CHAPTER 31 MAKE TIME FOR INNOVATION
No word is more overused or misunderstood in business than innovation (although agile is currently giving it a run for its money). Despite that, one of the greatest innovations has been propping up project management techniques for years.
Founded at the turn of the 20th century, the company 3M struggled for years over how to run a sandpaper factory they’d bought. New money was required to keep the company going while they toyed with new ideas and ways to use the minerals they had access to. In 1925, one of their employees, Richard Drew, created a low-tack tape to help reduce the amount of touch-up work auto-body workers had to do once they’d removed the protective butcher paper. His invention of cellulose tape (now known as Scotch tape) in 1930 completely turned 3M’s fortunes around.
After the Second World War, the owners of the company recognised that if they wanted to continue to make money and not return to the struggles of their early existence, they needed lots of new ideas. So they introduced a staff perk like no other: ‘15% time’, or six hours a week to work on the things they didn’t get time to pursue during normal working hours. That’s right, almost a day on ‘pet projects’. In those days, 3M called this ‘Permitted Bootlegging’, which I much prefer.
‘What are you doing this afternoon, Colin?’
‘Oh I’m off to do a bit of permitted bootlegging.’
See, much better than ‘working on some new ideas’.
A pet project Richard Silver was working ...