This is part 2 of a 2-part series on the importance of collaboration and the introduction of the Midnight Lunch™ Lab at The Hardware Store.

One of the most unique features of The Hardware Store is the Midnight Lunch™ Lab, a partnership between the great-grandniece of Thomas Edison, Sarah Miller Caldicott, and Bi-Link. Think collaboration, innovation, and idea creation within an authentic Edison-inspired workspace — that's what the Midnight Lunch™ Lab is all about.

Caldicott is the author of Midnight Lunch: The 4 Phases of Team Collaboration Success from Thomas Edison's Lab and CEO of PowerPatterns.com. Bi-Link's unique partnership with her delivers a remarkable feature to The Hardware Store — transforming the workspace into an idea factory.

How it all began …

It all started when Ray Ziganto, President of Bi-Link, spoke with Caldicott about significant changes that were occurring in the company. One of the biggest goals for Bi-Link was to actively get people more involved in collaboration by providing resources within an inspiring environment.

After reading Caldicott's book, Midnight Lunch, Ziganto knew her input would be insightful. Ziganto brought Caldicott in to Bi-Link to host two successful Midnight Lunch™ live collaboration sessions with employees that were so powerful, the Bi-Link team has trained several staff members in the collaboration methodology and continues to utilize Caldicott's Edison-inspired work to strengthen team collaboration.

"Environment is extremely important to accelerating the power of collaboration itself," states Caldicott. That's where Midnight Lunch™ Lab at The Hardware Store comes in.

Making the Midnight Lunch™ Lab a reality

The Midnight Lunch™ Lab (MLL) is open for engineers, forward-thinkers, product developers, and idea makers with any level of education and experience. The goal for The Midnight Lunch™ Lab is to ignite great ideas, questions, and hypotheses rather than solely to solve problems.

"It's about aiming, opposed to shooting," says Kris Kent, Vice President of Marketing for Bi-Link.

When Caldicott was asked if The Midnight™ Lab at The Hardware Store puts the Midnight Lunch methodology in action, she said, "Absolutely. When you have a Midnight Lunch Lab facility, it gives you a place to act rather than just talking about something. It's intended to be a place for really focused, intensive dialogue — along with access to hands-on equipment and tools."

What it means to you …

The Midnight Lunch™ Lab also provides a tremendous social element to The Hardware Store. Innovators can leave MLL sessions with new ideas to think about and tinker with. The solution may not evolve right there and then — or maybe it could — but the overall goal of The Midnight Lunch™ Lab is to bring people together and be the engine that asks the right questions.

It's a thrilling opportunity to build impactful relationships, learn something new, and share ideas in the heart of The Hardware Store. And maybe one day, when asked how the idea evolved, the next great mind of our time will say, "It started at The Hardware Store, during a Midnight Lunch™ Lab discussion …"

Click here to read the previous post in this 2-part series on team collaboration and the Midnight Lunch™ Lab.

Interested in a tour? Contact us today to schedule a visit!

Midnight Lunch: The Four Phases of Team Collaboration Success from Thomas Edison's Lab by Sarah Miller Caldicott is available to order on Amazon.com or on Caldicott's website, PowerPatterns.com.