Ever surprise why your groups wrestle to innovate past their roadmap? They’re probably too busy preserving the lights on to step again and rethink what’s potential.
I get it — I’ve spent 20 years in software program, consistently balancing the pull of delivering recognized outcomes in opposition to the necessity to discover what’s subsequent. It’s a tricky tradeoff, however one I’ve wrestled with lengthy sufficient to know this: should you don’t create area for innovation, it received’t occur.
At G2, we’ve advanced our strategy over time, beginning with one thing easy — giving individuals the respiratory room to sort out concepts they wished that they had time for. That small shift grew into one thing a lot greater: a two-week hackathon experiment that has repeatedly advanced.
On this article, I’ll stroll you thru that journey — not as a prescriptive playbook, however as an invite to experiment in your personal means. As a result of innovation isn’t about having the proper technique — it’s about making area for what’s potential.
G2’s journey to innovation: chore week to hackathons
Each experiment begins with a speculation. However in software program supply, there’s one other important issue: the urge for food for that experiment. How a lot time are we keen to put money into exploring the unknown?
The reply to that’s often dictated by the corporate’s stage and tradition. Some organizations have by no means seen innovation achieved nicely, making the concept of groups spending every week or extra in unstructured work a tough no.
And actually, I get it. Betting on an undefined final result can really feel dangerous. However does that imply innovation is out of attain? By no means. Begin smaller. Are you able to carve out a day? A day? Show the worth in increments, and over time, that urge for food will develop.
At G2, I used to be lucky to work with founders who already noticed the worth of innovation, which meant we began with a bigger urge for food. However that didn’t imply we all the time acquired it proper. Our journey, from chore week to the ultimate hackathon, has been stuffed with classes, iterations, and surprising turns, every shaping how we foster innovation immediately.
Chore week: the respiratory pause
Within the early days, our strategy to innovation wasn’t about constructing the subsequent massive factor — it was about catching our breath. Our groups had been pushing exhausting to ship options, however in that relentless drive, we weren’t all the time leaving the codebase in a state that inspired long-term innovation. So, we carved out time to return, refactor, and clear up patterns: a chore week. We mainly applied a reset button for the code.
Nonetheless, this effort revealed that one of many greatest obstacles to innovation isn’t only a lack of time — it’s the technical debt that makes future innovation tougher. While you transfer quick however don’t repeatedly form the code into one thing maintainable and extensible, you create friction for each future thought.
Whereas this strategy helped us enhance our code high quality, it didn’t spark a lot inspiration. Nothing groundbreaking got here out of it, simply small quality-of-life enhancements that made growth slightly simpler. In some methods, it even despatched the fallacious message: it was okay to ship subpar code so long as we had a “chore week” to scrub it up later. It was a vital first step, however we shortly realized that if we needed to push actual innovation ahead, we would have liked a distinct strategy. Dev week was created to fill that position.
Dev week: the innovation summit
As G2 grew, so did the necessity for alignment. Scaling an organization introduces extra processes, and whereas construction is important, it might additionally mess with the artistic power that drives actual innovation. We began listening to a constant theme from our groups: they needed area to discover concepts exterior the roadmap.
On the identical time, we didn’t need to absolutely abandon the advantages of our authentic “chore week” mentality — some engineers nonetheless valued time to enhance the codebase. So, we advanced.
The outcome was what we first referred to as “Dev Week”, which finally turned the “Innovation Summit.” It was an unstructured, two-week occasion the place self-selected groups might discover new concepts, experiment with rising applied sciences, and construct one thing actual.
On the finish of the 2 weeks, groups showcased their work, and immediately, we noticed wins. One of many greatest early successes? An integration that introduced G2 actions immediately into Slack. This was one thing that wasn’t on the roadmap however delivered fast worth.
However whereas this strategy unlocked creativity, it had its personal challenges. Many nice concepts by no means noticed the sunshine of day. Even after we beloved what groups constructed, we struggled to shut the loop and produce these improvements into manufacturing. As quickly because the Innovation Summit ended, we went again to “common” work, and lots of tasks merely pale into the background.
The inspiration was there. The training was there. However we weren’t realizing the complete influence of those improvements. We would have liked to discover a approach to bridge the hole between artistic exploration and actual, lasting outcomes. That’s after we launched hackathons to convey these concepts to life.
