What would you do if you were told that your company will lose its competitive advantage or even go out of business in five years? What would you do today to save it? You might think of expanding into new markets, increasing margins, improving efficiencies, and cutting costs. But the truth is none of these incremental improvements is sufficient to save your business from the disruption that’s happening all around us.
The world we’re in today is experiencing an acceleration of technological advancement. We have seen disruption enabled by advancements emerging both in vertical markets and across industry sectors. The time taken to create and scale something from scratch is short—weeks, if not days. While these advancements bring opportunities, they also lower entry barriers. Leaders who have established businesses to run find themselves facing fierce competition from small startups that did not even exist a few years ago.
Most leaders know that innovation is important for their future success and survival, but few are satisfied with their current level of innovation. There is a gap between knowing about the need to innovate and knowing how to innovate. Some leaders simply do not know where to start. Some are struggling to innovate beyond traditional R&D. And some, especially those in large corporates that have invested a lot of resources, are wondering why they still cannot achieve the expected results.
Many failed because they drew on their experience of doing what they do best. They tried to run innovation the same way they ran their existing businesses. Others invested in external innovation experts who brought short-term excitement to the company. But once the engagement was over, they found themselves moving back to the old ways of doing things.
The key to sustainable innovation is to empower your employees and convert them into intrapreneurs. This book gives you a practical formula for doing just that—a practical guide to help you outperform and stay ahead of your competition in a rapidly changing environment.
This book will provide a guideline on how to assess the current level of intrapreneurship in your organization and identify areas for improvement. It will help you identify potential intrapreneurs and build a culture and infrastructure to nurture them. It will run through the training you need to provide your employees and how to attract and retain intrapreneurial talent. In short, this book will show you how to build a successful intrapreneurship program.
I’ve been a corporate innovation practitioner leading corporate innovation, intrapreneurship, and technology partnerships in corporates. I’ve helped C-suites develop strategies for sustainable innovation, built intrapreneurship programs, coached intrapreneurs, and transformed employees into founders.
This book draws on my experience of managing intrapreneurship and learnings from some of the world’s most innovative companies. I’ve observed those companies change the way they approach innovation in the last few years. Traditionally it was through R&D centers with small, centralized teams. But more corporate leaders have come to realize that, to succeed, innovation cannot belong only to laboratories that are physically separated from the rest of the business.
In contrast, the teams that I have led built large-scale innovation practices for companies and seen the impact on both employees and the business. I have seen companies successfully launch new products based on the ideas of intrapreneurs. They turned into commercialization opportunities and drove new revenue.
Opening up innovation to employees also ignites their passion for the organization. They feel that they are involved and that their participation matters. I have seen employee engagement increase significantly. Of course, this doesn’t happen overnight. Some corporates have taken months or even years to figure out how to implement intrapreneurship. Now, with this book, you have the formula to accelerate this transformation.
This book isn’t a theoretical presentation nor a methodology for building a single product or new value proposition. It’s designed for leaders who aspire to transform their organization into an innovative one by empowering their employees. It is a pragmatic manual that will help you deploy a sustainable approach to innovation.
My final message is: don’t delay! Your direct competitors and others new to the field are innovating relentlessly to get your business. This book will give you a head start with its proven formula. Each chapter outlines crucial elements and actions, culminating in an action plan for managing intrapreneurship and generating new business growth. All by leveraging your biggest existing asset—your employees.