For years, Google has touted its “20% time” management philosophy, where employees can use 20% of their work time to be creative and innovative in a way that will benefit Google. This ”20% time” is something of a mystery; besides major projects like Gmail and Google News, which were a result of the management method, no one really knows how employees currently utilize this free time, or even if it’s free time at all.
A new web series hopes to pull back the cover on the “20% time” enigma. Two female Google employees, who only reveal their names as Nat and Lo, launched a new behind-the-scenes, scripted program called Nat & Lo’s 20% Project. In the series, the women follow their curiosity to explore what other Google employees do with their 20% creative time.
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So far, Nat and Lo have released three episodes dedicated to separate Google projects. In the first installment, the women cover how Google’s Street View project goes beyond just pictures of roads and manages to capture photos from places like the Grand Canyon by using a backpack-style device called the Trekker. Episode two of the 20% Project series explains to viewers how Google[x] projects are prototyped and tested, and the third episode shows how Google Translate is able to turn unreadable text into a language you can understand.
You can catch more episodes of Nat & Lo’s 20% Project on the duo’s YouTube channel. The Google employees have promised to release new episodes about once every two weeks.
