Each year, we host dozens of customer and partners in the Microsoft Garage. As we walk visitors through our community hub, makerspace, and most recently, our new Mixed Reality room, we often discuss everything from fostering innovation to designing spaces where people want to come together to collaborate.
Across tech, banking, education, healthcare, and everything in between, one topic that consistently emerges is how our visitors are also trying to drive culture change in their own organizations, sharpen their focus, and prepare to compete in the next decade. Many are considering employee innovation programs and are looking for insights into what does and doesn’t work.
“We foster a culture of experimentation and ideation aimed at achieving growth.”
While The Garage began its journey in 2009, it didn’t achieve critical mass until we launched the first global Hackathon in 2014. Since that pivotal moment, The Garage has continually evolved to provide a growing number of employees a platform to challenge themselves creatively and technically. We foster a culture of experimentation and ideation aimed at achieving growth through a host of programs, spaces, and communities, including the largest of all, Microsoft’s annual company-wide Hackathon, which seeds a large quantity of interesting ideas.
Where Are They Now?
One question that we’re asked quite often from our customers, but equally often by some of our own colleagues at Microsoft, is, “What do the ideas or projects that start in the Garage turn into?” To share the answer to that question, we’ve decided to produce The Garage Wall of Fame. Our Wall of Fame highlights some of the most compelling projects that got their start in The Garage. Honorees are Microsoft products, services, and enabling technologies that have earned accolades from customers and demonstrated commitment to our cultural values.
Introducing The Garage Wall of Fame
Through our annual Hackathon, Garage Internship, experimental outlet and thriving communities, thousands of projects have been created and worked on, so you can imagine that there are hundreds of projects worth highlighting. The Garage Wall of Fame is designed to highlight a few that are not only interesting and creative, but also those that illustrate landmarks in our cultural journey as a company, as we embrace a growth mindset, lean into customer obsession, and watch the resulting innovation unfold.
We’re launching The Garage Wall of Fame with nine initial case studies chosen from some of our favorite projects, and you can be sure there will be more.
Please have a look — and keep hacking!
