Ever surprise why your groups battle to innovate past their roadmap? They’re seemingly too busy preserving the lights on to step again and rethink what’s attainable.
I get it — I’ve spent 20 years in software program, consistently balancing the pull of delivering identified outcomes towards the necessity to discover what’s subsequent. It’s a tricky tradeoff, however one I’ve wrestled with lengthy sufficient to know this: in the event you don’t create house for innovation, it gained’t occur.
At G2, we’ve advanced our strategy over time, beginning with one thing easy — giving individuals the respiration 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 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 approach. As a result of innovation isn’t about having the right technique — it’s about making house for what’s attainable.
G2’s journey to innovation: chore week to hackathons
Each experiment begins with a speculation. However in software program supply, there’s one other vital 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 performed effectively, making the concept of groups spending per 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? Under no circumstances. 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 sudden turns, every shaping how we foster innovation in the present day.
Chore week: the respiration pause
Within the early days, our strategy to innovation wasn’t about constructing the subsequent huge factor — it was about catching our breath. Our groups have been pushing arduous 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 mainly 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 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 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 improvement slightly simpler. In some methods, it even despatched the flawed message: it was okay to ship subpar code so long as we had a “chore week” to scrub it up later. It was a obligatory first step, however we rapidly 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 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 advanced.
The end result 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 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 strategy 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 convey these improvements into manufacturing. As quickly because the Innovation Summit ended, we went again to “common” work, and plenty of tasks merely pale into the background.
The inspiration was there. The training was there. However we weren’t realizing the total impression of those improvements. We wanted to discover a strategy to bridge the hole between artistic exploration and actual, lasting outcomes. That’s once we launched hackathons to carry 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 needed to take it a step additional — to not solely encourage our groups but additionally 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 will 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 steadiness 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 centered sufficient to drive significant outcomes. For instance, our “Encourage Buyer Love” theme inspired groups to discover methods to boost the shopper expertise whereas preserving the result aligned with enterprise objectives.
Workforce formation with objective
As soon as we collect members, each in-person and distant, we give attention to 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 carry an concept to life.
Quick-paced ideation and execution
Because the hackathon begins, groups rapidly register their concepts to decide to a course. 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 top.
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 will impression 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 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 strategy labored. By putting the correct steadiness 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 evaluate assortment.
- G2 built-in impression: Seeing the affect of G2’s knowledge in a advertising and marketing and gross sales stream turned a actuality via getting the total circle view from some associate integrations.
- AI-powered automation: AI-powered automation, akin to producing touchdown pages and AI-assisted evaluate responses, have turn into 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 find out how to maintain momentum past the hackathon. We additionally discovered that whereas structured themes helped align innovation with enterprise objectives, they often constrained the form of far-out, moonshot concepts that would redefine our future.
To steadiness this, we break up time between the hackathon and Innovation Summit. Hackathons stay centered on delivering tangible outcomes, whereas Innovation Summit offers house for open-ended exploration.
And that’s the place we’re in the present day — a consistently evolving tradition of innovation. We now know that actual impression doesn’t come from a single occasion or course of however from frequently making house for daring pondering. And as we transfer ahead, we’ll continue learning, iterating, and discovering new methods to push the boundaries of what’s attainable.
Life hack
G2’s journey exhibits 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 day-after-day. 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 persistently 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 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 a good time 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
