big ideas for our clients? Learn more about our approach. To follow our updates, please connect with us on LinkedIn.