giving inspiration a little room to grow

It can be damned near impossible to find the time to be innovative, even as a designer. Anything outside of a particular assignment falls to the wayside and not leaving enough process time for certain project means a result that falls flat. Given the difficulty for me to find time to think creatively or explore a new idea, it's easy to imagine the struggle that others whose 'full time job' isn't innovating have.

Google has long been credited for sparking innovation with their policy of giving employees a percentage of their workday to spend on any project they'd like. A recent Inc. article outlined why other businesses should do the same, "By letting your team do whatever they want, you’ll attract the best people with the best ideas. At the same time, the insights your employees gain through their creative projects will enhance their work on your organization’s core offerings."

Reading this story, I was reminded of a tweet I saw a while ago and favorited it to look into later:

How to spark innovation? @PDSHeadmaster gives teachers 2-3 "free" sub days to develop new initiatives. #dragons #naisac14
— Greg Bamford (@gregbamford) February 26, 2014

When I went to design school, this is the type of work I hoped to create. While my life has made some turns, someday, in some way, I'd like to have tangible spaces like this to point to as my life's work.

Achievement First Endeavor Middle School, a charter school in Clinton Hill
by Paula Scher and Pentagram design team