Intrapreneurial thinking 101 – experts explain the basics in new webinar

An agent for change. A storyteller. An innovator. Someone who can join the dots and communicate their ideas effectively to others. These are some of the words and phrases used to describe intrapreneurs in The Open University’s (OU) recent webinar on intrapreneurial thinking. It was the first of four webinars in The Intrapreneurship series: Driving innovation from within. 

Intrapreneurs share many of the behaviours and skills as their entrepreneur counterparts, but work within an established organisation rather than starting their own.

This opening webinar explored the typical skills, behaviours and mindset of an intrapreneur and why the need for intrapreneurship is increasing and how both employers and employees can help intrapreneurial thinking flourish.

Josh Valman, an innovation adviser and CEO of engineering consultants RPDK, hosted the webinar, joined by two guests – Katherine Morgan, Head of High Growth & Entrepreneurs at Barclays and Dr Aqueel Wahga, Senior Lecturer in Management at the OU. 

Josh began by talking about the need for intrapreneurship in a world that is constantly changing. Innovation is happening everywhere, all the time, so organisations need to keep evolving. That means encouraging employees to look for new, better ways of doing things and helping them bring ideas to fruition. 

Moving on from legacy thinking

Culture is critical, but Josh said employers often stifle innovation by saying ‘no’ to ideas, which means employees give up and the culture remains one of legacy thinking. “You can have the best ideas in the world but it’s very hard to fight against the machine.” When this happens – and Josh said he sees it happen all the time, even in organisations that want to innovate – budding intrapreneurs lose the spark. “Then they’ve lost the thing that was driving them to contribute and it feels pointless trying to contribute.”

Katherine Morgan, who has been an intrapreneur many times in her career, said employers need to create a culture of open feedback, of ideas sharing and psychological safety, so that employees feel able to contribute.

The role of storytelling

But she said it’s also important that intrapreneurs know how to identify and engage with stakeholders, build allyship and communicate a vision that aligns with business needs and the organisation’s direction of travel. “How are you telling the story? If you fundamentally believe it’s the right thing to do, but you’re not getting traction, examine your storytelling, because that is what will take people with you.”

There is a lot of crossover between intrapreneurship and entrepreneurship - the main difference is that entrepreneurs run their own business while intrapreneurs work for others.

One common theme that runs through entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs is that they think innovatively. They both want to focus on productivity and efficiency and ensure the organisation becomes more competitive.

Dr. Aqueel Wahga, The Open University

Aqueel said employers can use formal and informal learning to encourage and build intrapreneurial thinking. The OU offers support through Open Business Creators (aimed at entrepreneurs) that would also benefit intrapreneurs as the business scales, plus a range of courses focusing on skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, innovation and resilience. 

Barclays Eagle Labs is a large tech entrepreneurial network in the UK, providing a wealth of support to startup and scaleup businesses, particularly those that are focused on technology and innovation. Businesses can be connected to mentors, specialists, and a collaborative community designed to help them on their growth journey. Eagle Labs provides these services through physical spaces across the UK, virtual support, and an online network. Since launching in 2015, Eagle Labs has supported over 17,000 businesses. 

This support develops the skills that organisations, intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs need, to be successful in this fast-changing world. Aqueel recommended anyone interested should visit OpenLearn to try out OU learning for free.

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