Thinking Big and Starting Small: A Field Guide to Intrapreneurship
My morning routine begins with tea and bird song as I look out into the garden. Next, I listen to a podcast episode as I wash up and prepare for the day. The podcast is random, but the topic is usually business, productivity, football (soccer), or philosophy. Most episodes are inspiring tales of success despite incredible odds. The speaker, often a product or business executive, will stress the importance of creating an environment that attracts entrepreneurial talent as a competitive advantage.
“Intrapreneurs are employees who do for corporate innovation what an entrepreneur does for his or her startup” — Gifford Pinchot III
As with each of these podcast episodes, I started to reflect on my own experience as an intrapreneur leading cross-organizational efforts across multiple business units, products, technologies, contexts, and cultures.
Things I wish someone told me
There is so much content on having an intrapreneurial mindset. I won’t recreate or expand on those. In this series, I will share some examples on how thinking like an intrapreneur influenced my actions in these contexts:
Coming soon:
- Launching a new business capability across multiple organizations, products, technologies, and cultures
- Democratizing digital transformation
- Finding clarity in calamity
“Innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity — not a threat.” — Steve Jobs
