by Kevin Popović
Share
by Kevin Popović
Share
Dear Idea Guy,
After our latest strategy offsite, we’re swimming in ideas; new offerings, process changes, even business model shifts. It was energizing.
But now we’re stuck. Everyone’s asking, “Which ideas are we actually going to implement?”
There’s no clear path to move forward, and we’re starting to lose momentum. How do we decide which ideas are worth investing in without overthinking it?
-Overwhelmed in Oceanside
____________________________________________________________________
Dear Overwhelmed,
You’re describing one of the most common traps in innovation: idea overload. It feels like progress—whiteboards full of sticky notes, jam-packed Miro boards, energized Slack threads. But unless you’ve got a way to evaluate and prioritize, all those ideas just become noise.
The real problem here isn’t too many ideas. It’s not enough clarity on what matters most.
When I work with leadership teams, I use a simple approach to cut through the clutter and focus on what’s worth moving forward. We score ideas across four dimensions:
- Desirability: Do people involved in the problem actually want this?
- Feasibility: Can we realistically do this with the time, tools, and team we have?
- Viability: Will it work for the business over time?
- Impact: If we did this well, would it move the needle in a meaningful way?
You don’t need a complex scoring system. Just ask these four questions, rate each idea on a simple 1–5 scale, and see which ones rise to the top.
If you’re sitting on a pile of great ideas, don’t stall out.
Score them. Sort them. Start building.
That’s how momentum is made.
— Kevin Popovic, The Idea Guy®
Read this column on San Diego Business Journal.
____________________________________________________________________
WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? is a weekly column by Kevin Popovic, The Idea Guy®—a trusted advisor to CEOs and leaders across industries. Each edition answers real-world business challenges with clear, creative insights you can use to think differently and lead confidently.
Got a problem worth solving? Send your question to WYP@TheIdeaGuy.us – it could be featured in an upcoming column.
STAY IN THE LOOP
Subscribe to our free newsletter.
We’ve done the work: defined our problems, identified opportunities, and even started building an innovation process. But here’s the issue: my team still holds back.
We’ve been through so many changes over the past few years—new strategies, new systems, new leadership. Now, every time we propose something new, my team’s energy crashes.
My team is constantly asked to “show” our innovation ideas before we gain buy-in, but we struggle with how to illustrate our concepts effectively.
I’m used to seeing a return on investment. Revenue. Margins. Operational efficiency. What’s the innovation equivalent of a P&L? How do I explain this to my board or justify it to myself?
