Frequently, I hear executives say, "We have plenty of ideas around here, but how do we know which one to put into motion?" When evaluating ideas, the key is to keep in mind the impact they could have on your most important desired outcomes. Remember these five steps as you move forward:

1. Clarify the desired outcomes you want to improve

   For example, say that an organization wants to improve results in the following areas:

   • Market Share
   • Comparable Sales
   • Cash Flow
   • Retention of Top Performing Employees
   • Transaction Counts
   • Dollar Value of Average Transaction

2. Designate the relative importance of each outcome

   Decide how much weight you place on each outcome.

   In our example, the decision-makers might assign the following weights for

   The Relative Importance Score:

   • Market Share times 1
   • Comp Sales times 3
   • Cash Flow times 3
   • Retention of Top Performing Employees times 2
   • Transaction Counts times 2
   • Dollar Value of Average Transaction times 2

3. Estimate the potential impact of the idea on each outcome

   On a scale of 1-10, estimate the impact you believe this new product or service could have on each of the desired outcomes. You can use in-depth research or intuitiveness in determining the numerical value. In our example, say the team developed three ideas and assigned the following numbers:

   The Impact Score

   	Idea 1	Idea 2	Idea 3
   Market Share	8	7	9
   Comparable Sales	5	9	7
   Cash Flow	9	3	7
   Retention of TPEs	7	2	6
   Transaction Counts	5	9	7
   Dollar Value of Ave. Transaction	9	9	8

4. Objectively compare ideas

   Identify The Objective Score by multiplying The Impact Score by The Relative Importance Score of each outcome and adding these numbers. Here is a comparison of the three ideas mentioned above.

   The Objective Score

   	Idea 1	Idea 2	Idea 3
   Market Share	8x1=8	7x1=7	9x1=9
   Comparable Sales	5x3=15	9x3=27	7x3=21
   Cash Flow	9x3=27	3x3=9	7x3=21
   Retention of TPEs	7x2=14	2x2=4	6x2=12
   Transaction Counts	5x2=10	9x2=18	7x2=14
   Dollar Value of Ave. Transaction	9x2=18	9x2=18	8x2=16
   The Objective Score of Each Idea	92	83	93

   Notice in this example that while Idea #2 had the greatest potential impact on Comp Sales, Transaction Counts and Dollar Value of Average Transaction of all three ideas, its overall objective value was significantly outpaced by Idea #3. In the emotion of a meeting, you may jump at Idea #2 without realizing that you had sacrificed an even better idea.

   Generating ideas is only part of the battle. The other part is to evaluate, test market, refine and implement the idea.

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