“Ideas don’t happen in the boardroom, they happen in corridors”
“Ideas don’t happen in the boardroom, they happen in corridors” Steve Jobs, Apple.
In the most recent issue of Google’s Think Quartley publication Laszlo Bock, Google’s SVP of People Operation, tells a great story showcasing an outsiders perception of what makes Google’s culture so innovative and creative. Citing ‘funky offices’ and other ‘perks’ as the key factors they thought make Google so successful at nurturing people and producing such outstanding results. Bock goes on to explain the three components that make Google’s culture one of the most admired in the world….
“A friend from a Fortune 500 company called me recently. “Our CEO wants us to be more innovative,” she said. “He asked me to call you because Google is known for having an innovative culture. One of his ideas is to set up a ‘creativity room’ where we have a foosball table, beanbags, lava lamps, and lots of snacks so people can come up with crazy ideas. What do you think? How does Google do it?”
My friend and her CEO were clearly familiar with the Google perks that get all the press: The free cafes, the funky offices, and the games. What they weren’t familiar with are the three components of our culture that really make our company different.”
(read the full article here)
What I found most interesting and a tad amusing were a couple of key things we at Trifle Creative hear time and time again…
That spending money on any kind of innovation/creativity/brainstorm room will make people have better ideas or be inspired to have ideas and provide a one stop solution for them
That emulating exactly what other companies do with their workspace will work for my company/team
Laszlo goes onto say it (nurturing) is about “motivating, engaging and listening” and we couldn’t agree more. To create a workplace (and business) that is efficient, engaging and effective you need to create an environment physical and cultural that
allows people to do their job to the best of their abilities
encourages and enables people to have those conversations and quick chats where ideas are born and problems solved
that lives and breathes who you are and what you stand for as an organisation
No singular room can do that, not matter how many cool lights and bean bags you throw in there! Moreover the great thing about the ways you can achieve a thriving workplace is that you don’t have to be a Google or even a FTSE100 company to do it.
We believe that great working environments make work life better, and that means for any company of any size or sector. Those MD’s and CEO’s who do recognise the value in creating a stimulating working environment, often approach us wanting to replicate something they’ve seen somewhere else. Usually falling in two categories of ‘it looks cool’ or ‘it has got results for them’. Our answer each time is that won’t necessarily work for you. We then take them on a journey to find out what culture they want to create and that great design (looking cool or otherwise) should be always be functional and effective as well as aesthetically inspiring and exciting.
So to any leader thinking about how to create, improve or re-energise their culture these are the questions you need to explore on the start of your journey:
– What does your office say about you to your staff and to your clients?
– How does your office enable you and your team to excel at what you do?
– Does your office work around you or do you work around it?
Sejal Parekh – Director at trifle creative*
trifle creative* is a fresh and creative workspace design company who are passionate about creating inspirational working environments.