Managing True Intrapraneurs

Lots of folks have visions of how they's like their organziation to be and  they could be tremendously successful  ----  but they are unable to convey their visions to others successfully. Unless a vision can be accomplished single-handedly; the visionary needs to "export" the vision. 

 

It is hard to translate a dream into words and representations that have the same power and meaning as the original. But it is even more difficult to overcome the natural resistance people have to change. Developing a shared vision is difficult and complex. But in an organzaition you have to do that successfully in order to have a chance of accomplsihing your dream.

Essential to success in doing it are:

• planning on resistance to change

• being accessible and visible

 

• over-communicating

 

• stressing open communication

 

• rewarding people for change

 

• being consistent as opposed to going hot and cold on long-range direction

 

Feeling and Acting Like an Owner
The opposite of feeling like an owner is feeling like a subordinate. People who do not take initiative follow the rules, wait for permission, and do what they are told and often only what they are told. People who feel like they own part of the team/business feel great urgency.

 

They:

• are involved in their work
• have a tendency to innovate because they believe their survival depends on it
• invest large amounts of time and energy in their jobs.
• feel obsessed with their work, making the business grow, and finding areas of competitive advantage. 

Businesses have always needed managers who felt responsible for their areas. Today's turbulent environment requires something more. People need to feel responsible for building competitive advantages into the part of the enterprise they run. We want employees to go beyond acting responsibly. We want everyone to actively seek ways of building a competitive advantage in the organization he or she manages.

 

 

Empowering Others - Pushing Responsibility and Ownership Down

Empowerment is the reciprocal of power. It is letting go. For most managers, it is counterintuitive.

 

Management experts have talk a great deal about the importance of delegation. In the last 20 years, participative management has come into prominence rather than the old fashioned (yet still very much in evidence) command and control management. In participative management, the manager solicits input from employees and seeks to let them participate in some aspects of the managerial task. However, in the final analysis, the responsibility still rests largely with the manager.

 

But under certain circumstances, it is appropriate and even essential to go beyond participative management. When the rate of change is rapid, the technology is complex, the market is varied, and the people working for you competent, it is appropriate to delegate ownership. That means pushing responsibility and ownership down to the lowest level that can handle the task. It might mean backing off from the normal controls a manager normally exercises. It might mean encouraging people to seize responsibility even when to has not been assigned specifically to them. (And then not punishing them when they do that.)

 

Managing these "intrapreneurs" means you are sponsoring innovators and "rule breakers". As their boss, you have to walk a delicate and often uncomfortable line between knowing enough about the innovation to be able to defend it in a larger political environment, and steering clear so as not to interfere with the power and freedom of the "intraprenuer". Balancing one's personal desire to assume ownership and the organizational need to delegate it, is one of the most sought-after and one of the most elusive characteristics of the effective leader.

 

If you want to know if you are a leader that manages "intrapreneurs" -- ask the people who report to you.

Enhancing Creativity: Your and Others

I like to think that creativity is the ability to generate new and useful ideas and solutions to everyday problems and challenges. It’s the ability to take existing objects and combine them in different ways for new purposes. Traditional organizations often simply “make room” for creativity. But forward thinking organizations (like yours- right?!) create a culture around it. They don’t simply support the use of creativity, they embrace it as a significant output of the organization.

 

Most people love mastery. When it is achieved, we rest on our laurels and continue to do things in a routine and efficient fashion. Why bother to innovate if there is little time and no toleration for risk or error? After all, things seem to be working fine as they are. BUT the excitement of innovation, discovery and creation is often the very thing that is missing from our work.

 

A Skill Set
Think of creativity as a skill set. By practicing, you can get better at it. Creativity requires patience and a willingness to work for a creative outcome rather than simply waiting for enlightenment (AKA lightening to strike).

 

• Learn about creativity techniques. You can find this information in books, at conferences, from other people, from software and from the Internet. Spend time with people who you think are creative and ask them how they do it. There is no one right answer and many paths to creativity.

 

• Surround yourself with people who respect you and encourage you to take risks.

 

• Celebrate your progress in reaching your creative goals (and partial goals too).

 

• Start thinking of yourself as a creative person. Learn the skills of creativity, act creatively every chance you get and find places amd people environments that support creative behavior.

 

 

Here is an example of a practical program to improve creativity:

1. Set a measurable goal. 

• Find at least 40 ideas for improvements to a product or service.

