SMEs - "thinking out of the box"

I made it clear what I thought of this phrase in my last blog entry. I was recently honoured to be invited to speak to the Rhodes U students as a guest speaker at their TED-X.

The link below will take you to a video which is my speech on this topic. You need about 14 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpA36U8V_hk

Innovation - the sources

Innovation is one topic that can quickly drive my blood pressure up. The moment you talk about innovation, the first response is "Yes, you have to think out of the box". While I understand the origin of this statement, it is in my mind one of the used and abused "management thingys" I have ever come across. I have seen too many fools trying to stimulate people to think out of the box, with a very negative and very useless outcome.

Innovation is something which requires a different approach. I am a strong believer in reading. I believe we should read broadly and across industries. Read about things you do not know. Read about other ideas and solutions to other problems. Talk to other people. Visit other businesses and listen to their staff talking about their problems and solutions. Solutions often transfer across industry sectors. Debate and discuss with different people.

The opportunities that are innovation dependent need you to change how you think, so by continuing to do the same old thing, the same old way, with the same old people is not the way to go. We need to change all this.  Chambers of Commerce & Industries used to be sources of innovation. You had a large executive committee comprised of a large number of people from many sectors. They chatted, debated argued, contributed, from so many perspectives, and in the process developed new solutions.

When last did you meet with business peers from other industries? When last did you buy a magazine from another sector?  

Corporate entrepreneurship and the Intrapreneurship degree

Corporate entrepreneurship or intrapreneurship in South Africa is a topic I find interesting. There are undoubtedly some extremely entrepreneurial corporates in South Africa. The question which is worthy of some research, is how far down does this entrepreneurial activity go, or is it the prerogative of senior management only. I lectured intrapreneurship to 2nd year students in 2011 and have to say that the students' perceptions scared me. They believe that a degree with an intrapreneurship major is going to allow them to open the door to the safe on appointment at a large company, and that they will then be able to operate their businesses within the business. They have been set up to fail in my opinion. Junior staff seldom get budgets for their ideas. They are lucky if they ever get budgets. I believe that it is time that someone did some research on intrapreneurship in South African businesses, and produced a textbook that explained the truth of the topic, and destroyed the urban legends of intrapreneurship that exist in South Africa.Too many students are in for a nasty surprise i believe, and will have wasted 3 years getting a degree that will never meet their expectations.