Columns July 15, 2010, 10:30AM EST

In Defense of Workshops

These idea-generating hot-tub sessions are much maligned, but they can deliver the goods by making the innovation process engaging and collaborative

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Remember that IBM (IBM) commercial? The one with the room full of people lying on the floor with the lights out, claiming that they're "ideating" when they plainly appear to be sleeping? The one that implies that ideation workshops are fluffy, wish-and-a-prayer frivolities and that "real" innovation is something far more staid and serious?

To be fair, there are plenty of bad workshops out there. At some point I'm sure you've suffered through an afternoon crammed in a windowless conference room with a stammering colleague at a flip chart repeating, "C'mon guys, who's got an idea?" Or walked into a session where candy, crayons, and toys were in far greater supply than clear objectives, strategic insights, and a structured process. As an innovation specialist at brand and marketing consultancy Prophet, I once attended a session where the leader insisted that we dangle crystals over a list of concepts to identify the idea with the most "energy." (The winning idea was as arbitrary as its selection method.) With all of the bad practices out there, it's easy to see why the very word "workshop" causes many of us to duck and run.

But when done well, workshops are highly effective vehicles for engaging individuals and teams around innovation challenges, promoting creative thinking by incorporating multiple perspectives, and speeding commercialization of fresh ideas. In the words of one of our clients: "It's great to see everyone engaged and the project gaining traction and momentum. The workshop helped us get so much further in such a short time."

Furthermore, workshops make innovation tangible and provide a touchstone that employees can go back to the next time they're called upon to think differently. After participating in a workshop, a client in the B2B space told us, "It struck me yesterday that our team seems to be gaining competence and confidence with this innovation thing!"

It's true that systemic, sustainable innovation is complex. Ideation workshops are not a replacement for a structured innovation process and growth strategy, and they will not convert a risk-averse culture in a single day. Still, they can be effective paths to new ideas. And at the end of the day, ideas are central to innovation, which, in turn, is how companies create value and deliver growth.

So how are leading innovators using workshops to create value? I've outlined a few examples below:

Frito-Lay's Innovation Symposia: Inspiring Fresh Thinking and Renewed Energy

In the highly competitive food and beverage business, a key performance driver is "new and improved" products. From new flavors and packages to entirely new products, innovation is a critical part of day-to-day business. When you are constantly striving for the next new thing, though, the challenge becomes how to keep thinking fresh and engagement high. PepsiCo's (PEP) Frito-Lay does it by conducting yearly "innovation symposia." These turbocharged workshops bring more than 100 people and 10 brands together for several days of inspiration, outside perspectives, and ideation to jump-start the innovation process with renewed energy, engagement, and ideas.