What is PPCo?

PPCO stands for Pluses, Potentials, Concerns, and overcomes—a structured tool used to refine and strengthen ideas before they move forward. It’s designed to encourage constructive evaluation without prematurely dismissing creative solutions.

Traditional critique can often feel like an idea killer. PPCo, however, keeps the conversation positive and forward-moving, ensuring that concerns become opportunities for improvement rather than barriers to progress. Pro tip: The secret is to ask concerns in the form of a question!

How to Use PPCo

1. Pluses: What’s Already Good?

Start by identifying the strengths of the idea. What’s already working? What aspects of it excite the team? This step builds confidence in the idea and ensures its strong points are recognized.

Example: “I like that this would drastically reduce customer wait times, which is a huge plus for user experience.”

2. Potentials: What Opportunities Does It Create?

Next, explore the possible benefits if this idea is developed further. How could it evolve? What impact might it have in the short and long term?

Example: “When successful, this could lead to significant cost savings and streamline operations across multiple locations.”

3. Concerns: What Might Hold It Back?

Rather than shutting down an idea, identify potential obstacles that need to be addressed. This step ensures that challenges are acknowledged early so they don’t derail progress later. Pose ALL concerns as questions!! This one is hard so we’ve provided several examples. Start your concerns with “How might we…”, or “What might be all the ways…”

Example 1: Don’t say, “We don’t have room in the budget for this!” Rather say, “How might we free up space in the budget to allow us to pursue this?”

Example 2: Don’t say, “The boss will never go for this!” Rather say, “What might be all the concerns that the boss could have with this that we should consider?”

These examples demonstrate how phrasing concerns as open questions invites a dialog around potential solutions, rather than just ending the conversation.

4. Overcomes: How Can We Address the Concerns?

Now, instead of stopping at concerns, find ways to mitigate or work around them. This step keeps the momentum going and helps refine the idea into something more viable.

Example: “Could we start with a pilot program in one region to test feasibility before scaling up?”

Why Use PPCo?

• Encourages Balanced Thinking – Avoids knee-jerk rejections and ensures ideas get a fair evaluation.
• Promotes Positive Problem-Solving – Concerns are framed as challenges to solve, not reasons to abandon an idea.
• Builds Team Engagement – Everyone has a voice in refining ideas, increasing buy-in and ownership.
• Leads to Stronger Solutions – Helps ideas evolve into practical, well-thought-out strategies.

When to Use PPCo

PPCO is incredibly versatile and can be applied in:

• Brainstorming sessions – To refine and develop ideas collaboratively. (Be sure to review our tips on Brainstorming!)
• Decision-making meetings – To evaluate new initiatives before committing resources.
• Project planning – To anticipate challenges and plan solutions in advance.
• Innovation workshops – To create an open, structured discussion around creative ideas.

Try PPCo With Your Team

Connect with us on LinkedIn and let us know how it goes!