Artist Dates as a Team: How Creative Breaks Spark Ideas
At parallel18, we believe that innovation doesn’t only happen behind a desk or in team meetings. Often, the best ideas are born when we give ourselves permission to walk differently, to break out of the routine, and to expose ourselves to experiences that take us out of the ordinary.
I remember that in my first graduate class, I was given the task to go out on an artist date: to have an artistic solo experience to awaken creativity in a new city (Boston, MA). I never thought that years later it would be the first thing that would come to mind to inspire and unite my team.
This week I took my team, the famous Mac & Cheese, on an artist date to the Bad Bunny immersive experience. At first, it seemed to be just a recreational outing and ended up becoming a powerful reminder of what storytelling, inspiration, and collaboration mean.
Among lights, music, and unexpected scenes, my team and I learned that:
- Simple things can have great impact: a small detail can transform the way we feel and remember an experience. (e.g. The Pozo de Jacinto, a cave-like installation, inspired by the local legend of El Pozo de Jacinto, offers a powerful multi-sensory interpretation of one of the island’s oldest folklores.)
- Art opens conversations: talking about what we saw allowed us to connect as a team beyond daily tasks. (We had an up close view of Concho– the main character of KETU TeCRÉ music video!)
- Stepping outside the walls changes perspective: to seek new outcomes, we need to look at them from another angle.
In business, and in life, sometimes we receive unexpected news. It’s not always negative, but it can overwhelm us. Our initial reaction may be to think that change brings complications. However, as with this artist date, we realized that looking at those surprises through a different lens allows us to see bigger and better possibilities.
The lesson is clear: the unexpected doesn’t have to be an obstacle, but rather a door to something more meaningful.
Quoting one of the best Puerto Rican groups, Calle13, “If you want real change, walk differently.” Getting out of the office, exploring new ideas, and giving ourselves space to inspire each other. Artist dates are not a luxury or trivial, they are a strategic practice for any team seeking to think differently, collaborate better, and discover opportunities invisible from routine.
At parallel18 we will continue betting on experiences that remind us that innovation is born both from discipline and from the capacity to surprise ourselves. Because when we change the way we look at the world, we also change the way we transform it.
