- Google has long championed an 80-20 rule.
Every Googler, or Google employee, is required to devote 80%
of their time to assigned tasks.
Equally importantly, the other 20% is spent
on their own side project that doesn't need approval
from their supervisor.
Google Now, Google News, and transit information
on Google Maps, are some of the innovations
that started out as 20% projects.
Google's 80-20 rule is one of many ways
that organizations can foster creativity
without losing control.
The foundation of innovation.
It's rare to come across a CEO, or any manager,
who doesn't value creativity.
Yet, go to any corner of the world,
and it'll be hard to find many organizations
that would deserve better than a D grade
in how creative they actually are.
This is true, not just of government bureaucracies,
but also of profit-driven companies,
including those led by founder CEOs.
So, why the mismatch between intentions and outcomes?
It seems that most managers fear
that letting go would resulting a loss of control
thereby leading to chaos.
But if properly designed,
every organization can foster massive amounts of creativity
without risking chaos.
The trick to letting go without losing control is
to set up well-defined sandboxes,
where people can experiment as wildly as they choose.
Look at Google's 80-20 rule.
In terms of allocation of time,
there is a well-defined 20% sandbox.
The fact that people are required to devote 80%
of their time to assigned tasks,
ensures that the proverbial trains keeps running on time.
The sandbox doesn't have to be a certain percent
of people's time.
It could be a subunit of your company.
Say you are running a hotel chain with 500 properties.
What if the general manager of every property took one wing
off a floor, accounting for a few rooms,
and used it as the sandbox to test
out their own fresh ideas?
In one go, you'd suddenly have 500 innovation labs
within just a single company.
Some of the ideas may well be done,
but a few may emerge that are truly game changers,
all without risking loss of control or chaos.
Besides well-defined sandboxes,
leaders can also use other ways to spur creativity
without losing control.
They can lay down stretch goals that challenge
and inspire their employees.
If the market is growing at 3%,
asking people to think about how to help the company grow
at 4% can only result in incrementalism,
or answers such as let's try harder.
But asking people to think about how to grow
at 20% will foster out of the box thinking.
Another approach is to go deeper in understanding customers.
Don't just ask customers what they want or need.
Observe how they live and operate.
What makes them happy or unhappy?
What are the pain points?
A deeper understanding
of customers can uncover their underlying needs
before they realize it.
Another way is to look at other industries that tend
to be early movers.
For example, anti-lock braking systems were developed first
for airplanes.
From there, the technology migrated to commercial vehicles.
It was only later that this innovation came
to passenger cars.
So, auto companies, which were monitoring innovations
in airplane braking systems,
would have had an early mover advantage.
Last, engage routinely and actively with young startups,
including those housed in incubators or accelerators.
Since they have no existing baggage to defend,
they're far more likely to be fresh thinkers as compared
with incumbent organizations.
You may learn something, or a lot from them.
You may want to partner with, invest in,
or even acquire some of them.
Google's YouTube and Android businesses started
out as acquisitions.
The same is true for Facebook's WhatsApp, Instagram,
and Oculus businesses.
There is no shame in learning from others,
only in having your head buried in sand.