Idea Beetle

What is an Idea Beetle workshop?

This workshop helps you evaluate if your idea is strong and has ‘legs’, or if it needs more thinking.

You might think you have a really good idea, but by evaluating it against a set of questions, you can quickly test its robustness. Fun fact: One in every four animals on the planet is a beetle. Similarly, one in every four business meetings is a total waste of time.*

*We made the second statistic up, but the truth is probably worse.

If you don’t have any ideas to evaluate, run Idea Eight first. It can be helpful to prioritise your ideas with Priority Map beforehand, so you can evaluate ideas with the most potential.

Idea Beetle Miro Template

Download the Idea Beetle Miro template from The Vault

How to run an Idea Beetle workshop

1. Draw the Idea Beetle on a large surface:

Idea Beetle Diagram

2. In the head, write the name of the idea. In the body, describe the idea.

3. For each leg, write the answer to either or both set of questions:

a) Who is it for, and how does it help them?

b) What makes it different to what already exists?

c) What happens to the idea if you reverse it?

d) How could you grow this idea?

e) Why would people use this again and again?

f) How would explain it clearly in one sentence?

a) Is the concept of the idea simple?

b) Is the idea unexpected?

c) Is the idea concrete? Can you visualise it in your head?

d) Is the idea credible, and is there enough detail?

e) Is the idea emotional? What does it make people feel?

f) Is there a story? How do you tell others about the idea?

Origin: BBC, 2013 / Chip & Dan Heath, 2007

Not sure if this is the right approach for your team at the moment? Try a different evaluation tactic. Then, prioritise ideas or problems using a decision-making tactic.

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Idea Beetle is one of 54 workshop recipe cards inside the Workshop Tactics card deck.

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