Ever marvel why your groups battle to innovate past their roadmap? They’re doubtless too busy protecting the lights on to step again and rethink what’s potential.
I get it — I’ve spent 20 years in software program, continuously balancing the pull of delivering recognized outcomes towards the necessity to discover what’s subsequent. It’s a troublesome tradeoff, however one I’ve wrestled with lengthy sufficient to know this: if you happen to don’t create house for innovation, it gained’t occur.
At G2, we’ve developed our method over time, beginning with one thing easy — giving folks the respiration room to deal with concepts they wished they’d time for. That small shift grew into one thing a lot greater: a two-week hackathon experiment that has constantly developed.
On this article, I’ll stroll you thru that journey — not as a prescriptive playbook, however as an invite to experiment in your individual manner. As a result of innovation isn’t about having the right technique — it’s about making house 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 crucial 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 carried out properly, making the thought of groups spending per week or extra in unstructured work a tough no.
And truthfully, I get it. Betting on an undefined end result can really feel dangerous. However does that imply innovation is out of attain? In no way. 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 at all times received it proper. Our journey, from chore week to the ultimate hackathon, has been filled with classes, iterations, and sudden turns, every shaping how we foster innovation in the present day.
Chore week: the respiration pause
Within the early days, our method to innovation wasn’t about constructing the following large factor — it was about catching our breath. Our groups had been pushing laborious to ship options, however in that relentless drive, we weren’t at all times 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 principally carried out a reset button for the code.
Nonetheless, this effort revealed that one of many largest boundaries 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 constantly form the code into one thing maintainable and extensible, you create friction for each future concept.
Whereas this method 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 improvement somewhat simpler. In some methods, it even despatched the incorrect message: it was okay to ship subpar code so long as we had a “chore week” to scrub it up later. It was a crucial first step, however we rapidly realized that if we needed to push actual innovation ahead, we would have liked a distinct method. 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 will probably additionally mess with the inventive power that drives actual innovation. We began listening to a constant theme from our groups: they needed house 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 developed.
The outcome was what we first known as “Dev Week”, which ultimately turned the “Innovation Summit.” It was an unstructured, two-week occasion the place self-selected groups may 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 straight away, we noticed wins. One of many largest early successes? An integration that introduced G2 actions immediately into Slack. This was one thing that wasn’t on the roadmap however delivered speedy worth.
However whereas this method unlocked creativity, it had its personal challenges. Many nice concepts by no means noticed the sunshine of day. Even once we cherished 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 plenty of tasks merely light into the background.
The inspiration was there. The training was there. However we weren’t realizing the total impression of those improvements. We would have liked to discover a option to bridge the hole between inventive exploration and actual, lasting outcomes. That’s once we launched hackathons to deliver these concepts to life.
Hackathons: bridging innovation and impression
As power and urge for food for innovation grew, so did our ambition. We had seen the spark that unstructured exploration may generate, however we needed to take it a step additional — to not solely encourage our groups but in addition drive actual enterprise impression. 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 system to reconcile open-ended creativity with a give attention to 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 at all times, sharing is caring.
How G2 runs a hackathon
At G2, our hackathons are designed to strike the right stability between inventive freedom and enterprise impression. 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 targeted sufficient to drive significant outcomes. For instance, our “Encourage Buyer Love” theme inspired groups to discover methods to boost the shopper expertise whereas protecting the end result aligned with enterprise objectives.
Workforce formation with objective
As soon as we collect individuals, each in-person and distant, we give attention to forming groups that blend views and expertise ranges. This isn’t nearly getting folks collectively; it’s about fostering new collaborations and guaranteeing every staff has the proper mix of expertise to deliver an concept to life.
Quick-paced ideation and execution
Because the hackathon begins, groups rapidly register their concepts to decide to a route. From there, they’ve two weeks to experiment, construct, and refine their ideas. The purpose isn’t simply to brainstorm; it’s to ship one thing tangible by the tip.
Govt-level judging of actual impression
On the finish of the hackathon, groups current their tasks to a panel of cross-functional executives. The profitable concepts aren’t nearly technical ingenuity; they’re judged closely on how confidently they’ll impression enterprise objectives.
Recognition, rewards, and subsequent steps
The highest three groups win financial prizes and ongoing assist to show their concepts into actuality. Nevertheless it 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 facet tasks however a core driver of innovation at G2. By combining inspiration, execution, and recognition, we make house for groundbreaking concepts to take root and thrive.
The true impression of hackathons
This method labored. By placing the proper stability between pleasure and focus, we began seeing actual, tangible product enhancements emerge from our hackathons.
A few of the largest successes embody:
- Nudges in my.G2: This helps prospects rapidly floor what’s most vital and streamline overview assortment.
- G2 built-in impression: Seeing the affect of G2’s knowledge in a advertising and gross sales move turned a actuality by getting the total circle view from some associate integrations.
- AI-powered automation: AI-powered automation, resembling producing touchdown pages and AI-assisted overview responses, have turn out to be central to our product expertise.
However, as at all times, there have been challenges. Not each nice concept made it to prospects. Competing priorities meant that some extremely promising tasks stalled out, and we needed to rethink how you can maintain momentum past the hackathon. We additionally discovered that whereas structured themes helped align innovation with enterprise objectives, they often constrained the sort of far-out, moonshot concepts that might redefine our future.
To stability this, we break up time between the hackathon and Innovation Summit. Hackathons stay targeted on delivering tangible outcomes, whereas Innovation Summit provides house for open-ended exploration.
And that’s the place we’re in the present day — a continuously evolving tradition of innovation. We now know that actual impression doesn’t come from a single occasion or course of however from regularly making house for daring considering. And as we transfer ahead, we’ll continue to learn, 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 method their work on daily basis. 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 begin with launching your individual hackathon? Begin the place you possibly can. Establish the funding you might have management over and launch an innovation occasion — irrespective of how small. Give groups the liberty to discover, however set a transparent purpose for measuring impression. 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