ABOUT THE BOOK

Perhaps the most under-utilized assets in most companies are the ideas in their employees’ heads

Our book helps you learn three key things:

  1. How to tap into your employees' passion to drive growth
  2. A useful model for assessment: See how different innovation programs provide varied levels of effectiveness
  3. How to use our “recipe book” for going from 0 to 100 (from no innovation program to a cohesive program that effectively drives growth)

Now there are many books that have been written on how to develop an innovation culture, but our book is unique. We provide hands-on practical tools for implementing systemic change. Our Intrapreneurship Empowerment Model describes the components of an effective and sustainable internal innovation program. 

About the AuTHORS

Hugh Molotsi

In his 22 years at Intuit, Hugh was both a serial innovator and innovation leader. He personally helped lead the formation of numerous new businesses as a front line employee and later coached and assisted other intrapreneurs in his role as innovation leader. He experienced the many challenges and setbacks in Intuit's efforts to cultivate a culture of innovation. He also experienced the rewards of these efforts through higher employee engagement and revenue growth. These experiences inform this book's prescription for developing effective grassroots innovation programmes in the enterprise. In 2011, he was awarded Intuit’s first Founders Innovation Award.

MJUMO MZYECE

Mjumo is Associate Professor of Technology& Operations Management at the Wits Business School (WBS) in Johannesburg, South Africa. He has over 20 years’ international experience in academia, industry and the public sector. Prior to WBS, he led the Smart Industries (ICT and Advanced Manufacturing) unit at The Innovation Hub, the innovation agency of the Provincial Government of Gauteng, South Africa’s economic engine. He has also played various Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) roles in highly innovative global firms, including IBM in the United States, Econet Wireless International in South Africa, and Agilent Technologies in the United Kingdom.

Ogundiran Soumonni

Diran is a full-time academic at the Wits Business School (WBS) in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he directs the Master of Management in Innovation Studies programme. His teaching and research interests include comparative innovation systems, technopreneurship, energy innovation, nanotechnology innovation, and philosophical paradigms in scientific research. Prior to his vocation in academia, he worked as a materials engineer in the research commercialisation of energy-efficient display and lighting technologies. He serves on the scientific committees of the African Network for the Economics of Learning, Innovation and Competence Building Systems (AFRICALICS), and of the International Network on Appropriate Technology (INAT).

Jeff ZIAS

As Intuit's Grassroots Innovation leader, Jeff has been able to spend years focusing on his true passion – helping other employees boldly innovate in ways that improve customers’ lives. Along with a small team of other passionate Intuit change-drivers, he's been at the centre of rolling out 10% Unstructured Time, Design Thinking, Idea Jams, Lean Experimentation, internal-incubation and ‘Customer Benefits-focus’ across the company. The cultural shift at Intuit has been large, successful, and eye-opening. The bumps, bruises and scars picked up along the way comprise useful information he enjoys sharing with other corporate innovation enthusiasts.

The intrapreneurship Empowerment model

Imagine a workplace where every employee feels they can do the best work of their lives. They are encouraged to autonomously develop insights as they work with customers and products. Those insights lead to ideas which they share with their fellow employees, with corporate partners, and even customers, refining and improving them along the way.

Each employee can choose which idea they are passionate about and join teams to quickly develop Minimum Viable Products for in-market experimentation. After several iterations, certain teams have customer validated data proving their products have merit and will help drive company growth. With self-evident data in hand, each team pitches their products to senior leaders who enthusiastically bless them for formal funding.

Such a workplace is not some imaginary utopia. We’ve observed many aspects of this vision in several innovative companies that empower frontline employees. With the Intrapreneurship Empowerment Model, we are providing you a framework to bring these best practices to your company.

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