Innovating with Google

The Friends First Mentoring program had the amazing opportunity to visit Google’s new Chicago headquarters. Innovating with Google provided the mentors and mentees an interactive, hands-on day of becoming innovators in their own ways. Roberto Paniagua, an account manager for Google, led the day of innovation with our matches, promising to “unleash their creativity by learning Google’s approach to design thinking.”

Google and Mr. Paniagua walked the mentors and mentees through an exercise to embrace creativity and alternative thinking as a way to introduce the innovation processes used by Google. Roberto explained that innovation, in Google’s view, doesn’t exist to improve on something but that great innovation looks at solving a problem with the consumer or function as the motivator. He explained that, instead of the narrow mindset of trying to determine what is possible, innovation explores why something is deemed impossible and approaching how it might be possible.

The group ended the day with creating prototypes of ideas that would encourage young people to recycle more. After brainstorming that young people would recycle more if it was fun, active and they had to tools to do it, the groups came up with some great ideas and built prototypes of their ideas. One group created a recycling app that would track your recycling and make it a game, while also allowing you to scan the item to determine if it was indeed recyclable. Another group created recycle bins that would play music when you placed items in them. And the third group built a ‘recycle park’ where kids could bring their recycling. The park was made up of recycling games and activities, like shooting hoops with your recycled cans and bottles or sending recycling down the slide. All great ideas making recycling active and fun.

Thank you Google, and kudos to our Friends First team for coordinating such a fun event!