Innovation Acceleration

Techniques for Innovation: The Fishbowl

Dealing with innovation on a small scale is difficult enough. Yet, how do you explore new ideas with many people at once? One interesting method is called the 'Fishbowl'. There are many variations on this method, but here is one example:

Select participants, located at the center of the room, present an innovation challenge
Attending experts act as panelists to develop and hone solutions to the challenge
An empty panelist chair is available for members of the audience to join the conversation
As the conversation shifts, different audience members join the fishbowl to support the discussion
Audience members can also interact with the panelists from the floor

This method can be tailored to fit a variety of situations. Try it out - each conversation will be different!

Regards,
Jeremy
_____________________________
Jeremy Nickerson, BASc, MBA
Director, Helix Commerce
www.helixcommerce.com

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3 Comments

Post #1

Alan Underdown - 6 months ago

This technique sounds interesting. I wonder if it has been used by companies to bring their own personnel together with representatives of customer or supplier organizations to work on a challenge of mutual interest, say, product improvement (with customers) or fixing a supply chain problem (with suppliers). I imagine the method could be implemented online, using some sort of video conferencing system or even a social networking application that allowed for broad audience (customer) participation.

Post #2