At G2, I was fortunate
Ever wonder why your teams struggle to innovate beyond their roadmap? They’re likely too busy keeping the lights on to step back and rethink what’s possible.
I get it — I’ve spent 20 years in software, constantly balancing the pull of delivering known outcomes against the need to explore what’s next. It’s a tough tradeoff, but one I’ve wrestled with long enough to know this: if you don’t create space for innovation, it won’t happen.
At G2, we’ve evolved our approach over time, starting with something simple — giving people the breathing room to tackle ideas they wished they had time for. That small shift grew into something much bigger: a two-week hackathon experiment that has continuously evolved.
In this article, I’ll walk you through that journey — not as a prescriptive playbook, but as an invitation to experiment in your own way. Because innovation isn’t about having the perfect strategy — it’s about making space for what’s possible.
G2’s journey to innovation: chore week to hackathons
Every experiment starts with a hypothesis. But in software delivery, there’s another critical factor: the appetite for that experiment. How much time are we willing to invest in exploring the unknown?
The answer to that is usually dictated by the company’s stage and culture. Some organizations have never seen innovation done well, making the idea of teams spending a week or more in unstructured work a hard no.
And honestly, I get it. Betting on an undefined outcome can feel risky. But does that mean innovation is out of reach? Not at all. Start smaller. Can you carve out a day? An afternoon? Prove the value in increments, and over time, that appetite will grow.