2. Set up criteria to indicate whether or not you have reached your goal.

• The ideas are novel.
• The ideas are useful.
• The ideas can be implemented within an appropriate timeframe and budget.

 

You can enhance your creative output by providing yourself a special thinking time and/or place. Perhaps the couch in the lobby of the building where you work or a corner of a room at home where you can indulge yourself listening to soothing music. Maybe it's when you go running in the morning, or while taking up yoga, mediation, tai-chi or some similar meditative activity. Sometimes simply becoming involved in children's activities such as jig-saw puzzles (for spatial thinking), building blocks, drawing with crayons and role-playing/acting can aid the creative thinking process

 

Remember, creativity is not a gift -- it’s a state of being. Learning techniques that enhance your creativity will provide you with some useful tools, but it will not automatically change your point of view. Your creativity myths must change as well. But with a little creativity, all that will change!

To Get Create - BE Creative

In the workplace, creativity is the ability to generate novel and useful ideas and solutions to everyday problems and challenges. It’s the ability to take existing objects and combine them in new and different ways for new purposes. Traditional organizations often simply “make room” for creativity. But a forward thinking organization creates a culture around it. They don’t simply support the use of creativity, they embrace it as a significant output of the organization. Am I talking about you or to you?


Most people love mastery and when we get there, we rest on our laurels and continue to do things in a routine and efficient fashion. Why bother to innovate when there seems to be little time for it and almost no toleration for risk or error? After all, things seem to be working fine as they are. But the excitement that comes with innovation, discovery and creation are the very things that are missing from our work.

A Skill Set
Think of creativity as a skill set. If you practice, you can get better at it. Creativity requires patience and willingness to work for a creative outcome rather than simply waiting for enlightenment.

So you could -
• Learn about creativity techniques. You can get this information from books, conferences, other people, software and the Internet. Spend time with people that you think are creative and ask them how they do it. There is no one right answer and many paths to creativity.

• Surround yourself with people who respect you and encourage you to take risks.

• Celebrate your progress in reaching your creative goals.

• Begin to think of yourself as a creative person. Learn the skills of creativity, act creatively at every opportunity you get and find those places that support creative behavior.


Want an example of a practical way to improve creativity?
1. Set a measurable goal.
Find at least 40 ideas for improvements to a product OR SERVICE.

2. Set up criteria to indicate whether or not you have reached your goal.
The ideas are novel, useful, and can be implemented within an appropriate timeframe and budget.

You can enhance your creative output by providing yourself a special creative-thinking time and place. Maybe a corner of a room at home where you can indulge yourself listening to soothing music, go running in the morning, take up yoga, mediation, tai-chi or some similar meditative activity. Sometimes simply becoming involved in children's activities such as jig-saw puzzles (for spatial thinking), building blocks, drawing with crayons and role-playing/acting can aid the creative thinking process

I don't think creativity is a gift. It’s a state of being. Learning techniques that enhance your creativity will provide you with some useful tools, but it won't automatically change your point of view. Your creativity myths must change as well. But with a little creativity, you ca change that too!

Keep Your Footing - Even When The Ground Shifts

So it's a new year and there seems to be plenty of agreement that the world of work has changed significantly. BUT - there are still some things that will never change. These sure things should be embraced, adopted and practiced in order to increase your confidence and maintain a competitive edge.

Broad Technical Knowledge - People who possess broad technical knowledge will be well prepared to adopt innovations in their field. You may have to learn a specialized inventory method, computer language or new technology, but if you have a reasonable technical foundation in your area, you will be able to move easily among many specific techniques if needed.

Core Competencies Endure - They often form the center around which the organization reconfigures itself to meet changing market demands. Employees who connect with those competencies are more likely to remain productive, no matterwhat the future brings.

Manage Work Efficiently - Regardless of what changes, one thing never will change is the need to manage work well. Management skills transcend all professions and are an integral part of every profession and every organization.. The term “management skills” does not only mean managing the workflow of others efficiently and effectively. It also is about the ability to organize and manage one’s own workload.

Open to Learning - Employees who possess a willingness to learn are more likely to adapt and grow as their jobs change. They experience change as a challenge - something to be mastered. People with good learning skills are able to flex and grow to ensure their own success and the success of the company.

There is a lot of talk about the trends and the successful definitely keep up if not ahead of the curve. But the folks who thrive also have a good handle on the basics; the aspects of work that never change and always provide a route to success.