At Canvas of Colors, we live at the intersection of creativity and strategy, helping companies navigate the challenging space between ideation and execution. One of the recurring issues we encounter in this space is not so much about how to deliver projects effectively — there’s plenty of guidance around managing sprints, optimizing workflows, and maximizing team capacity. No, the real challenge lies in what ideas actually make it into that delivery cadence in the first place.

Think about it: How often do we prioritize the latest, loudest ideas over the ones that are truly meaningful? Too often, I’ve seen teams rush to execute on the most recent or most urgent concepts, neglecting the fact that they haven’t even evaluated whether these ideas are the right ones to pursue. It’s like we’re filling up the production line just to keep it moving, without ever stopping to ask, "Are we building what matters?"

The conflict between busywork and meaningful work

In many product organizations, there’s a fundamental pressure to keep the team busy. We think of capacity in terms of hours worked, deliveries completed, and tasks ticked off. Product managers scramble to secure resources, fighting over time and talent to ensure their features get shipped. But there’s a cost to this — when keeping the engine running becomes the goal, the quality of what we’re delivering can plummet.

Low-value ideas creep into sprints, not because they’re particularly important, but because they’re easy to push through. When the goal shifts from achieving outcomes to simply keeping the delivery pipeline full, we’re inviting burnout and a backlog of mediocre work.

That’s where the real gap lies: the lack of upfront effort and process around deciding what to work on. Yes, it’s harder to slow down and think about capacity in a strategic way, but it’s essential. By doing so, we protect our teams from burnout and increase the chances that what we deliver is actually valuable.

A better way: the wide-open hopper

At Canvas of Colors, we embrace an intentional, deliberate process for moving ideas from conception to execution. We start by encouraging the flow of ideas from every corner. Think of it as your “new idea channel” — it’s open to everyone, from customers to employees. No idea is too small, and no suggestion is too insignificant.

But here’s the key: Ideas aren’t ready to go straight into development. They’re simply placeholders for a conversation. Every idea is a seed, and we don’t treat the initial suggestion as the final product. Instead, we move through stages of refinement. That raw idea needs to be shaped through discussion, weighed against our goals, and considered in the context of what’s possible.

Our secret? We capture those conversations and, with the help of custom GPTs, transform the energy of fresh ideas into carefully crafted, outcome-driven proposals. We don’t let ideas float aimlessly or clog up the pipeline. Instead, each one is crafted into a feature request that makes sense — referencing its proximity to key milestones and raising important questions about risk and value.

Separating the wheat from the chaff

By doing this, we can stack rank our ideas based on their potential impact. Ideas that aren’t a “heck yes” are simply moved to the “not now” bucket. We don’t need to stress over those decisions — they’re not gone forever, just deferred until they’re truly needed or more appropriate. The beauty of this system is that it allows us to continuously generate, evaluate, and refine ideas without feeling pressured to act on every single one.

What I’ve learned is that ideas aren’t finite. They evolve. They merge with other concepts. New ideas can spark at any time and should be reintegrated into the hopper. The system isn’t static — it’s fluid, allowing for creativity and critical thinking to work in tandem.

Making ideation a muscle, not a sprint

Here’s where the cadence comes in. At Canvas of Colors, we’ve made it a practice that every employee submits three new improvement ideas each week. It’s not about perfection — some of these ideas might be rough or even silly. That’s fine. What matters is that we’re training the muscle of refinement. By encouraging this kind of open ideation, we develop a rhythm of separating what we could do from what we should do. And we reduce the pressure to see any single idea as a stroke of brilliance.

The outcome? By the time we commit to building something, we have full confidence and transparency in the path that led us there. We’ve debated it, discussed it, and refined it. By the time we hit the delivery cadence, we’re not just busy — we’re building with purpose.

Conclusion: turning chaos into cadence

In the end, ideation isn’t just about collecting a bunch of random ideas and pushing them through a pipeline. It’s about creating a thoughtful, intentional process that gives every idea its due consideration before deciding whether to move forward.

At Canvas of Colors, we’ve embraced this method to foster a culture where ideas are welcome, but only the best ones make it through. We develop a cadence of conversation, reflection, and decision-making that turns the chaos of ideation into something meaningful.

That’s how we ensure we’re not just delivering projects, but delivering value.