The Hong Kong–based company partnered with WeWork to renovate the ninth floor of the Standard Chartered Tower into a completely new space called the eXellerator Lab.Īfter a complete overhaul, the lab features many kinds of meeting rooms, flexible classrooms, and a large open space to accommodate various events and workshops. When Standard Chartered Bank decided to open its innovation lab, SC Ventures, the bank knew they needed a bright, open space to cater to the innovation, creativity, and collaboration they wanted the lab to foster.
“We’re able to show people we do things that are less obvious when you think about Liberty and insurance products.” SC Ventures, Standard Chartered Bank, Hong Kong “We’ve become a talent feeder for the rest of the company,” L’Italien told The Atlantic. It signals to employees and potential employees who may associate the Liberty Mutual brand with a traditional workplace that this particular unit is a fast-paced, forward-thinking organization. Part of the allure of stationing the lab in a WeWork was to access the collaborative, fast-paced energy of the space. “Moving out of the corporate office empowered us to think and work differently,’’ L’Italien told the Boston Globe.
It does this by operating like a startup, partnering with universities on relevant research, sponsoring accelerators that incubate startups, and engaging with startups in the Boston region.īeing in a space that’s physically separate from Liberty Mutual’s headquarters in Boston is invaluable in jump-starting novel ideas, according to Adam L’Italien, Liberty Mutual’s director of innovation. The mission of the lab is to build and test new products based on customer research and emerging trends. Liberty Mutual opened their innovation hub, Solaris Labs, in a WeWork in Boston. Here are two innovation labs that successfully made use of a new space to jump-start innovation: Two examples of successful innovation labsįor an innovation lab, space plays a big part in how engaged, creative, and energized employees are. Innovation labs offer an opportunity to inject a fresh outlook into an organization-a big reason for their recent proliferation. It’s a lofty goal that is difficult to execute, particularly for large companies that may have done business the same way for many years. Innovation in business is important because it makes it more likely for companies to grow, increase revenue, and be protected from competition and disruption. That helps attract and retain talent, particularly from the younger workforce who increasingly want to work for forward-thinking, fast-paced companies. They also signal to employees and potential employees that a company is committed to changing for the future. The mere fact of having innovation lab employees sit in a different space than those working at the core business has been shown to promote new ideas. In order to come up with novel solutions, companies recognize they must break out of the typical, potentially bureaucratic ways of doing things. The entity is usually separated from the parent company in some way, because that’s the best way to think outside the company’s business-as-usual four walls. A telecom company might use its lab to create and test out different types of customer service technology. A bank may use its innovation lab to create a smartphone app that makes it easier for consumers to manage their money. The innovation lab may also conduct market research, or keep abreast of potential disruptors in the field. Those who work in the lab draw from cross-functional expertise and collaborate to create products and services, often for the parent company. What do innovation labs do?Īn innovation lab is tasked with coming up with new ideas, executing them, and iterating until the idea is fully executed or integrated into the business. Eighty-one percent of companies, according to BCG, partnered with academics, and 83 percent partnered with other companies, up from 60 percent and 65 percent, respectively, in 2015.
Some, such as WeWork Labs, are third parties that partner with companies who want to be strategically connected to startups or want to host programs for employees.Ĭompanies can also leverage the knowledge of cutting-edge experts in the field, such as academics. They can also refer to programs set up for internal employees to ideate. They can operate completely separately from the parent company, or be set up internally and staffed with existing employees. Innovation labs function in many different ways. Innovation labs-also known as hubs, incubators, or accelerators-are business units that employ the methods of agile startups, with the goal of devising novel ideas that can either disrupt or complement the overall company. Creative processes like brainstorming and design thinking can drive ideation and the development of new innovations.
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