"Social innovation is the unwritten bullet-point in everyone’s job description" is the opening line from Marzena Zukowska, media manager and strategist with Ashoka Changemakers, in her Forbes article 3 Necessary Ingredients for Corporate Changemaking. The article is about Social Intrapreneurs; employees, who are working to change the culture of their workplace from the inside. There are some remarkable examples of how this is being done. Check out this video of the Food for Good initiative, thought up and bought to life by PepsiCo employees in Dallas, Texas:
Click here to read about other inspiring examples from around the world.
At the end of last year, Ashoka and Accenture, launched The League of Intrapreneurs, a competition to raise awareness about what they're calling a 'lost tribe' of social innovators from all over the globe; the millions of employees, who have come up with projects to help their employers fulfill their commercial and social objectives. Winners will be featured in the globally distributed 'Intrapreneur Toolkit', they will be publicized on the Fast Company's Co-Exist blog and they will receive consultancy support from Accenture Development Partnerships.
This celebration of Social Intrapreneurs is a an important step - it's recognition of that the fact that it's not only entrepreneurs that have great ideas; that employees in companies, whatever their day job, have the potential passion, creativity and skills to bring groundbreaking new social projects to life. In my opinion, if this competition can encourage companies to provide the means and mechanisms to enable employees to communicate and develop their ideas and, most importantly, inspire employees to fight for what they're passionate about, it will have been a success.
Having said that, we're not all Social Intrapreneurs, and, let's be honest, it would be a nightmare for companies if we were! Nevertheless, the phrase 'social innovation is the unwritten bullet point in everyone's job description' is still true. Everyone in a company can help make the business they work for a 'better business' - from finding ways for their team or department to use less paper, to changing to a supplier more in line with the values of the business, to working alongside a 'Social Intrapreneur' to make their idea a reality. What is important is that their company has a clearly defined purpose and strategy that inspires employees to work towards a clear, shared goal and empowers them to make a difference as part of their job, without waiting to be told to do it.
So whilst we unlock the potential of Social Intrapreneurs, let's not forget the potential of everyone in a business to change it for the better.
Click here to read about other inspiring examples from around the world.
At the end of last year, Ashoka and Accenture, launched The League of Intrapreneurs, a competition to raise awareness about what they're calling a 'lost tribe' of social innovators from all over the globe; the millions of employees, who have come up with projects to help their employers fulfill their commercial and social objectives. Winners will be featured in the globally distributed 'Intrapreneur Toolkit', they will be publicized on the Fast Company's Co-Exist blog and they will receive consultancy support from Accenture Development Partnerships.
This celebration of Social Intrapreneurs is a an important step - it's recognition of that the fact that it's not only entrepreneurs that have great ideas; that employees in companies, whatever their day job, have the potential passion, creativity and skills to bring groundbreaking new social projects to life. In my opinion, if this competition can encourage companies to provide the means and mechanisms to enable employees to communicate and develop their ideas and, most importantly, inspire employees to fight for what they're passionate about, it will have been a success.
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| We can all find our inner hero! |
So whilst we unlock the potential of Social Intrapreneurs, let's not forget the potential of everyone in a business to change it for the better.
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