Naming

Member lesson

Generating volume before judging

Lesson 4 of 10 in Naming.

Convergent vs. Divergent Thinking · Professional & Executive Development - Harvard DCE
Lesson

Volume is arithmetic rather than enthusiasm. Most candidates will die to trademark or to availability, so a shortlist of four survivors implies a longlist in the hundreds. A project that generates thirty names will present whatever survived rather than whatever was best.

300 written80 you like20 searched6 cleared legally2 that survivethe legal screen removes more than taste does, so run it early
Hundreds of names narrowing through screening to the two that survive.
A map-like drawing of five fields around a centre point, each marked by a cottage, cloth, a smiling face, a lighthouse or a spiral and filled with paper slips of one shape, with an unused gavel on a shelf in the corner.
Five fields grow piles of name slips from five starting angles, and each field grows a different shape. Ask from many angles first and judge later, and the list gets longer and richer.
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  1. Question 1, locked

    A team stops generating at thirty candidates because thirty feels like plenty. What goes wrong with that number?

    • Thirty names take longer to screen than two hundred, since each one needs a full search.
    • The first thirty are the strongest, and quality drops away sharply after that.
    • Most candidates die to trademark or availability, so the team presents whatever survived rather than whatever was best.
    • A short list reads as an unserious project when it reaches the client.
  2. Question 2, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Making more options. Judgement switched off entirely.”

    • Longlist
    • Divergence
    • Class 25 / Class 35
    • Acquired distinctiveness
  3. Question 3, locked

    Which of these words means this? “Cutting down. A separate session, ideally a separate day.”

    • Convergence
    • Transition period
    • In-context mock
    • Recall test

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