Alright, back to my topic of HRpreneuring. Gifford Pinchot called entrepreneurial behaviors within an organization “intrapreneuring”, and Jack Welch said “It’s flourishing” at SHRM ’09.
HR needs it. Organizations need it. Today more than ever before we are relying on the entrepreneurial spirit to get our economy back on track.
In his keynote at SHRM just a few days ago, Jack Welch said, “Have the ‘right stuff’ and the guts to make sure you’re important in the organization.”
Easy to say, but much harder to do. Why? Because big ideas change things. Big ideas change you. They come with a heavy burden, which is why so few are executed. How many companies really embrace what I heard Laszlo Bock, VP of People Operations at Google, say: “Collaboration is like ‘open sourcing’, and we like that here at Google. More interaction equals more innovation because those little connections we make, make a difference.” LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman echoed that thought when he said, “They accumulate to create trust and trust allows business to take place at a faster rate.”
In addition to Jack, Laszlo and Reid, my inspiration for this post is Hugh MacLeod’s new book “Ignore Everybody and 39 Other Keys to Creativity”. I’ve become a fan and supporter of Hugh first through Twitter (@gapingvoid), then his blog, GapingVoid, then his art at GapingVoidGallery, and finally his book. Sort of an “edgy” Dilbert, yet so much more… humor and lessons for life and for work.
Early in the book, Hugh asserts that “Great ideas alter the power balance in relationships. That’s why great ideas are initially resisted.” What’s your big idea? How have you been an entrepreneur or intrapreneur? How have you “ignored everybody” or at least ignored conventional wisdom? Share your story with me in the comments section of this post and I’ll share Hugh’s book with you!
I’ve got 39 signed copies waiting for distribution. Come get one!
