6.3Best practices & pitfalls
The essentials in 30 seconds
- Golden rule: open first (without judging), close after (with rigor) — and go through to decision and action.
- Do: separate divergence and convergence, frame before seeking, start from real needs, prototype fast.
- Never do: judge while generating, rush in with no framing, treat the symptom, generate without ever deciding.
Sara thread — 1 year on: three habits that pay
One year on, Sara reviews: what counted most was not a miracle method, but three habits — framing each problem before seeking, strictly separating divergence and convergence, and ending each workshop with an action plan. And her biggest trap narrowly avoided: staying stuck on the first idea on a rush evening.
Pick a single habit to anchor in your way of working, then move to the next.
The do's and don'ts of an approach that works
The difference between a creative approach that succeeds and one that spins its wheels comes down to a few habits. Here are the ones that come up most.
✓ Do
- Clearly separate divergence (generate without judging) and convergence (sort, decide).
- Always frame the problem before seeking solutions.
- Aim for quantity of ideas first, quality when sorting.
- Reframe the problem as « How might we…? ».
- Start from the user's real needs, not from assumptions.
- Prototype fast and test early (« fail fast and cheap »).
- Create a climate of psychological safety (right to fail).
- End with an owned decision and a concrete action plan.
✗ Avoid
- Judging ideas while generating them (self-censorship).
- Rushing to solutions without framing the problem.
- Treating the symptom instead of the root cause.
- Getting stuck on the first idea (often the most banal).
- Designing for an imaginary user in your own image.
- Early perfectionism (finalizing everything before testing).
- Drowning in ideas for lack of methodical convergence.
- Generating a lot… and never deciding or executing.
Ready-to-say script — set the rules before diverging (30 s)
"For 15 minutes: quantity first, no judgment, build on others' ideas. We will sort after, with the matrix. Let's go."
Copy-paste template — monthly self-check (8 questions)
THIS MONTH (yes / to improve):
1. Framing: did I frame before seeking (5W1H, cause vs symptom)?
2. Divergence: did I generate without judging (quantity first)?
3. HMW: did I reframe as “How might we…?”?
4. User: did I start from real needs, not my assumptions?
5. Prototype: did I test early and cheap?
6. Climate: was psychological safety there (right to fail)?
7. Convergence: did I sort methodically (affinity, vote, matrix)?
8. Decision: did I end with a concrete action plan?
MY PRIORITY NEXT MONTH (only one): ...Small business / tight budget
One habit per quarter is enough: framing before solutions first, the rest after.
Algeria SME
Fit habits to peaks and real channels: a routine that survives the rush beats ten resolutions.
Remote / hybrid
The #1 discipline at a distance: write the divergence rules and do a silent round before speaking.
Cross-cultural
Check reception of the rules (rephrasing by a participant) rather than assuming shared agreement.
48h challenge — apply tomorrow
Fill the monthly self-check above on your latest approach and pick a single priority to anchor.
- I know the 8 reflexes to adopt and the 8 traps to avoid.
- I have filled the self-check and picked one priority.
- I did the 48h challenge or scheduled its date.
While generating ideas, a participant criticizes each proposal. Which reflex protects Sara best?
Golden rule: open first (without judging), close after (with rigor) — and go through to decision and action, otherwise ideas stay sterile.