Lorelei, it is key to use examples to prove the point. I can see this is as a fundamental part of how to generate change inside an organization.
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Mid-level clay layer! So true @MaggieDP . In my opinion, middle managers simply doing their jobsâŚexecuting on their annual objectives, enforcing corporate policy etc is a huge challenge for intrapreneurs. Itâs what theyâre trained to do, told to do and trained to do. When this happens, having an early escalation route to senior leadership or to a Godparent is really critical for survival
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YSB does great work!
Conicidentally, Lorelei, am talking to Saskia right after this session! 
This is something that probably @lydiahascott can talk more elocuently than me about but, collaboration or co-creation?. I am very happy to hear other panelistsâ thoughts on this, but the experience from Barclays is that it is necessary to have a co-creative approach to developing new products, one that allows all stakeholders within the business to input into de design process. And by the way, just as much as you need to bring the business into it, you also need to involve the beneficiaries of the product from the beginning. The people and communities must be involved from the beginning to ensure the success of the product.
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Daniel would love to chat on this! Itâs exactly what iâm looking at now - how to report more holistically and help build a solid business case of proving worth
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Innovation is easier to do when it is close to the core business model for the simple reason that business cases and relevant resources are readily available. Challenges such as understanding the size of the prize (business and impact case) and developing the business model, which may be different from the core business, increase with distance from the core and level of market disruption (uncertainty). When the business model is completely new there is often no way to understand the opportunity for scale except through partnerships with companies in adjacent sectors, which adds an additional level of complexity and risk.
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So pleased to see that Yunus Social Business is pivoting towards intrapreneurship from pure entrepreneurship.
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Employees simply do not have enough time, their KPIs donât take into account social innovation and their front line managers need them focused on their âday job.â
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Not just collaboration externally but internally as well. Too often teams/departments tasked with social innovation or delivering social impact through the company are siloed into CSR departments or corporate foundations. The key is moving it into core business functions, especially R&D, new product development, etc. where companies budget millions/billions on identifying and testing new ideas and products.
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Itâs this âdoing their jobsâ feeling that has been killing me and couldnât agree more on the âclay layerâ. Iâve kicked off a reverse mentorship scheme with C-Suite on driving social impact and cultural shift required. First thing that has come up is how to break this notion amongst mid-management
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This came out clearly in our meeting with the EC this week. There is no institutional framework or common language for social Intrapreneurship and social innovation. Itâs very ad hoc how where this stuff sits which can be good and bad. When you are a profit drag on the biz unit then teams can come to resent your work. One idea was to situate you within relevant biz eg generics medicine but then have investment come from LT pots like innovation funds.
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Do you think @clive.allison that businesses in general are far more comfortable with safe, channelled innovation in line with a pre-defined strategy than they are with disruption? For me, itâs the latter than can sometimes yield the real out of the box step change thinking
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Thatâs a really good point @deborahkap ⌠part of the challenge is reframing what social innovation is all about. Still seen as volunteering by another cooler name 
BUT, when you look at it through lens of professional development, then it starts to change perception and behaviour. So much down to âwhyâ and âhowâ of employee roleâŚ
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Exactly my point. How do we empower them to empower others? They are a reflection of incentives in the system and biz as usual mindsets.
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Yes CSR in the traditional sense is extinct. It is gone. No longer is this a team sitting in an ivory tower somewhere churning out projects. Itâs imperative we bring this into the day to day for everyoneâs role and responsibility. They have to feel part of the solution. Reality is spending everyday banging your head against a brick wall as thereâs a realisation that they can just ignore social innovation / impact AND still get promoted / max out bonus
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Too many sustainability/social impact organizations focus on engaging C-suite/leadership. This, of course, has value and logic as you need the high-level buy in to push change through. However, I think itâs a misconception that middle management is blocking real impact when at the end of the day, the mid-layer objectives, goals and directives are set at the top and they lack the negotiating power to be able to dismiss their key KPIs for which their performance (and potentially future at the company) is based. When thereâs a problem in the middle, you have to look one rung above for the solution.
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I am curious to see how you evaluate them yes!
I was thinking that I had a great conversation with the VP of Banco Itau in Brazil, that has driven the social innovation and sustainability agenda for the last 10 years,
and she said that for the initiatives that are not clearly for profit + social impact she used a lot of risk management and opportunity cost language to approve large investments
i know it is a pain to have to go back always to numbers, but I think for those of us that want to change the system from within, we will need to make this translations
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I feel your pain @hamzahsarwar. Reverse mentoring I think is a brilliant idea and so needed. Iâve long believed that (with a few notable exceptions) knowledge and affinity to this agenda is almost inversely proportionate to seniority!
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We have a model by which if a request for funding for a social innovation comes to us (outside of the discovery funding that I mention earlier), we request co-investment from the business unit that the proposition would be relevant to. This doesnt mean that the business unit needs to contribute with $$$, it can also be freeing employeesâ time for example. That way incentives are alligned and we typically see this works
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Fully agree. Itâs about embracing innovative mindsets. Generationally, those at the mid-layer are more aligned to the mindsets to embrace social impact than those at the top. So most of the time, itâs not about getting them on board. Itâs about giving them the space, freedom and license to act within an environment that sees failure as learning and isnât afraid to self-disrupt.
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