A fablab is an open digital fabrication workshop—fully equipped with 3D printers, laser cutters, and electronics—where anyone can bring their prototypes to life. An innovation lab is its corporate counterpart: a dedicated sanctuary designed to foster experimentation, far removed from daily operational constraints.
Fablabs originated at MIT around Neil Gershenfeld and his legendary course "How to Make (Almost) Anything"—sparking the revolutionary idea that manufacturing tools, once the exclusive domain of heavy industry, should be accessible to everyone. Inspired by this vision, forward-thinking enterprises created internal labs to "unchain" innovation from conventional corporate gravity.
However, these inspiring spaces harbor a natural paradox. Their greatest strength—their detachment from the core business—is also their vulnerability. Designed to encourage unrestrained experimentation, the lab risks becoming an isolated bubble: it yields brilliant prototypes that the main organization, kept at arm's length, simply cannot absorb. This is known as "innovation theater"—a showcase lab that delights executives and impresses visitors, yet never delivers scalable impact. Exploring in isolation is easy; translating those breakthroughs into real-world business success is the true leadership challenge.
Consequently, the most common pitfall is not a shortage of great ideas, but the disconnect between the lab and the core business. An innovation lab is only as powerful as its bridges: how what is invented "here" enriches what is built "there," how a prototype elevates into a scalable product, and how the experimental mindset spreads across the enterprise.
Our conviction is clear: a lab is only valuable when it is fully connected. We design these strategic hubs with operational integration in mind right from the start—establishing robust governance, active bridges, and industrialization pathways—so that your experimentation generates real-world impact, not just great photo opportunities. Let's invent in a unique space, absolutely; but always with a spectacular, scalable return.
What is happening elsewhere: prototyping, social innovation, codesign, strategic exploration, and transition design.
References: N. Gershenfeld and fablabs (MIT); critique of "innovation theater" in corporate labs.
Rémi
Gréau
Director of Design
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