The Power Of Your People

On many occasions we have written about the fact that anyone inside of your company has the potential to become an intrapreneur or to contribute to intrapreneurial and innovation projects. There is potential for ideas and expertise to arise from anyone, no matter their role or level of seniority. Organizations that are really looking to transform and push themselves forward could benefit from embracing this fact.

While this is not an unfamiliar idea to us, it was great to hear at our last Intrapreneur Alliance event that our panelists, representing some of Canada’s largest companies, also believed that everyone in their organizations can and should contribute to (or, at least, be part of) a culture of innovation.

In the video clip below from the event’s panel discussion, moderator Amber Foucault of Symbility Intersect asks Ryan Spinner, Head of Innovation for Aviva Canada, how he makes sure that everyone in his organization becomes part of their digital transformation goals. Ryan answers by explaining why he feels it is important that everyone at Aviva becomes part of the process in some way. He told the audience that he is, “… really convinced that a centralized team isn’t going to be able to transform a global company of 33,000 people. It’s going to really take the individual people to move it.”

Shelley Burnett, National Director of Digital Health and Innovation at Bayshore Health Care, follows up by explaining how Bayshore takes a similar approach by understanding that people from all over their organization can help create innovation and change. She believes this works because “they’re the ones with the experience. They’re the ones who know what needs to be done and what’s going to improve their life. They’re the ones who hear from the patients day in and day out.”

Finally, Xavier Debane, Vice President of Innovation and Business Development at Manulife Canada, enquires about what kind of change actually comes out of allowing everyone to be part of the innovation process; does it only create incremental changes or does it push them forward in significant ways? Shelley responds with a great answer that explains why allowing all your stakeholders to contribute but still have a person or small team to help the larger group facilitate innovation can help to create both incremental and larger successes at the same time.

Take a look at the clip below to get the panelists’ full responses and thoughts on why involving all of your people can really help to push a company forward:

And for more tips, ideas, and conversations about intrapreneurship, join our Intrapreneur Alliance community on Facebook today!