Experts argue awe-inspiring experiences boost innovation and employee growth.

Petra Wille and Teresa Kortz argue that companies should create "mind-bending" or awe-inspiring experiences for employees to foster innovation and personal growth. Wille cites the House of Beautiful Business conference in Malmö, Sweden, as an example of events that provide new perspectives and raw human interaction, noting that in-person offsites are returning after a few years of decline due to budget constraints. Kortz references the World Domination Summit, organized by Chris Guillebeau, which inspired her to move from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon, after a speaker’s prompt to commit to a life change. Both hosts emphasize that such experiences, including sports like kite surfing, mountain biking, or F1 track driving at SAP, force employees to be present and practice being beginners. They argue that stepping outside "LLM boxes" and professional cubicles creates energy that leads to genuine innovation, rather than innovation for novelty’s sake. However, they caution that leaders must co-design these activities with teams to ensure they are inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities. They warn against forcing participation in physically demanding or culturally inappropriate tasks, citing DoorDash’s requirement for employees to perform bike deliveries as a potential point of alienation.