High-flying consultants are happy to offer their ideas to corporations and major brands, but who helps out non-profits when they need a similar fix? That was the question asked by Chicago writer Marissa Flaxbart in a recent piece for Gapers Block, and her answer was “Insight Labs.”

Flaxbart was invited to participate in our June 2011 session in partnership with the Union League Boys and Girls Clubs. Besides contributing her own ideas, she chronicled the session and the big ideas it produced in response to the question of how to restore free play to children’s lives.

The Gapers Block articles highlights one of the Lab’s most salient aspects: in staging one-time gatherings of brilliant strangers, we have no choice but to seek solutions in the short time we are together. In Flaxbart’s words:

Leitner and Malham sprung into action. A game plan for the next three hours was laid out. We weren’t just going to shed some light on this problem, we were going to solve it. And, Leitner told us all right off the bat, our solution would have wide-reaching implications that could improve the state of play all over the country.

Check out the Gapers Block article or our page on this Lab to learn more about the solutions that emerged. And thanks again to Marissa for playing along.