We began posting today to a new website, Benzinga, aimed at active stock traders.  Over the course of the next several weeks, we will be describing the corporate entrepreneurship structures of  individual companies profiled in Grow From Within….so look for their stock prices to bounce!

Rob Wolcott teamed with KIN sponsor Jørn Bang Andersen to articulate insights on innovation culture gleaned from the Kellogg Innovation Network, published as the cover story in The Human Factor, a leading Indian business magazine.  They key lessons are:

1. Nurture a sense of purpose
2. Operate as an ethical alternative
3. Celebrate smart failures
4. Create meaningful actionable objectives and enable people to act
5. Emphasise the team, not only the individual
6. Walk the walk, do not just talk the talk

We’re very pleased with a great review of Grow From Within by Dean DeBiase of Reboot Partners, with a summary of some of the key take-aways.

In a posting at Fast Company today, we explain the Producer Model of Corporate Entrepreneurship, in which a dedicated innovation group is well-funded so that it can pursue new businesses independently.  This “skunk works” approach is popular in the innovation literature, but such groups can become isolated if not managed correctly. 

This is the last of four posting covering, in turn, each of the four models of corporate entrepreneurship described in Grow From Within.

Aon’s ONE Magazine: Posted March 2010

Aon’s ONE Magazine interviews Robert C. Wolcott, founding partner of Clareo Partners, to discover why many companies do not innovate and how they are at risk if they don’t. The article outlines three myths commonly associated with decisions regarding innovation and provides insight on changing corporate mindsets to remain competitive.

In our post at Fast Company this week, we explain the Advocate Model of Corporate Entrepreneurship, in which a designated group drives new business creation but is intentionally provided only a modest budget.   As such, the Advocate Model is a counterintuitive form of corporate entrepreneurship.  But in some corporate contexts, it works to have a group of evangelists and innovation experts facilitate new business creation in conjunction with business units, which must demonstrate their commitment to new business development by paying most of the bills.

This is the third of four posts covering, in turn, each of the four models of corporate entrepreneurship described in Grow From Within.

This seminal work inspires and challenges.  The careful reader finds repeated religious and moral symbolism.   The ending, albeit surprising, is satisfying on emotional and intellectual levels.  

I give Grow From Within my highest four paw rating.   The perfect gift …for April Fools Day!

Recently, the Wall Street Journal’s Teri Evans contacted me regarding a challenge we’d all like to have:  rapid growth.  When we’re both great and lucky, entrepreneurs— corporate or independent—can end up with growth so brisk it overwhelms our ability to plan properly, scale efficiently and prepare for the future.  Click here to see the article.

Let us know if you’ve had any successful or not so successful experiences from rapid growth phases.  We’d love to learn and share the insights.

In this video roundtable, sponsored by DeVry University’s Keller Graduate School of Management, Rob Wolcott joins Ken Atwater (GE Healthcare IT Solutions), to share insights on corporate entreprenership and innovation project management, covering issues of leadership, organization, personnel and culture.

In our post at Fast Company this week, we explain the Enabler Model of Corporate Entrepreneurship, in which resources are available for new business creation, but there is no designated organizational ownership.  In other words,  the early stages of new business conception are explicitly supported, encouraged, but no executive or team is explicitly charged with scaling proven concepts and transitioning them back into the organization.  

The Enabler Model assumes that there are ample good ideas around the company and, more importantly, that there are individuals and teams  willing to flesh them out.  In the most evolved versions of the Enabler Model, companies provide clear criteria for selecting which opportunities to pursue, guidelines for applying for funding, decision-making transparency, and, perhaps above all, well-defined engagement from senior management.  

This is the second of four posts covering, in turn, each of the four models of corporate entrepreneurship described in Grow From Within.