Change from within: some hints from LAUNCH

In this first blog from our new April ’15 cohort, Associates Alia Malik and Daniel Belostecinic report back on intrapreneurship from this month’s LAUNCH event in Oxford.

With 30+ speakers, six panel discussions, and plenty of networking opportunities, the LAUNCH Social Impact Careers Conference marked an early milestone in our On Purpose journey.

A particular interest for us was intrapreneurship and people who excel at driving change from within. Intrapreneurs at Danone, H&M and Thomson Reuters spoke about achieving huge impact using traditional company platforms in less traditional ways. They drive change through opportunities within established organisations — by bringing in more people and eco-friendly sourcing across value chains for instance, or by finding ways to use the core knowledge and expertise of their business to leverage CSR budgets for more meaningful social impact.

Below are a few nuggets of wisdom we picked up from their presentations on how to influence change from within:

Drop your ego. As Ken Blanchard once said — “none of us is as smart as all of us”, and ideas we come up with are often the product of standing on the shoulders of giants. The same goes for implementing our ideas: we almost always need buy-in from others. One pointer provided by Hendrik Heuermann, Sustainability Manager at H&M Germany, is to figure out “who can shine the brightest” with an idea we’re championing, and to leverage their influence to implement it. The originator of the idea and the ideal person to bring it to life are often not the same two people.

“Live” the challenges and opportunities. Jean-Christophe Laugee, Social Innovation and Ecosystem Director at Danone, sees the value in people experiencing and “living” the challenges and opportunities first hand. Want to tackle environment issues in Central America? — Go see the most polluted sites. Want to convince a key member of your team of the importance of better value chain practices? — Take them to spend a day in a developing country production site, and live through it together.

Speak the same language. This is not about the thousands of different languages spoken around the world, but rather appealing to what people care about. If it’s numbers and the financial bottom line — make sure to measure social impact in those terms as well.