Intrapreneurship – Creating what’s next, from within
I’ve been thinking about intrapreneurship lately, and what it takes to create something new from within an existing organisation.
An entrepreneur sees an opportunity and builds a new business around it.
An intrapreneur has much of the same drive, but works inside an existing organisation, using the capabilities, relationships, customers, brand and resources already there to explore opportunities and create new value.
That comes with a different kind of challenge.
You need the curiosity and courage to explore, question and create, while at the same time navigating existing structures, priorities, ways of working and beliefs. You’re not starting with a blank sheet of paper. You’re creating what’s next from within what already exists.
For me, there are a few things that really matter:
Mindset
Curiosity, opportunity seeking, customer and value focus, ownership, courage, experimentation, resilience and being comfortable with not having all the answers.
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Skills
Framing opportunities, understanding customers, business design, strategic thinking, prototyping, building a business case and bringing the right people together.
And then there’s co-creation, storytelling and engagement.
Working closely with clients to solve meaningful problems together, rather than developing ideas in isolation. Making an opportunity tangible. Creating a picture of where we could go and taking people on that journey.
It’s not just about explaining what could change. It’s about helping people imagine what that future could look and feel like, why it matters and what role they could play in creating it.
Almost like creating a future memory before the future exists.
That’s when I think ideas start to gain momentum. When they’re rooted in real customer needs, make sense for the business and the brand, and become something people can believe in, contribute to and eventually make their own.
Ideas that don’t just get launched, but live and breathe from within.
And perhaps this is where innovation, brand, business design and change come together.
Not just in imagining what’s next, but in shaping it with customers, bringing people with you and creating a future they want to be part of.
