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Why You Need a Secret Side Project at Work

Martin Lindstrom  |   | 
 
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Well my principle is to do something which is not illegal. I basically would do my daily routine as everyone would ask me to do but then I would have a pocket of innovation going on which I wouldn’t tell people about.

It’s a little bit then The Google Rule: as you know, google has 20% of the time allocated to staff being creative, in particular the programmers. I would allocate 20% of my time to do under-the-radar projects. I mean under-the-radar projects is what McCafe became when it was invented by Charlie Bell out of Australia man years ago became globally known. These concepts succeeded because they went unknown through the system until it became such a big success everyone was saying “I want to be part of it”.

I would do the same. I would create my own little mini incubator model. I would challenge things, I would question things and I would do something that is just on the edge of what is allowed to be done within the corporate guidelines of the company.

Once it succeeds, I would then start to build up data and support – which is basically showing that this was the right direction – and then I will call my friends in the organization and start to engage them in the process to make sure I get a buy in. What I would do is, secretly, is basically to change my job position now moving from a more conventional marketing role to a role which I’ve defined 100% myself. 

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