FedEx Days
[by Jay Kinghorn]
In 2005, an Australian software company, Atlassian, began an experiment they called FedEx days Their software developers were given 1-1/2 days to develop something “out of the ordinary” and show it to their colleagues at the end of the session.
Atlassian’s goal was to inspire their developers to break their daily routines, work with unfamiliar technologies and tackle a small project, often with a coworker. These FedEx days, patterned after Google’s 20 percent time for employees, has been widely emulated by other software companies and has repeatedly shown its value to these organizations through expanded skillsets, new collaborations and renewed excitement about projects.
As summer brings a dip in your client work load, consider implementing your own version of FedEx days. Have you been itching to try a new lighting setup, test a new software application or tinker with creating your own iPhone app? Dedicate time to tackling a small project and expanding your skill set at the same time.
I typically take my FedEx days at the end of the day on Fridays. My client work for the week is done and I take 2-3 hours to learn new technologies. I typically leave work on Friday energized and spend much of the weekend brainstorming ways I can incorporate this newly acquired knowledge into my business.
One Response to 'FedEx Days'
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Great idea–will have to try this myself! Thanks for sharing it.