Two weeks back, I introduced the Behaviour Stack a set of behaviours needed to turn typical HR functions into People Product Functions. These behaviours are vital to creating new people product, services and experiences (if you haven’t read that post please read it first)

Anyway, someone sent me a email reply asking a great questions

“Where do these behaviours actually show up in the real world?”

So this week, we’re answering that with stories and tactics you can try tomorrow.

Today’s Focus: The Ignition Behaviours

These behaviours help teams kickstart new products services and experience and build creative momentum for anyone shaping Services, Products, Interaction, Experience and Subscriptions (SPIEs)

Below is some real life example of organisations who live and breath these values and also tips on how you can instantly apply them

Ps: I have a favour to ask at the bottom of the email please dont skips it 💜

Nurture

Pixar protects rough ideas in their “Braintrust” sessions. Early storyboards are met with supportive candor the team’s goal is to improve the idea, not flunk it is like putting a greenhouse over the new fragile idea until it get the energy to grow

Amazon encourages teams to write “Press Release from the Future” documents for new product ideas an exercise in dreaming big without immediate feasibility checks.

Tech Startups: Many startups pivot from an initial idea to a better one because their culture doesn’t punish changing course. For example, Slack began as a failed gaming company; the team’s willingness to nurture a side idea an internal communication tool without immediately dismissing it led to a $26 billion business.

Where to start:

Idea “Greenhouses”: Set up an idea incubator or sprint where all ideas are welcome and none are shot down in the first phase.

Dream & Distill Mode: “Dream vs. Distill” as mentioned in The Insightful innovator approach in the initial dream mode, the team generates and explores ideas freely only in a later distill mode do you critique and select

Mentorship for Ideas: Assign an “idea mentor” (not just for people!). For each fledgling idea, pick a team member to champion and refine it, almost like a project sponsor.

Where it fits: 

Nurture is especially critical at any stage of the people product lifecycle, or whenever you’re in early brainstorming

Curiosity

Netflix attributes part of its success to asking bold questions e.g., “What if we could predict what people want to watch using data?” That curiosity led to their groundbreaking recommendation system.

The Golden State Warriors (NBA) Outside the corporate world, this basketball team’s management embraced curiosity by questioning conventional wisdom about how to play. They asked, “What if we shoot three-pointers at an unprecedented volume?” This contrarian curiosity, backed by data, revolutionized the game and led to multiple championships. In HR terms, it’s analogous to questioning a long-held policy or process and experimenting with a novel approach.

Airbnb’s “Elephants, Dead Fish, Vomit” Meetings: In scaling their culture, Airbnb leaders held open meetings where anyone could bring up elephants in the room, things that felt “off” (dead fish), or just vent (vomit). This oddly named practice signaled every question or concern is valid.

Where to start

Chief Questioner: Make it a norm that in project discussions someone plays the role of chief questioner. Rotate this role. Their job is to pose probing questions

Slack Off Time: Give your team structured curiosity time, give a bit of slack time for me to schedule for self-directed exploration

Challenge Convention Sessions: When kicking off a project dedicate a session to unlearning and list all the “standard” practices and challenge it ask is this truly valid or just industry lore

Where it fits: 

Curiosity is a foundational behaviour during employer branding and recruitment (to question how you attract talent), and in growth & development phases to continually explore better ways to upskill employees. It also powers EVP design

Playfulness

LEGO uses play in corporate innovation. They developed LEGO Serious Play, a workshop method where employees build metaphors of business challenges with Lego bricks. This playful approach unlocks new insights and equalizes the room…who doesn’t love building with Lego?

Southwest Airlines is known for its playful culture flight attendants cracking jokes in safety announcements, etc. That same spirit extends internally they’ve used improvisational comedy training for staff to improve customer service.

Google’s Office Spaces Google outfitted many of its offices with playful elements from bean bag zones to Lego walls and ping-pong tables. While cynics see perks, the intention was to blur the line between work and play, sparking casual interactions that often lead to creative breakthroughs the famed “watercooler effect”

Where to start

Physical Props: Don’t underestimate the power of toys at work. Keep some Play-Doh, puzzles, or Nerf balls around. In workshops, give people pipe cleaners or Lego to fiddle with during discussions it can spur creative thinking

Apply in Alumni Networks: Even in something like an alumni network, playfulness can apply. Consider hosting fun, gamified alumni events trivia nights, innovation hackathons for alumni instead of just staid networking sessions.

Where it fits: 

Playfulness is powerful during onboarding (first impressions matter a touch of fun can make orientation memorable and show your culture’s personality) and in alumni relations to keep former employees engaged. More broadly, infusing play at the ignition stage of any project when you need to break the ice and spark creativity

The Rub

These Ignition Behaviours Nurture, Curiosity, and Playfulness set the tone for everything that follows. They're not just culture buzzwords; they're practical, repeatable moves that help teams explore new ideas without killing them on arrival.

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🙋‍♂️ About the Author

I’m Danny Seals. I help teams design employee and customer experiences people actually remember want and need. For the last 15+ years, I’ve blended design thinking, service design, innovation strategy, and behaviour change to help organisations rethink how they work, what they offer, and how they show up. I’ve led projects like launching a People Experience Lab in a bank, redesigning EVP for a global brand, building new HR strategies, and running capability sprints that stick. You get the experience of a big agency without the price tag, the fluff, or the ten layers of sign-off.