Guiding an innovation team through the creative process as a facilitator is like conducting an orchestra. You must ensure that everyone stays in tune, contributing to the greater outcome with skill, passion and harmony. But how do you, as an innovation facilitator, know when to push for more ideas, insights, and outputs—and when to move on before energy wanes and the magic fades?

Welcome to the Law of Diminishing Returns in the Creative Process—a principle that every innovation facilitator must master to maximize creative output. It’s a balancing act:

• Too little time in a particular stage? You miss out on perspective-shifting insights, outstanding ideas, and high-quality outputs.
• Too much time? Engagement, energy, and effectiveness decline.

So, how do you strike a harmonious balance? Let’s explore how the Law of Diminishing Returns applies to innovation facilitation—and how you can use it to optimize every stage of an innovation workshop.

Understanding the Law of Diminishing Returns in Innovation

In economics, the Law of Diminishing Returns states that after a certain point, adding more resources (time, effort, people) leads to progressively smaller gains.

In innovation facilitation, this means that:

• At first, extra time, tools, or people lead to significant increases in output quantity and quality.
• Then, progress slows down, and each extra input creates fewer valuable outputs.
• Finally, a tipping point is reached where more effort produces minimal or even negative results.

A great facilitator knows when to switch gears, keeping the team in the optimal zone of creative productivity—where effort still delivers adequate outputs with maximum impact.

"Perfection is attained not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

How Diminishing Returns Play Out in the Creative Process

Let’s understand how the Law of Diminishing Return applies to the creative process with the help of X-IDEA, the award-winning innovation method I created for Thinkergy. X-IDEA consists of five stages: Xploration (understanding what’s the real challenge), Ideation (generating hundreds of raw ideas), Development (designing meaningful concepts), Evaluation (judging and enhancing concepts to find the top ones), and Action (pitching top ideas and implementing those that get approved).

When guiding an innovation team through the creative process, the Law of Diminishing Returns applies at three key levels: 

1. Stage Level:  When to Move to the Next Process Stage

As an innovation facilitator, you must allocate the right amount of time to each stage of the creative process and recognize when it’s time to move forward. Each stage has an optimal duration—stay too long, and both outputs and energy decline. For example, in X-IDEA, a well-balanced time allocation for a short one-day workshop might be 35% for Xploration, 30% for Ideation, 20% for Development, 10% for Evaluation, and 5% for Action (idea pitch only). 

If facilitators overextend a stage, diminishing returns kick in:

• Xploration: Too much time exploring the case? Paralysis by analysis—few, if any, additional novel insights.
• Ideation: Pushing too long? Ideas become repetitive and loos of momentum.
• Development: Over-polishing concepts? Creativity turns into an obsession for perfection.

A seasoned innovation facilitator recognizes the sweet spot—the point where productivity peaks before it starts to decline.

2. Tool Level: When to Switch Creativity Techniques

Every thinking tool or creativity technique has an optimal application time before its effectiveness drops. For example, in Ideation, we typically use an I Tool for 15-25 minutes before switching to a new tool. From this overall time span, the teams write down ideas for the last 10 to 12 minutes (and the balance is used for explaining the tool and producing associative inputs). Overusing one tool leads to diminishing returns as follows: For the first 8 minutes, energy is high, and the team members jot down lots of fresh, exciting ideas. In the next 2-4 minutes, some new ideas emerge, but enthusiasm drops and speed slows down. After that, the well runs dry, and it’s time to move to the following creativity technique.
Overusing one tool leads to diminishing returns, so great facilitators read the room—when energy dips, they introduce a new tool, a short break, or a fresh perspective.

“Creativity is a wild mind and a disciplined eye.” — Dorothy Parker

3. People Level: The Right Team Size & Diversity

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much,” noted the American author Helen Keller. Innovation thrives on diverse perspectives—but bigger teams aren’t always better. So, what is the ideal team size? I regard 8-10 people per team as best for the creative states of X-IDEA (Ideation and Development). Why? The more -and diverse- minds, the more -and diverse- ideas. 

For the other stages of X-IDEA, 6-8 people per team might suffice. 

But what if you go beyond 10 heads per team? Free riders emerge, discussions slow down, disagreements increase, and team synergy weakens. 

In short, team size matters in Innovation projects. A right-sized, diverse team is agile, energetic, and collaborative. But if the team is too large or even oversized, some voices tend to dominate while others disengage. The result? Inadequate outputs due to confusion, social loafing, and decision paralysis. So, seasoned innovation facilitators balance diversity and size to maximize participation without diluting effectiveness.

How to Master the Law of Diminishing Returns as a Facilitator

So, as an innovation facilitator, how can you apply this know-how in your next innovation workshop?

• Time Management at the Stage Level: Allocate time strategically to maintain momentum. Ensure sufficient outputs in adequate quality to avoid GIGO (“Garbage in, garbage out”), and move on when engagement drops—don’t wait for burnout.
• Tool Optimization:  Switch creativity tools every 15-25 minutes in Ideation to sustain fresh thinking. Serious thinking tools used during Xploration and Evaluation require 5-10 minutes more time. Overall, an effective creative process method ensures that you balance analytical and creative thinking techniques and can harness a variety of ideas and perspectives. 
• Team Management: Keep teams at 6-10 members—large enough for diversity, small enough for agility and effective collaboration.
• Developing Intuition Through Experience: The more innovation projects you facilitate, the better you master the Law of Diminishing Returns in the creative process. Look for warning signs (such as silent or disengaging participants, repetitive ideas, and loss of energy) to know when it’s time to pivot. Trust your facilitator instincts, knowing that the art of timing improves with experience.

"Timing, perseverance, and ten years of trying will eventually make you look like an overnight success." — Biz Stone

Final Thought: The Art of Knowing When to Move On

Mastering the Law of Diminishing Returns is both science and art. It’s about:

• Balancing creativity with efficiency,
• Reading the energy in the room,
• Knowing when to push and when to pivot.

Great innovation facilitators don’t just lead teams through the creative process—they orchestrate an experience that keeps the innovators enthused and energized. They ensure that every minute, every stage, every tool, and every person is leveraged for maximum creative impact. So, the next time you facilitate an innovation workshop, plan the event well, then monitor what’s going on and ask yourself: "Are the teams still gaining valuable insights or adding sufficient ideas—or have we reached the point of diminishing returns?” If it’s the latter—it’s time to move on.

• Want to learn more about X-IDEA? Check out our website and download this booklet.
• Interested in experiencing X-IDEA in an innovation training or real-life project? Contact us today to explore how we can empower you and your organization to creatively thrive in the age of disruption and change.

© Dr. Detlef Reis 2025.