science

Side project time

Side project time is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Side project time rather than just read about it. In short: As an employee benefit, some employers offer a guarantee that employees may work on their personal projects during some part (usually a percentage) of their time at work. Side project time is limited by two stipulations: what the employee works on is the intellectual property of their employer, and if requested, an explanation must be given as to how the project benefits the company in some way, even tangentially.

Key takeaways

Side project time belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Side project time to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Side project time from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

As an employee benefit, some employers offer a guarantee that employees may work on their personal projects during some part (usually a percentage) of their time at work. Side project time is limited by two stipulations: what the employee works on is the intellectual property of their employer, and if requested, an explanation must be given as to how the project benefits the company in some way, even tangentially. Google is credited for popularizing the practice that 20 percent of an employee's time may be used for side projects. At Google, this led to the development of products such as AdSense. While Gmail is frequently described as a 20% project, its creator Paul Buchheit states that it was never one. Though the program's continuity has been questioned, Google stated in 2020 that it remained an active program. Other major companies that have at one time or another offered some or all of their employees the benefit include the BBC (10 percent of employee time), Apple (a few contiguous weeks yearly), and Atlassian (20 percent of employee time). Some companies, such as LinkedIn, have experimented with more restrictive versions in which employees must first pitch their projects to receive approval to work on them during company time. Side project time has been criticized by some academics, such as Queens College sociology professor Abraham Walker, as "exploitative" because of how it grants employers the intellectual property rights over the personal business ideas of their employees that the employer would never have requested to be worked on otherwise.

History

3M and 15% time The 15% project was an initiative established by 3M. At the time of this program's implementation, the United States' workforce was composed of highly inflexible employment opportunities in rigid business structures. WWII created an existential threat to 3M as natural rubber was needed for the war effort and scientists at 3M were given the freedom to work on a synthetic rubber. As WWII ended, 3M developed an ethos, "Innovate or die," that inspired the launch of this program. This original project had some successful outcomes; for example, during this side project time, Arthur Fry invented the Post-It Note.

Google implementation

In 2004, the founders of Google encouraged the system. Within Google, this initiative became known as the "20% Project." Employees were encouraged to spend up to 20 percent of their paid work time pursuing personal projects. The objective of the program was to inspire innovation in participating employees and ultimately increase company potential. Google's 20% Project was influenced by 3M's program. At Google AdSense arose out of side projects. While Gmail is frequently described as a 20% project, its creator Paul Buchheit states that it was never one. As recognition of the benefits of retaining such a scheme grew, schools have replicated this system for their students in the classroom environment. The production of such creatively stimulated, ungraded work allows for students to experiment with ideas without fear of assessment and may increase their involvement in their general studies. Around 2013, some Google employees stated that the company had discontinued 20 percent time entirely or had it reworked from its original concept. However, the company stated in 2020 that 20 percent time still exists. The 20% Project is responsible for the development of many Google services. Founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page advised that workers "spend 20% of their time working on what they think will most benefit Google". Susan Wojcicki utilised her time to create their product AdSense. Finally, developer Krishna Bharat created Google News as an individual pursuit and hobby.

Other companies Australian enterprise company Atlassian has been using the 20% project since 2008. Co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes stated that "innovation slows as the company grows." And as such, the scheme was introduced to re-inspire innovation. The induction of the system was a six-month trial, granting $1 million to engineers and allowing them to work on private projects based on personal interests. Part of this 20% time is their annual "Ship It" day, where employees are challenged with a task to create any product and then ship this item within 24 hours. Workers created products that ranged from refined beer to 'Jira' software updates.

Notable projects

AdSense

The 20% Project aided in the development of AdSense, a program where publishers can produce media advertisements for a targeted audience. This service allows website publishers to generate revenue on a per-click basis. This service was publicly released on June 18, 2003. This service was envisioned by Gmail's founder, Paul Buchheit, who wanted appropriate ads to run throughout the Gmail service, but the project was pursued by Susan Wojcicki, who curated a team of developers who created the platform in their dedicated 20% time. After two years of its inception, the service was generating 15 percent of the company's revenue. The service can now offer ads in the form of simple text, flash video or rich media.

Google News

The news aggregator Google News is another result of the 20% Project. Google News was released in 2006, though the beta was introduced in September 2002. The creator of this service was Krishna Bharat, who developed this software in his dedicated project time.

Google Dremel

Dremel was conceived at Google in 2006 as a "20 percent" project by Andrey Gubarev.

Atlassian

In 2008, Atlassian announced its "20% Time Experiment", a six-month trial that was later extended to a full year. After six months of the project initiating, the company saw major improvements to Jira, Bamboo and Confluence. The Bamboo team introduced Stash 1.0 in May throughout the dedicated project time. Throughout two designated 'Innovation Week' workshops, the company shipped 12 features. At the end of the experiment, surveyed developers expressed that the biggest problem they faced was scheduling time for 20% work on top of the pressure to deliver new features and fix bugs. As a result, based on the number of developers who actually participated, the time allocated was closer to "1.1% Time." A related initiative is Atlassian's quarterly 24-hour "ShipIt" hackathon, which allows employees to pursue any project. In the past, employees have used this time to refine Jira Service Desk and improve the Jira software for loading screens.

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Side project time

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Side project time claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Side project time before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Side project time ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Side project time

In research: Side project time appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Side project time in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Side project time is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 3M, Employment, Google, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Side project time outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Side project time in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Side project time means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Side project time out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Side project time in simple terms?

Why does Side project time matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Side project time?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Side project time.