Google gives its engineers up to 20 percent of their work time to experiment. Imagine that – you get a full day per week to work on your wildest ideas. Imagine if TV and Web producers had that kind of time. What could we develop? What wild ideas could come out of your company? Maybe we can’t afford to give everyone a full day a week to noodle around, but shouldn’t there be at least some time put aside for the effort? From the Google Blog:
“The 20 percent time is a well-known part of our philosophy here, enabling engineers to spend one day a week working on projects that aren’t necessarily in our job descriptions. You can use the time to develop something new, or if you see something that’s broken, you can use the time to fix it.”
20 percent time works, too. Fully half of the products to come from Google have come out of 20 percent time.
Maybe you work for a company that just can’t make this happen. No problem. Set aside your own 20 percent time. Celine Roque at WebWorkerDaily recently wrote:
“Before you schedule your 20-Percent Time, remember that the number shouldn’t be taken literally. Allocate the time that works for you. You can take one day each week, an entire weekend, or even 30 minutes each day. Personally, I like to start my day working on a personal passion project. It gives me fuel to work through the rest of the day. Plus, it eases me into a heavier workload ahead — after all, if I make a mistake on my personal project, none of my clients will suffer.”
I find blogging first thing in the morning to be an excellent use of my 20 percent time. Digging up stories, curating and sharing are all part of my morning. Am I innovating? Not exactly. But I’m building my personal brand (and, hopefully, the Lost Remote brand) and that has led me to great speaking and consulting gigs. It’s my hope that my 20 percent time (actuallly, more like “10 percent of the week” time) helps educate and inform.
Encourage your staffers to innovate on company time. Yes, I know, most will say they’re too busy already. But incentives are wonderful things, and I know of a TV station that offered $500 to anyone who could come up with an innovative, cost-saving idea. The employee gets $500, the company saves far more, and everyone wins.
Right now, we’re too busy playing catch-up. We should be all about innovation. Find creative ways for your staffers (and you, too) to make time to pursue their crazy ideas. The rewards will be 100 percent worth your time.
(This piece originally appeared on the RTDNA.org website.)
