A brainstorming facility with lots of dirty dishes

A combined restaurant and conference facility where coworkers brainstorm while doing the dishes after they had dinner.

Workshops, brainstorms, design sprints, ideation sessions. Thousands of sticky notes on walls making people feel creative and productive. The truth is, most often they are not.

Turns out that conference rooms are the exact opposite of a perfect place for employees to get ideas that aren’t mediocre low hanging fruits.

This is the brainstorming facility. You start in the briefing room. Only the actual problems and background information is laid out, in minute detail. There’s a few words about the business side too. You’re asked not to come up with a solution for now. You then eat. Still no solution, although it might be hard by now. You give it a shot. Then a nice dinner, still no shop talk, please.

And then.

You do the dishes. Your own dishes, and dishes used by the regular restaurant guests. That’s when you get your ideas. Your hands are wet, so you speak your ideas into the Google Homes hanging above you and your dishes. When you’re done, you draw them up on the whiteboard behind you.