One of the most surprising aspects of the conversations I have with clients and prospects about their businesses is the fact that very few, if any, leave room for experimentation, play and failure. Companies that sell products often have R&D departments, so that they are almost always guaranteed to always have new things on offer.
It's not as much the case for design firms. Some will have a "research" department, more akin to what would be produced in an academic setting, but few actively make time to experiment with new ideas and implement them in real life.
While in reality, such an endeavour may look pointless on the surface, as most ideas coming out of play and experimentations never go anywhere, it's going through this very process, with no set goal, that generates that one-in-a-thousand idea with huge potential upside.
Bean counters will often qualify these exercises as a waste of time and money, but the reality is that the exploration process itself sets the stage for that next big idea to sprout.
The Battle of COVID, as described by a client of mine, is the perfect time to experiment. With a lot of time on our hands and boredom looming large, setting a skunkworks department of rogue creatives is one of the best investment of your now severely limited resources you could make.
What a perfect way to kick-start the reinvention of a business in times of crisis.
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