20 Time is an activity where you’re allowed 20% of your time to work on a project of your choice. You can choose anything you want that can be beneficial to society (“20-Time In Education Inspire. Create. Innovate.”). The overall idea of this is a boss of a company allows a group of individuals one day per week to work on a personal project that they may find helpful to the modern world. Many companies have used this system and produced some of the most popular products we use today.
The reason some companies do 20 Time is to try and get new, innovative ideas for products. If you get employees to participate, they can come up with a lot of new ideas, and it could make a name for your company (Brookhouser). Businesses are always trying to move forward and participating in 20 Time is an excellent way to make advancements.
3M thought of the idea when they allowed their employees 15% of their time to devote to their personal projects. They wanted these projects to benefit both the company as well as the customers. This is how they thought of creating Post-Its as well as masking tape. Although 3M started it the idea, Google made 20 Time what it is today. Using 20% of their time, Google employees have created Gmail, AdSense, Google News, as well as the Google Teacher Academy. Using 20% of your time to work on personal projects can benefit both you and the community. It inspires people to come up with creative and innovative new ideas (“Students.”). If an individual has an idea that the public likes, it can draw more attention to whatever company the individual works for.
“20-Time In Education Inspire. Create. Innovate.” 20-Time In Education Inspire. Create. Innovate., http://www.20timeineducation.com/.
Brookhouser, Kevin. The 20time Project: How Educators Can Launch Googles Formula for Future-Ready Innovation. 20time.Org, 2015.
“Students.” 20time.Org, http://www.20time.org/students/.
Let Your Hands do the Talking 