Imagine this: your dev team is like a band. The product you build is your album, and every sprint is a concert. But what about those jam sessions; those side projects where no one cares if the guitar solo is perfect or the bass line hits every note? That’s what pet projects are for your dev team.
They’re the “garage bands” of coding; messy, experimental, and sometimes wildly offbeat, but absolutely essential.
Why bother with pet projects?
1. Freedom to experiment without fear
In your main product, the stakes are high. One wrong line, and the app crashes or the user yells at support. But pet projects? They’re playgrounds where creativity runs wild.
Research by Harvard Business Review shows that side projects spark innovation by letting teams explore ideas without the usual pressure. You never know; that quirky feature you prototype on a pet project could become the next big thing.
2. Learning playgrounds
New tech? New framework? Messy experiment? Pet projects are perfect for learning on the job without risking production.
Microsoft’s engineering team encourages pet projects as a way for devs to upskill, making the whole team sharper and ready for anything. Plus, when you see your code break and fix itself on a pet project, it’s a much kinder crash course than on a live product.
3. Team bonding beyond bug reports
Nothing says “we’re in this together” like sharing laughs over a project that’s half-baked and 100% fun.
Side projects break down silos, spark conversations, and build camaraderie. They remind us devs that we’re not just code-writing machines; we’re creators, problem-solvers, and sometimes meme connoisseurs.
4. A safe space to fail
We all love that feeling when your code works on the first try (lol), but pet projects teach us to embrace failure as part of growth. When your side app crashes, no deadlines get broken. You learn, fix, repeat, without the looming fear of a product outage.
Real talk: How we do it
I’ve seen teams kick off pet projects in the simplest ways; like a weekly hack hour, a “Friday fun project,” or even a small competition. The key is to keep it low-pressure and zero-judgment.
Some pet projects might never see the light of day, and that’s perfectly fine. Their value is in the journey, not the destination.
Pet projects are your team’s secret sauce for innovation, learning, bonding, and sanity. If your dev team doesn’t have one (or three), it’s time to change that.
Want more real talk on tech life? Subscribe for my casual chats on dev life, coding quirks, and keyboard battles from your local dev girl juggling tabs like a circus pro.
Days in the Life of Mo 
Leave a Reply