In a recent article by Entrepreneurship magazine, Ofer Attali, boss of Anyo, wrote about investing in intrapreneurship: “While companies have no guarantee that projects will actually come to fruition, these investments are essential to send a clear message to employees: “dare”; and thus establish the climate of trust necessary for innovation.“
It's a very good summary of the main subject of intrapreneurship: intrapreneurship is about a general state of mind. Both that of employees and that of managers (who support employees in the process without putting them under operational pressure) and of general management (who provides financial resources as well as general impetus). In other words, it is a matter of the state of mind of the entire organization.
So the question is: how can we ensure that this state of mind is the right one, in order to sustainably bring out projects, ideas, and innovations that do not end up in a closet?
As always, when it comes to a state of mind, it is a question of approaching it from two aspects: structure and culture (in other words, DNA, the overall philosophy of the company)..
Let's start with the second point: there is no point in training employees to think like start-ups if the organization of the company itself - including management - prohibits them from devoting time to creative thinking, to monitoring, to feeding and incubating ideas. It is essential to train managers in creativity and to know the creative process, so that they accept (or even encourage, the dream!) innovation and initiative among their employees (the meaning of “dare”). It's a matter of culture, to make way for long-term investments: the state of mind, the “mind set”. You can't do something new with old software...
An agile, fast, “lean” company whose employees think “start-up” is an organization where there is room for speech, ideas, individual and collective expression.
That brings us to the first point: structure. Horizontality is often mentioned as a condition Sine qua non to innovation. But this horizontality is not essential... if verticality does not only mean “top down”. The real subject is circulation: the circulation of ideas, talents, responsibilities. And who says circulation says space, interstices... and communication. An agile, fast, “lean” company whose employees think “start-up” is an organization where there is room for speech, ideas, individual and collective expression. With kindness: without apprehension of failure (i.e. judgment) in particular.
For all this to work, in addition to training employees and managers in intrapreuneurship, you need a real message and support from senior management. which, too, must “dare” to invest in what is most valuable for the future: the creativity of its human capital.
Alexis Botaya, creativity and innovation speaker
- My creativity podcast upon Majelan
- My Challenge Create to Innovate on WelcomeOriginals
