In Praise of the Side Project
Friday, October 28, 2011 at 2:29PM What hobby or skill would you develop if you could find the time and energy to work on it every day? The answer to this question may provide a major level-up for your creativity, career and company.
So many of us are so busy being Professionals that we forget to be Amateurs. The word Amateur comes from the Old French meaning "lover of", and ultimately from the Latin amatorem meaning "lover". But these days being called an amateur is often a put-down.
Many great companies and products have grown out amateur hobbies and side-projects though. Yuppie Chef, the popular South African e-commerce company, is a good example of this. It grew out of a side-project at Live Alchemy where staff were playing a game to see who could conceptualize and launch a business in a day - and a couple of kitchen-geeks in the team did that and just kept going.
Jamiix, a South African IM support business that is now operating in four countries, grew out of a young man's desire to help curb drug addiction in his neighbourhood.
Woothemes, one of the world's top Wordpress theme development companies, was developed after-hours by Adii while he was working for a large printing company. He offered the CEO the opportunity to buy-into his side-venture and to run it as a business-unit within the company but his offer was declined. Within a year Woothemes was making more money every week than Adii originally valued the whole venture.
Twitter grew out of a side-project at the now-defunct podcasting start-up Odeo.
Apple Inc. grew out of a border-line-illegal little blue box that the young Jobs and Woz built that basically hacked telephone networks so you could make free long-distance calls.
And if you want to know what the start of this process called "innovation" looks like, read the following two forum posts:
Here's Linus Torvalds announcing Linux:
Hello everybody out there using minix -
I’m doing a (free) operating system (just a hobby, won’t be big and
professional like gnu) for 386(486) AT clones. This has been brewing
since april, and is starting to get ready. I’d like any feedback on
things people like/dislike in minix, as my OS resembles it somewhat
(same physical layout of the file-system (due to practical reasons)
among other things).
Larry Sanger posted about the experiment that would turn into Wikipedia as follows:
No, this is not an indecent proposal. It's an idea to add a little
feature to Nupedia. Jimmy Wales thinks that many people might find the
idea objectionable, but I think not.
"Wiki," pronounced \wee'-kee\, derives from a Polynesian word,
"wikiwiki," but what it means is a VERY open, VERY publicly-editable series of web
pages...
On the front page of the Nupedia wiki we'd make it ABSOLUTELY clear that this is experimental, that Nupedia editors don't have control of what goes on here, and that the quality of articles, discussion, etc., should not be taken as a reflection of the quality of articles, review, etc. on the main part of the Nupedia website. Does anyone have an objection to our trying this out? Larry
I think that’s what the beginning of innovation is like - not really sure of itself, perhaps a little cheeky, but backed by a person's commitment. Also note that the authors of these posts above aren’t trying to keep their idea secret, not asking readers to sign NDAs, just trying to get the support of others.
The thing is, it's not the idea that succeeds. It's that you manage to put it into practice and help it gather momentum.
What about big established companies? These are the hardest to change, because of the many established routines and practices that people have.
Google has a process called "Innovation Time Off", where employees are encouraged to spend 20% of their time working on side-projects. This practice has given rise to products such as GMail, Google News, Google Transit, and their main money-maker AdSense.
Sometimes it's not even that radical. Say, for example, you want to do more gardening but you're stuck at work the whole day. So you start a little guerilla gardening around the office - it starts with a pot-plant, then a window-box, then others join you. Soon the office is blossoming, literally, a company herb garden is estabished, people's moods and productivity improve and a greater awareness of the natural environment is fostered. Do you think that this could make a difference to the culture and results? I believe so.
Another great example of this kind of small but significant change can be seen in the Standard Bank's "Takkie Day". Branch Manager Maggie Lesele started helping customers get served while they were still lining up outside the branch on pay-day, and soon expanded this service ethic to getting her staff to start wearing running shoes instead of high-heels on these days in order to serve customers faster. This has been a resoundingly successful initiative that has spread to other branches around South Africa, while providing a brand-boost to Africa's largest retail bank.
So, Im interested in your next small idea. That little something in your world that you think you could improve, or that project you want to do because it might just turn into something (or not).
Have you ever had a side-project or experiment turn into something bigger? Please share and help inspire others to start on theirs.
Reader Comments (9)
love this post!
We do this all the time, although not in the tech space. but rather as businesses. We have our primary business as demanding as it is, we are always looking at building other niche markets. One such example is our www.TerrificTrophies.co.za webste (feel free to edit if i'm spamming:)
Anyway from a little shipment a few years ago this little biz now has grown to hold its own. Dedicated warehouse, several agents around the country and supplying dozens of schools, corporates, and everyday folks. Granted we have a longg way to go and learn new stuff every day, it's been a great experience and is now an established business on its own. Guess its no longer a sideline project and the problem is to look for another!
I suppose you have to step outside your comfort zone, dont be afraid to fail. Learn new skills. in this case i'm learning a ton about Magento ecommerce, product photography and similar.. Many of the things we learnt above we can now apply to our core business and quite simply, you cant put a price on the experience you gain.
Long Live the Sideline Project!
Thanks for sharing, Naeem... And now we know where to get the trophies for our next Awards ceremony:)
Which reminds me:
Jon Cherry started the South African blog awards as a joke. Now it's a serious operation!
What an awesome post and so true. Side Projects helped me:
1) Learn Wordpress
2) Earn more money (via Wordpress > Viewtiful.co.za)
3) Learn more about Community Management ( Salambc.com )
4) Learn more about true Entrepreneurship, Management & Funding (Procliviti.net )
etc.
Just to name a few...
Not big projects... but who knows...
Thanks Dave.
Sideline FTW! Great post Dave.
Thanks guys! @Khalilaleker Yep, Wordpress started off as a sideline for me too, and soon led to joining Mike Stopforth in launching Cerebra. @rafiq knows the vibe - we met thanks to our sidelines back in the day.
My sideline project has helped me succeed in my career than my full time jobs ever have! Nice post Dave!
Great post Dave ... Mike suggested I be in touch with you and I will. I am looking for ways to market my book now on Amazon Kindle (In Praise of Lilith, Eve & the Serpent in the Garden of Eden & Other Stories by Susan Scott) ...
All best to you - how is yr Mum Sandy - I hope well and yr beautiful sister too.
Best to you
Susan
Hey Dave,
Great post, and it applies to more fields than just tech. I am a consultant working from home, by phone & computer, and in between clients I was twiddling my thumbs until I remembered how much I love sewing and making toys. So I started a tiny business called jozikaroo on Etsy.com (the world's biggest venue for handmade crafts) and I've had a few sales, but most importantly I have been learning new skills and grounding myself between phone consultations.
Thank you for the reminder that amateur comes from love.
Shannon
@Sue It's great to hear from you! We're all doing really well thank you - it's been great to make contact with Mike and Dave again recently too. Hope the book sales are going well!
@Shannon Thank you for popping by - what a fun shop JoziKaroo is! Keep calm, and Karoo on;)