Five Ways Organizations Can Spur Entrepreneurship
August 28, 2008
By Caela Farren, Ph.D.
Entrepreneurship is on the radar screen for many foundations, universities, and venture capitalists. Which of the following practices does your organization use to foster entrepreneurship?
1. Hire masters in the core competencies.
Many of the greatest entrepreneurs have years of experience and mastery in one or more fields. They have the courage of their convictions and a reputation for excellence. They have followed their interests, passions, and created new visions of what could be.
2. Build critical mass in a region.
Make it easier for people to collaborate, challenge, and hear one another's ideas. Create an incubator for creative people to work in areas of great passion and need.
3. Provide seed capital or research and development funds.
Follow the lead of foundations, grants, university research, and start-up incubators, or link your people directly to these ventures. Providing physical space where people can informally brainstorm and create fosters an entrepreneurial atmosphere, as well as positive emotional energy.
4. Provide recognition and rewards.
There is nothing like success to breed success. Spotlight employees with new patents, breakthroughs in systems or processes, share history of new product development, and provide team rewards.
5. Use real problems for leadership development.
Our work with Verizon's Marketing for Future Leaders was exciting because we were able to coach leaders to take on business problems and company challenges. Potential leaders had to immerse themselves in the industry, get sponsorship for their ideas, cross organizational boundaries, and present their findings and recommendations to executives. They learned to see trends, make proposals, sell bottom-line benefits, and make an impression on leaders of the company. Their ideas produced profits and saved money.
Editor's Note: Successful change management isn't as mysterious a process as you think it is. Sometimes all it takes is a knack for developing your company's entrepreneurs. Read "Channeling Change."
Caela Farren, Ph.D., is president of MasteryWorks, Inc., in McLean, VA. Her practice and company are designed to build strong links between changing trends in industries, changing strategies of organizations, and the talents and aspirations of individuals. For more information, visit www.masteryworks.com.
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