The 9-Second Version.
W.L. Gore’s policy of “dabble time” allowed a distraction during a major project to become Elixir Strings, a hugely successful product born from curiosity, not a business plan.
Discover.
From Disney Contract to Distraction
In the mid-1990s, materials science company W.L. Gore & Associates (the makers of Gore-Tex) was working on a high-stakes project for Disney to create lighter, more durable cables for their animatronics. To prototype their concepts, engineers needed something very thin and strong, so they began experimenting with guitar strings.
But then, a group of engineers got distracted. Instead of focusing on the Disney deadline, they became obsessed with a different question: could they use their polymer technology to make a better, longer-lasting guitar string? A “rogue team” spun off to pursue this tangent, coating guitar strings with advanced polymers while they were supposed to be solving Disney’s cable problem.
Most companies would have shut this down. But at W.L. Gore, this type of distraction was actively supported by management. The company had a policy called “dabble time,” which encouraged employees to experiment with ideas unrelated to their official jobs. The team discovered their polymer coatings, like the NANOWEB® Coating, could protect strings from corrosion while remaining acoustically transparent. They even developed a special plating for the plain steel strings so they would last just as long as the coated ones.
The result was Elixir® Strings, which became some of the most popular coated guitar strings in the world, generating hundreds of millions in revenue from a market the company never intended to enter.
Think.
Psychological Safety > Strategic Planning
The breakthrough that created Elixir Strings was born from a culture that gave its people permission to get distracted and chase curiosity. Take an honest look at your organization’s culture around innovation:
- How much of your team’s time is allocated to projects with rigid scopes and deadlines, leaving no room for exploration?
- What “rogue” ideas or interesting tangents might be simmering within your team that you’ve been too busy to notice or encourage?
- Does your culture view distractions as a threat to productivity or as a potential source of unexpected innovation?
Do.
This week, open the door to curiosity.
The breakthrough that created Elixir® Strings came from a culture, not a command. This week, your challenge is to do something tangible to boost your team’s culture of innovation. Build your own version of “dabble time” by creating a system that makes curiosity a visible, celebrated part of how you work.
This doesn’t require a complex new corporate policy. Here’s just one example of a simple but powerful way to start: Build an “Idea Greenhouse.” The goal is to create a safe place for half-baked ideas to be shared and to sprout without judgment.
- Create a Dedicated Channel: Open a new, public channel in your team’s Slack or Teams called #what-if, #curiosity-corner, or #dabble-ideas. This creates a visible, low-friction place for inspiration to strike and be recorded at any time.
- You Go First: As the leader, you must seed the channel. Post the first idea—something you’ve been wondering about, a tool you saw, or a problem you thought of in the shower. By posting something that isn’t fully formed, you give everyone else permission to do the same.
- Harvest the Ideas: Once a month, dedicate 30 minutes of a team meeting to review the channel. Don’t critique the ideas. Instead, ask questions: “What’s the common theme here?” “Which of these sparks the most energy?” “Could any of these be a ‘dabble time’ project for one or two people next month?”
With this single action, you’re signaling that curiosity is a core value of your team, creating the fertile ground where the next great idea can take root.
To your creative success…
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About Josh
Josh Linkner is a New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, venture capital investor, professional jazz guitarist, and a globally recognized innovation expert. To learn more or to explore a collaboration, visit JoshLinkner.com