Borrowed Brilliance — Why Smart Organisations Steal (Thoughtfully)

When we talk about workplace wellbeing and culture change, people often assume we’re talking about doing something new. Something original. Something that’s never been tried before.

But here’s a secret.

Some of the best workplace innovations didn’t start with a blank sheet of paper. They started with someone noticing that something over there was working — and having the humility, curiosity, and courage to borrow the idea and make it their own.

You don’t have to be Google.
You don’t need a research team or a huge budget.
You just need to pay attention — and be open.

Because the truth is, the world’s biggest companies are paying for the research. They’re running the experiments. They’re tweaking the systems and tracking the results. And when they talk about what they’ve learned, the rest of us get a front-row seat — for free.

The trick is knowing what to do with it.

Copying isn’t cloning. You’re not lifting their culture and pasting it into your own. You’re looking for the principles underneath. Why did that change work? What made it resonate with people? Could something similar work here, in a way that feels right?

Take four-day weeks, for example. Or meeting-free days. Or wellbeing budgets. These aren’t just trendy perks — they’re insights into what people need to work well: more autonomy, fewer interruptions, better recovery. You don’t have to implement the exact same thing. But you can explore what’s behind the idea and experiment with something that fits.

Sometimes people say, “Well, we’re not that kind of company.”
But that’s the point. They weren’t either — until they tried something.

We think innovation means invention. But often, it just means adaptation.

We don’t need to keep reinventing the wheel. We need to look at the wheels that are already rolling, figure out why they’re working, and consider how to make our own version — one that fits our people, our purpose, and our pace.

It’s not about laziness. It’s about learning.

And in a world where every organisation is under pressure to do more with less, the smartest move might just be the simplest:

Look around.
Stay curious.
And don’t be afraid to borrow brilliance.