how to successfully create an intrapreneurial culture

7/31/2019 How to Successfully Create an Intrapreneurial Culture

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How to Successfully Create an Intrapreneurial CultureIn an influential 1985 book, still relevant today, Gifford Pinchot III coined the phraseintrapreneurship to describe the marriage of an entrepreneurial spirit complete with its fierceindependence and lack of deference to established views and the strictures of conventionalwisdomwith the resources of a large corporation. While these two spirits may seem in conflict,they actually thrive in many of the worlds best-run companies.

Intrapreneurship is a strategy for stimulating innovation by making better use of entrepreneurialtalent. When effectively promoted and channeled, intrapreneurship not only fosters innovation, italso helps employees with good ideas to better channel the resources of a corporation to developmore successful products.

Some of the greatest business leaders of the past century made their early mark in business asintrapreneurs. Former General Electric chairman Jack Welch made a name for himself bybuilding GEs engineering plastics business as if he were starting his own company. Lew Lehr,former chairman of 3M, similarly built his career on his intrapreneurial pursuit of 3Msexpansion into the healthcare industry.

By fostering an intrapreneur ethic within a company, employees can be empowered and enabledto become company change agents who are comfortable bringing new ideas forward andpromoting their execution.

It is essential to create an elevating and encouraging environment that provides talented andentrepreneurial minded people the freedom to innovate, whilst at the same time supporting themwith the resources to quickly bring their innovations to market. For small-to-midsize firms,innovation and speed-to-market are two ways to compete successfully against dominant andwell-entrenched companies. Creating, fostering, and sustaining the right environment really areintrapreneurial imperatives.

As someone who founded my company, Cincom with $600 and a card table, I will always beat heart an entrepreneur. So, I could never even imagine allowing us to become a company thatdoesnt support creative free spirits who also seek to pursue good opportunities, and in theprocess, build new businesses within the company, which will provide new and different ways tobetter satisfy customer wants and needs. However, Cincom is in many respects also aconservative company. We dont take reckless risks, and all initiatives require a solid businesscase.

For intrapreneurship to work effectively, several important considerations should be taken intoaccount that balances risk with reward, and opportunity with difficulty.

Listen, Always ListenIntrapreneurs above all else thrive on the freedom that fuels their innate desire to innovate. Thiscan be a handful for a manager who Does not understand or respect the entrepreneurial nature.

For intrapreneurship to flourish in an organization, leadership has to be willing to listen to andrecognize good ideas whenever and from whomever they arise. This message must be constantlyreinforced from the highest levels of the organization.


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The key is creating an environment where an employees ideas, when properly presented, aretaken seriously and then be properly supported and recognized. One never knows where goodideas will come from, especially in a corporate culture that supports intrapreneurship. Anaccount representative could become the catalyst for revolutionizing a companys entire business

strategy when presented with the ongoing opportunity to approach company leadership with aproposal.

Beyond listening, it is critical to enable people to see their own ideas through, even if they mustcross over into a new functional area and push themselves past any previous companyachievements or organizational structure.

Cut the Red TapeIt is important to create an environment where anyone can come forward with an idea on how toimprove any aspect of the business. It should not matter where that person fits on theorganizational chart. If the idea is good, and the benefits and risks are clearly stated, that idea

should get the green light - and the support it merits.

There must still be a business approval process, but it should be efficient. Projects that deservesupport should be quickly expedited. Then it may be better to avoid wading through acumbersome and lengthy buy-in process than to miss a window of opportunity.

Need for SpeedCompanies can foster and encourage potential intrapreneurs by sending the message throughoutthe organization that a case properly presented, which thinks through the issues, identifies andexplains what can go wrong and what can go right, and how to put contingencies in place, iswelcome. But, the process must be simple and flexible enough to initially move quickly - andthen to later scale up as rapidly as possible when success develops.

Many entrepreneurial careers are built on a succession of minor failures, with the accumulatedlessons learned from each leading to ultimate success. There is an imperative need to firstexperience something in order to be able to well understand it. And, as we learn forward but onlyunderstand backward, there will always be mistakes made. It is important for companies to allowfor a degree of inevitable failure around new projects and initiatives without sending the messagethat failure is not tolerated.

Companies must strive to provide a freedom to fail culture and environment. Although failureresulting from poor planning and execution is not accepted, there should be no penalty for thosewho come forward with good ideas, assuming theyve been well presented and competentlyexecuted.

An intrapreneurial culture must embrace constructive failure to score big victories. There is acertain intangible something that all high achievers have; this is a willingness to put themselvesout there where all can see, and to expose themselves to the risk of failure and the criticismthat is sure to follow. Organizations must support those who have such courage and confidencethat they are willing to fail in order to succeed.


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Many companies are filled with reliable singles hitters who play it safe and never really aspireto greatness. Intrapreneurs, on the other hand, swing for the fences. Sometimes they strike out,but when they connect, they like to hit it big.

Share CreditHarry Truman once said, It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets thecredit. It doesnt do any good to encourage team members at all levels to bring innovative ideasto company leadership if the leaders then take those ideas and make them their own. Recognitionis a key driver for us all. Leaders who seek to steal the recognition rightfully deserved by othersfind few followers.

So, one needs to make sure credit goes where it is due, and to share it widely. It costs nothing toadmit that the $10 million idea came from the receptionist. No one is diminished as a result, andthe company is $10 million richer for it. The receptionist becomes then even more eager to offerbetter future ideas. And, everyone else in the organization is encouraged to follow the lead of

that receptionist, and to help to improve the organization. Leaders deal in hope, as Napoleon,noted. But in top-performing organizations Leadership is always plural. No one ever succeedsalone.

Look Forward to Breaking PrecedentEvery organization must have processes and rules of procedure and behavior. But when we catchourselves saying, Weve never done it that way before, or thats not how we do things, weshould stop and reflect on whether we are saying this out of habit or for good reason. Chancesare we may be citing a rule that may no longer be appropriate for the new conditions andsituations we are now trying to intrapreneurially develop. Maybe its best, and even necessary, tosometimes break with past traditions and establish new precedents to respond to newopportunities. This is especially so in those industries where the pace of innovation is great, andobsolescence is just as speedy.

The ability to differentiate between rules needed to guide and perform within the currentbusiness and rules that may restrict success in building a new business is what discernment andopportunity awareness are all about. Going forward is always a journey. And as journeysprogress, we need new signposts along the way that point the way forward on the next leg of ourtrip. These signposts are the rules and regulations for building new businesses within existingbusinesses. The trailblazing intrapreneurs are the ones who set up those signposts for others tofollow.

Journeys require maps and itineraries; but sometimes we also need to take detours and alternativeroutes when unusual or unexpected opportunities and situations develop, as almost alwayshappens.

Ignite IntrapreneursTo start a revolution of initiative and innovation, ignite the intrapreneurs and then get out of theway! Lift off generates a lot of heat. And a lot of fun, too!


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how to successfully create an intrapreneurial culture

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