I worked at a company that did something similar. We would have "research" sprints where we basically got to do whatever we wanted for a few weeks. It was a tim

I worked at a company that did something similar. We would have "research" sprints where we basically got to do whatever we wanted for a few weeks. It was a time we got to implement all of the crazy pipe dream features we'd been thinking of. We got to learn new technologies. We got to work with different people. People also implemented their own ideas. When the sprint was over, if they wanted to keep working on it, all we had to do was fill out a form that our CTO would sign saying that the company didn't want the project. I miss that part of the job.