Play and work for greater good: the case of hackathons
In the face of grand challenges, such as climate change or social inequality, traditional organizational structures often fall short in mobilizing collective intelligence for collaborative innovation. However, purpose-driven organizations have shown promise in addressing these challenges by leveraging the prosocial motivation of their members, thereby catalyzing transformational change across industries (Henderson, 2021). This transformation necessitates instilling a sense of meaning as a motivator for individuals and fostering a purpose of contribution to society as a firm's raison d’être. Hackathons for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) represent one such example of ad-hoc organizations formed around social good goals. We conducted a study of 299 participants across 15 hackathons in Europe and Asia to understand their motivations for voluntarily dedicating their weekends to collaborative projects with no monetary rewards. Our findings reveal that participants are driven by a desire for play-related behaviors, including a safe space for experimentation, interaction with diverse individuals, and the opportunity to unleash creativity. Moreover, participants seek learning opportunities and derive satisfaction from contributing to a purpose that resonates with their values.
Drawing on insights from neural and behavioral sciences, we outline five essential conditions for organizing what we term "purposeful play-and-work." These conditions collectively foster a participant mindset conducive to collaborative innovation and the emergence of individual and collective purpose. Through abductive reasoning and empirical evidence from hackathons, we offer partial validation for the purposeful play-and-work theory. Our research contributes to understanding how actors such as academia or associations can effectively facilitate and coordinate innovation for grand challenges.