An important part of the planning process is reaching deep to find the best ideas. Many companies have a brainstorming process that works, but if you are looking for inspiration, consider the following six-step process.

Six Steps to the Big Idea

1. Do Your Homework (Immersion): Study the situation, visit competitors, read new research, talk to customers, interview employees, attend a conference, or poll your customer base.

2. Optimize the Environment: Clear away any constraints to thinking, go off site, stockpile the food and coffee, play music…whatever it takes to let your brains run free.

3. Rattle the Brain: Do “thinking exercises” to loosen the brain before tackling your specific problem (see Jump Start Your Brain by Dave Hall for 37 exercises).

4. Generate Idea Nuggets (free form): Think of every possible crazy solution to the problem, write them down as you go, but make no judgments or justifications at this time.

5. Assemble Into Strategies and Tactics: Put each nugget on a 3" x 5" card and arrange into bigger concepts and brilliant ideas.

6. Be Bold: Don’t immediately dismiss strategies that seem too big for your budget, winners could be shopped to the venture capital community for additional funding.

Source: Adapted from Jump Start Your Brain by consultant Dave Hall, Warner Books, 1995.

Do Your Homework

To see potential opportunities in a new light, look beyond your normal circle of peers, subordinates, and other industry sources.

1. Launch a Personal Fact-Finding Mission: Find out how consumers use online financial services today and observe how the services could be improved:

•  interview vendors
•  hire a consultant for a brainstorm session
•  arrange for a classroom of MBA students to debate the pros and cons of online financial services
•  attend a traditional customer focus group on Internet financial services
•  sponsor focus groups of branch and call center staff to discuss serving/selling customers online
•  arrange online focus groups (users meet online in a moderated chat environment)
•  post a quick questionnaire on your Web and have each answer forwarded to your email address
•  issue RFPs (request for proposals) from Web development companies or consultants to design a “next-generation” Net offering

2. Attend an industry Conference: Away from the daily grind, surrounded by the latest technology, and bombarded by new ideas: a perfect prescription for breakthrough thinking. Productivity boosters:

•  leave the cell phone in the hotel room at least for one day
•  after the closing bell and before everyone gets back to their clogged inboxes, gather your team together for a debriefing and brainstorm session

1999 Thinking Exercise:
Statement Aggregation Services

You can read all about statement aggregators such as VerticalOne or MaxMiles.com (OBR 8/98). You can even look through their online demos. But there is nothing like actually signing up for and personally using the services to get a feel for how they really work. You may be surprised at the opportunities and challenges this new business model has. Pay special attention to how the aggregator displays available accounts to register for online. Think about what happens when the aggregators begin displaying banner ads or otherwise steer business to your competitors.

Type Web Address

bills www.paymybills.com

www.statusfactory.com (CyberBills)

www.paytrust.com

www.moneycentral.com (Transpoint)

www.ebills.com (Checkfree)

financial www.verticalone.com
travel www.maxmiles.com

3. Read a Research Report Cover-to-Cover. We know this is going to hurt, but plunk down a couple grand for the latest online banking research, clear a half-day on your calendar, and really read the whole report, not just the executive summary. Even if you don’t believe the conclusions, think about the implications for your company were they to come true. It might help you see things in a new light.

Companies Doing Online Banking Research

Source: Online Banking Report, 8/99

Notes: (1) eBilling only, refer to enclosed prospectus
(2) international research
(3) Mentis was acquired by Gartner Group

4. Conduct your Own Research: Research culled from your own customers and in-market prospects is infinitely more believable than national studies. If research budgets are nil, you can still post a short survey on your Web for next to nothing and have results tomorrow. The data won’t be projectable to your entire customer base, but it might provide a number of good ideas and insights.

One company we are working with on our Web site is Informative www.informative.com whose clients include US Bank, NationsBank, and TheStreet.com. Look for results of the research in the near future.
Contact: Michele Labor is Senior Consultant (650) 745-2168, michele@informative.com