Glossary
Screening
Screening describes the process of evaluating ideas against a set of criteria and deciding whether ideas should progress/move forward in an innovation initiative.
Definition
Screening describes the process of evaluating ideas against a set of criteria and deciding whether ideas should progress/move forward in an innovation initiative.
The screening phase of an idea campaign or innovation challenge typically follows the ideation phase. It is not only an analytical task, especially since ideas and innovation are characterized by limited information and a high degree of uncertainty, but also a decision-maker engagement task.
It can be tempting to put this process into a formula that calculates scores on several criteria and then select the highest-scoring ideas.
In reality, this is hardly ever a good way of selecting ideas. Screeners will have limited information, often have biases and operate in a space with high degrees of uncertainty.
Further, the fate of ideas in big corporations depends to a large degree on gaining commitment from relevant decision-makers. This is why the screening of ideas is best done as a combination of individual evaluation, followed by deliberation and commitment within the group of evaluators.