November 6, 2014 by CallisonRTKL

What’s the Big Idea?

“The best ideas win.” Seems like a simple statement, right?

The tricky part is figuring out how to encourage the innovative thought process needed to generate great ideas.

And just like that, the idea for Spark Week was born. In the beginning, we had a lot of different ideas about how to do this. We first talked about an Innovation Day- where the whole firm could put their pencils (or mice) down and one, two, three: Innovate! This was an appealing idea, but you can quickly see the challenge of having a large number of people setting off to blue-sky innovate for an entire day.

For inspiration, we looked at what other creative firms we admire do to spark innovation, and there are many interesting models out there. Google allows engineers to spend up to 20 percent of their time working on outside projects that may benefit the company. 3M experimented with a 15% time program; (a program which led an engineer to develop the Post-It note) More recently LinkedIn began an “InCubator” program, which follows a tiered structure. Designated groups participate in a brainstorming session, and from there, a collection of projects advance to further stages of development. There are a spectrum of approaches that different organizations employ, ranging from the completely open-ended and informal, to the much more focused and targeted. Every company needs to find its own approach to promoting innovation and outside the box thinking and navigating a path which works with its culture (or represents the culture it wants to become) while encouraging new ideas.

Our goal for Spark Week is to find an approach that works for RTKL. In that spirit, we very much consider this a “beta” event. We want to try new things, see what works and what doesn’t work and get better at doing these types of programs. RTKL is in many ways, a remarkable place. We’re a collection of 1,000+ unique individuals in 13 offices, working on projects around the world and striving to create and deliver better solutions for our clients and communities. We realize that what works in Dubai might not work in DC. We come from all over and work all over, but we share a passion for design and problem-solving. We’ve created standout designs, influenced our industries, and helped to reshape communities around the world. Our creative potential truly is vast, but how can we better harness that potential? How can we promote the development of the next generation of great ideas here at RTKL?

Great ideas start with a spark, an inspiration, a connection. Spark Week seeks to cultivate, recognize, and support these great ideas, helping to close the gap between RTKL and our communities. For this year’s launch event, we want to concentrate the creative and innovative potential of the firm on a local challenge. So often, we find ourselves creating these incredible solutions for clients and communities that are miles away from where we live, work and play. We also want to be engaged with the challenges and opportunities that lie outside our front door. This year, we’re focusing on the future of mobility. What does that mean in your hometown? Each office is going to take a unique look at this issue, and we can’t wait to see the results. The future of mobility in Dallas might look different than the future of mobility in Beijing. We want to celebrate and learn from these differences and spark a dialogue about what they mean.

Spark Week builds on the pillars of RTKL’s mission. Each day of Spark Week will relate to these values:

Connect with each other and our communities.
Explore a new challenge and a new way of thinking and working
Enrich our communities. Engage with the challenge, with each other and with our cities
Solve a problem and create solutions
Share our ideas with each other and with our communities.

Each office will approach this in their own way, and yes, results may vary! I certainly hope they do. I’m looking forward to the conversation, and I hope you can join us.

Follow along and participate on RTKL’s social channels from November 10-13 using #sparkweek.

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CallisonRTKL

For more than five decades, Callison and RTKL have created some of the world’s most memorable and successful environments for developers, retailers, investors, institutions and public entities. In 2015, our two practices came together under the Arcadis umbrella, expanding our sphere of influence and the depth and breadth of our resources. Our team is comprised of nearly 2,000 creative, innovative professionals throughout the world who are committed to advancing our client’s businesses and enhancing quality of life.