Intrapreneurship to drive impact at scale

In early 2020, GHD Digital brought together a diverse group of professionals to explore the future of engineering. We published their insights in a thought book, ‘Tomorrow’s thinking, today’s people’. Two years and a global pandemic later, we revisited some of the themes covered in the thought book, to see what impact COVID-19 had on their ideas. In most instances, we found that the events of the last two years made them even more relevant. 

As a passionate supporter of intrapreneurs, Janett Egber contributed a piece to the thought book where she wrote, "In today's world, engineers have the potential to drive significant impact through their work— particularly as they leverage their skills and capabilities whilst embracing new ways of thinking, new ways of working and new ways of collaborating."

Now, after nearly two years of a global pandemic hit, this notion could not betruer.

To reflect on Janett’s article and her podcast after the outbreak of COVID-19, a recent panel discussion led by Jacyl Shaw, Global Practice Director – D-Lab of GHD Digital, examined the role intrapreneurship. GHD leaders Phillip Bradley, Executive General Manager for Strategic Investments of GHD, Emma Jones, Innovation Consultant and Smart Seeds Global Lead of GHD Digital, and Lindsey Brown, Australian Water Market Leader of GHD shared their views on the role of intrapreneurship throughout COVID-19, what it looks like in engineering today and how it will evolve over time.

How can we define intrapreneurship

In its simplest form, an intrapreneur has similar skills and passions to an entrepreneur; however, they operate within a business or organisation. Intrapreneurs are self-motivated and passionate individuals who use their organisation as a vehicle to create positive social and business change.

By drawing the dichotomy between the intrapreneur and entrepreneur, it is easy to see why they can be a catalyst for industry-leading transformation. Unlike an entrepreneur, an intrapreneur is not motivated by revenue or keeping a business alive. Rather, they have an innate desire to use their position of power to do good.

Lindsey Brown believes this can be explained through having a sense of hunger, agility and connection to purpose that defines an intrapreneur. “In today’s climate, the role of an intrapreneur is to use their fervent drive to respond to the challenges of our time, and to derive meaning and purpose in what we do. There’s nothing like a pandemic to make us feel helpless and to make us want to help others and feel more connected.”

How the pandemic accelerated the uptake of intrapreneurship 

We have witnessed the impact intrapreneurs can have globally as companies pivoted and reinvented their business model for their way out. For instance, when physical tickets were unavailable, the McGrath Foundation in Australia sold virtual seats to the 2021 Sydney test match to raise the most money in the organisation’s history, AUD3 million. 

Jacyl Shaw explains, “It became evident early in the crisis that companies who were able to find ways to adapt, even in the short term, were able to succeed both fiscally and socially. This trend will continue as businesses deal with the challenges the new world presents.”

Organisations should ask themselves if they have the agility internally to adapt quickly so they can make the most of opportunities and respond as our world continues to change. Without these considerations or resources, companies of the future will fall behind if they just try to hang on in there and weather the storm.

By embracing intrapreneurship, organisations give themselves the elasticity needed to tackle the problems of today and tomorrow. 

Why intrapreneurs are thriving in a more connected world

The pandemic has been a truly global event, with shared experiences of lockdowns, restrictions and outbreaks. Impacted by the inability to travel and collaborate in person, technology replaced physical boundaries. While we yearned for personal interaction, digitally we were more connected than ever before.

No longer were people bound by the constraints of where they lived, leading to the emergence of a rise in ambition internationally to collaborate and improve the lives of those around them. A phenomenon grew, where people began to realise they were part of something much bigger and could use this to create impact at scale.

Through GHD Digital’s Smart Seeds Program, Emma Jones saw emerging leaders working outside their comfort zones or with different teams to leverage intrapreneurship to think big. “Through COVID-19, we were able to tap into this bigger ambition, which I think was the bit that was missing beforehand. Participants were not just asking ‘what can we do for this city?’ but started asking the bigger questions, ‘what can we do for the entire sector?’, ‘how much is solar going to grow over the next 10 to 20 years?’, ‘what if it’s recyclable?’ we need to be even more unapologetic in our mission for diversity than we have ever been before.”

Why mindset, work culture and collaboration are key to fostering intrapreneurship  

Across the world, there has been a mass exodus of professionals from the job market, leading to skill shortages in a variety of industries. Employers need to recognise this shift and provide a work environment aligned with an intrapreneur's mindset. 

“People are going to follow their heart, working for organisations that give them the ability to be flexible, adaptable, empowered, and feel passionate about who they're working for,” explains Phillip Bradley. “This fundamental change will see workplace culture become key for organisations attracting talent moving forward.”

Some of the key elements companies will need to ingrain in their workplace is a love for the challenge, an abundancy mindset, and mission-led learning where it is okay not to have all the answers. 

Successful organisations moving forward will implement this approach to feed the intrapreneur’s appetite so they can help drive businesses forward. This will be critical, as COVID-19 has shown us that nothing is guaranteed except that everything is a burning platform.

Phillip believes these organisations are future-proofing themselves for the next crisis by championing the intrapreneurs. “Intrapreneurs must be able to collaborate across disciplines. The art of the intrapreneur is to work with the technical or business expert to see their idea come into fruition. Without commercial direction, they will struggle to make an impact.”

Intrapreneurship, paired with diversity and critical connections, will define the next generations of leaders. With a greater emphasis on fostering these skill sets, we will be able to drive impact on a scale we have not seen before and improve the standard of living globally.