#62: Intrapreneurship in 31 steps - 18. Practice Continuous Innovation

Innovation does not need to be a one-off effort or left to one group within the company. When companies focus on developing employees into Intrapreneurs, Innovation is a byproduct of that effort and happens widely across the organization.

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Innovation is a desired result of pursuing Intrapreneurship, but only after ensuring our growth through our work as individuals and leaders across companies throughout our long professional careers. I am a proponent of continuous innovation rather than aiming only for big wins.?

Everyone likes big wins because they give us significant results. But, to reach a level where we can habitually deliver big wins, we must train ourselves to deliver small wins continuously. And that happens by consistently being an Intrapreneur.

My approach contains two parts:?

Process Improvement

Earlier in this series, I shared a model of approaching this area in the section on being unconditionally creative. A critical aspect of conditioning ourselves to spot opportunities and issues is to believe that everything we do can be improved.

The questions to ask yourself are:

• At what cost is it worth it?
• What would it change for the better??

Depending on the answers, we will choose to pursue those changes or look for something new. However, we always find answers or create new avenues for growth through opportunities for improvement; otherwise, we will get complacent and accept the status quo as the best possible outcome.?

Mistake-proofing and continuous improvement are widely used across all work areas in the manufacturing world. We can aim for all the process improvements, but if a process is not designed to avoid mistakes, our situation is like running water through pipes with holes.?

As you approach process improvement, ensure that mistake-proofing is a core component of everything you do. It will automatically promote speed, quality, and efficiency.?

Strategic Innovation

Sometimes, more is needed to make minor improvements. Instead, the crisis or opportunity we face as individuals, teams, and companies requires us to do something we have never done before, something drastically different in approach, concept, or focus. When that happens, new business lines are born, new revenue streams are created, and sometimes, new companies are born.?

A culture of Intrapreneurship is necessary for strategic innovation to flourish. People should be able to think freely, propose and test ideas, and pursue unconventional ways to give these ideas a platform to be tested and furthered.

In Closing

"If it ain't broken, don't fix it" is a flawed approach. Companies must innovate and improvise to survive, and staying relevant and growing in the current marketplace is more important than ever.

Intrapreneurship ensures that innovation is woven into your culture and way of working.

If you need help expanding on these ideas to specific areas and implementing them successfully, reach out through a direct message or email [email protected]

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