Ever surprise why your groups battle to innovate past their roadmap? They’re seemingly too busy maintaining the lights on to step again and rethink what’s doable.
I get it — I’ve spent 20 years in software program, always balancing the pull of delivering identified outcomes in opposition to the necessity to discover what’s subsequent. It’s a troublesome 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 method over time, beginning with one thing easy — giving individuals the respiration room to sort out 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 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 method. As a result of innovation isn’t about having the proper technique — it’s about making area for what’s doable.
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 prepared to put money into exploring the unknown?
The reply to that’s normally dictated by the corporate’s stage and tradition. Some organizations have by no means seen innovation carried out nicely, making the concept of groups spending per week or extra in unstructured work a tough no.
And truthfully, I get it. Betting on an undefined final 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 acquired it proper. Our journey, from chore week to the ultimate hackathon, has been filled with classes, iterations, and surprising turns, every shaping how we foster innovation right now.
Chore week: the respiration pause
Within the early days, our method to innovation wasn’t about constructing the subsequent 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 applied a reset button for the code.
Nonetheless, this effort revealed that one of many greatest limitations to innovation isn’t only a lack of time — it’s the technical debt that makes future innovation more durable. 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 a bit of 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 crucial first step, however we shortly realized that if we wished to push actual innovation ahead, we would have liked a unique method. Dev week was created to fill that function.
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 artistic power that drives actual innovation. We began listening to a constant theme from our groups: they wished area to discover concepts exterior the roadmap.
On the identical time, we didn’t wish to totally 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 known as “Dev Week”, which ultimately grew to become 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 straight away, we noticed wins. One of many greatest early successes? An integration that introduced G2 actions straight into Slack. This was one thing that wasn’t on the roadmap however delivered fast 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 liked 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 educational was there. However we weren’t realizing the total impression of those improvements. We wanted to discover a option to bridge the hole between artistic exploration and actual, lasting outcomes. That’s once we launched hackathons to convey 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 might generate, however we wished 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 wished to refine the components 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 at all times, sharing is caring.
How G2 runs a hackathon
At G2, our hackathons are designed to strike the proper stability between artistic 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 reinforce the shopper expertise whereas maintaining the end result aligned with enterprise targets.
Workforce formation with function
As soon as we collect members, 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 appropriate mix of expertise to convey an concept to life.
Quick-paced ideation and execution
Because the hackathon begins, groups shortly register their concepts to decide to a path. 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.
Government-level judging of actual impression
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’ll impression enterprise targets.
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 area for groundbreaking concepts to take root and thrive.
The actual impression of hackathons
This method labored. By placing the appropriate stability 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 clients shortly floor what’s most vital and streamline evaluation assortment.
- G2 built-in impression: Seeing the affect of G2’s information in a advertising and marketing and gross sales circulate grew to become a actuality by way of getting the total circle view from some accomplice integrations.
- AI-powered automation: AI-powered automation, similar to producing touchdown pages and AI-assisted evaluation responses, have change into central to our product expertise.
However, as at all times, there have been challenges. Not each nice concept made it to clients. Competing priorities meant that some extremely promising tasks stalled out, and we needed to rethink the way to maintain momentum past the hackathon. We additionally discovered that whereas structured themes helped align innovation with enterprise targets, they generally constrained the sort of far-out, moonshot concepts that would 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 offers area for open-ended exploration.
And that’s the place we’re right now — a always evolving tradition of innovation. We now know that actual impression doesn’t come from a single occasion or course of however from frequently making area for daring pondering. And as we transfer ahead, we’ll continue to learn, iterating, and discovering new methods to push the boundaries of what’s doable.
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 personal hackathon? Begin the place you possibly can. Establish the funding you might have management over and launch an innovation occasion — regardless 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