Hackathons: bridging innovation and influence
As power and urge for food for innovation grew, so did our ambition. We had seen the spark that unstructured exploration might generate, however we needed to take it a step additional — to not solely encourage our groups but in addition drive actual enterprise influence. This led us to our subsequent evolution: the G2 hackathon.
Hackathons aren’t new; the tech business has lengthy used them to drive breakthrough concepts. Nonetheless, at G2, we needed to refine the formulation to reconcile open-ended creativity with a concentrate on outcomes. The important thing shift? C-level buy-in. We introduced our executives in as judges, guaranteeing alignment between the boldest concepts and the outcomes that may drive the enterprise ahead. We discovered main success in the way in which we selected to run our hackathons, and as all the time, sharing is caring.
How G2 runs a hackathon
At G2, our hackathons are designed to strike the proper steadiness between artistic freedom and enterprise influence. Right here’s how we construction them to maximise each engagement and outcomes:
A transparent however open-ended theme
Every hackathon kicks off with a guiding theme — broad sufficient to spark creativity however centered sufficient to drive significant outcomes. For instance, our “Encourage Buyer Love” theme inspired groups to discover methods to reinforce the client expertise whereas preserving the end result aligned with enterprise objectives.
Staff formation with function
As soon as we collect individuals, each in-person and distant, we concentrate on forming groups that blend views and expertise ranges. This isn’t nearly getting individuals collectively; it’s about fostering new collaborations and guaranteeing every group has the correct mix of abilities to convey an thought to life.
Quick-paced ideation and execution
Because the hackathon begins, groups shortly register their concepts to decide to a route. From there, they’ve two weeks to experiment, construct, and refine their ideas. The objective isn’t simply to brainstorm; it’s to ship one thing tangible by the tip.
Govt-level judging of actual influence
On the finish of the hackathon, groups current their tasks to a panel of cross-functional executives. The successful concepts aren’t nearly technical ingenuity; they’re judged closely on how confidently they will influence enterprise objectives.
Recognition, rewards, and subsequent steps
The highest three groups win financial prizes and ongoing assist to show their concepts into actuality. But it surely doesn’t cease there. We amplify their work throughout the corporate and on social media, making it clear that these improvements matter and have the potential to form the way forward for G2.
This construction ensures that hackathons aren’t simply enjoyable aspect tasks however a core driver of innovation at G2. By combining inspiration, execution, and recognition, we make area for groundbreaking concepts to take root and thrive.
The actual influence of hackathons
This strategy labored. By placing the correct steadiness between pleasure and focus, we began seeing actual, tangible product enhancements emerge from our hackathons.
A number of the greatest successes embrace:
- Nudges in my.G2: This helps prospects shortly floor what’s most vital and streamline assessment assortment.
- G2 built-in influence: Seeing the affect of G2’s knowledge in a advertising and marketing and gross sales stream turned a actuality via getting the complete circle view from some associate integrations.
- AI-powered automation: AI-powered automation, reminiscent of producing touchdown pages and AI-assisted assessment responses, have turn into central to our product expertise.
However, as all the time, there have been challenges. Not each nice thought made it to prospects. Competing priorities meant that some extremely promising tasks stalled out, and we needed to rethink find out how to maintain momentum past the hackathon. We additionally realized that whereas structured themes helped align innovation with enterprise objectives, they often constrained the sort of far-out, moonshot concepts that would redefine our future.
To steadiness this, we cut up time between the hackathon and Innovation Summit. Hackathons stay centered on delivering tangible outcomes, whereas Innovation Summit offers area for open-ended exploration.
And that’s the place we’re immediately — a consistently evolving tradition of innovation. We now know that actual influence doesn’t come from a single occasion or course of however from frequently making area for daring considering. And as we transfer ahead, we’ll continue learning, iterating, and discovering new methods to push the boundaries of what’s potential.
Life hack
G2’s journey reveals that innovation isn’t a one-time initiative; it’s a mindset. It requires fixed experimentation, not simply in devoted occasions however in how groups strategy their work daily. We’ve seen this shift firsthand, with groups naturally carving out moments of innovation inside their common cycles. The result’s extra engaged groups and a extra sustainable path to constantly high-impact outcomes.
Undecided the place to start out with launching your personal hackathon? Begin the place you’ll be able to. Determine the funding you will have management over and launch an innovation occasion — regardless of how small. Give groups the liberty to discover, however set a transparent objective for measuring influence. Have fun the wins to construct momentum and develop that funding over time. And most significantly, by no means cease experimenting.
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Edited by Supanna Das