Teaching The Big Boys To Think Small
Author: Tim Knox

Last week I told you about a recent report from The Conference
Board that has a lot of big company CEOs concerned about
competition from smaller, more innovative and
entrepreneurially-minded companies. To refresh your memory, The
Conference Board's CEO Challenge 2004 reported that 87% of the
540 global businesses surveyed cited innovation and enabling
entrepreneurship as priorities for their companies, and 31%
considered these issues of "greatest concern."

These CEOs understand that their big company status no longer
guarantees that they will win contracts and retain market share
based solely on their size and track record. They understand
that the greatest threat to their businesses is not coming from
the boardrooms of their largest competitors, but from small
companies born in garages, on kitchen tables, and in tiny,
rented offices.

It's a fact that smaller companies, by need and design, are
more innovative, more flexible, more decisive, and faster to
move than their larger brethren who are entrenched in
operational processes and corporate procedures. Small companies
are typically not led by career executives for whom every
decision must be predicated by hours of meetings and mounds of
documentation. Most small companies are led by their founders;
men and women who were cut from an entrepreneurial cloth that
has yet to fade. It is when a company grows to the point that
the founder steps aside to make way for professional managers
that the company loses its innovative nature and
entrepreneurial flair.

The good news for large companies is that they have definite
advantages over small companies, especially when it comes to
resources and funding. Turning a Goliath into a raging horde of
David's is never easy, but it can be done if the company is
willing to make changes to internal processes and attitudes,
and commit the time, money, and personnel to make it happen.

Since size and number of years in business are no longer
differentiators in the competitive marketplace what must large
companies do to become more innovative and entrepreneurial? To
begin they must do three things: shorten the process time, cut
through the red tape, and promote innovative and
entrepreneurial thinking from the top down. If the board, the
CEO, executives, managers, supervisors, and employees are not
dedicated 100% to making the changes necessary to transform the
company, the effort will fail and the giant will lumber on.

Shorten The Process Time
At large companies everything is done by the book, i.e. by
established processes and procedures. Very little gets done at
large companies without what I call the "Multiples of M."
Multiple Meetings to discuss the issue; Multiple Memos to
reiterate the issue; and Multiple Management approvals required
to sign off on the issue. To become more innovative and
entrepreneurial large companies must streamline the
decision-making process down to a single set of M's: Move on or
Make it happen.

Cut Through The Red Tape
Here's a true example from my corporate days that illustrates
how procedures and red tape get in the way of efficient
operations A fluorescent bulb in my office blew, which made the
other bulb in the fixture flicker like a strobe light at a
discotheque (causing flashbacks that we won't discuss). I
assumed getting a new bulb would be a simple matter of calling
down to the facilities office and reporting the problem. My
assumption was wrong. I was told that I would have to come to
the facilities office, which was in another building 2 miles
away, fill out a facilities request form, and take the form
back to my immediate supervisor, who was required to stick his
head in my office to confirm that the bulb was indeed out
before signing the form. I assume this was to make sure that I
was not trying to commandeer a fluorescent bulb under false
pretenses.

Once my supervisor confirmed that I really did need a new bulb,
he signed the form and I took it back to the facilities office,
foolishly thinking that they would hand me a bulb that I could
take back to my office. Oh no, that would have been too simple.
I was told that once my form was approved by the facilities
manager a maintenance worker would be dispatched to my office
and would replace the bulb for me. Great, I said. When can I
expect that to happen?

"I can have someone over there a week from Tuesday between noon
and 5pm," the man at the facilities desk replied. I suddenly
felt like I was dealing with the cable company. How many big
company employees does it take to change a light bulb? I lost
count at four.

Encourage Innovation and Entrepreneurial Thinking
Next, you must create an environment in which innovation and
entrepreneurial thinking are encouraged and rewarded. If your
employees feel that their opinions, thoughts and ideas don't
matter, they will not submit them to you, but may take them
elsewhere.

Again, based on my own experience, I can tell you that
innovation, especially innovation that occurs below the
management level, is often ignored, ridiculed, and in some
cases, used as an excuse to give employees the boot. The
perfect example of this was when I took an idea on how to
improve an internal system to my manager and was told, "Knox,
you think too much." Now this was a new one on me. I had been
accused of thinking too little and of not thinking at all, but
never had I been accused of thinking too much. I do recall my
dad telling me when I was young, "Son, if you had a brain you'd
be dangerous." I suppose my manager was simply trying to relay
the same message. "Shut up and go to your room/cubicle like a
good little boy/company drone before you get on my nerves and
get spanked/fired." Within a few months I decided to take my
overactive brain and put it to work for myself. After 10 years
of business success, I think I made the right decision.

To promote innovation and entrepreneurship big companies must
encourage everyone to think like innovators and entrepreneurs.
Make it a company policy that such thinking is required,
expected and rewarded. Pose these questions: (1) How can we
improve our current products and services; (2) What new uses
can you think of for current products or services; (3) What new
products and services can you think of that would be good
additions to our current offerings or perhaps even launch a new
line; (4) What new opportunities do you see in the market place
that might be worth pursuing?

Get Outside Help
Most large companies find it difficult to develop and implement
an innovation plan simply because they refuse to devote the time
and resources to getting it done. And since most executives have
never been entrepreneurs, they do not know how to encourage
entrepreneurial thinking among their ranks. If your company
needs help with innovation and entrepreneurship, bring in
someone from the outside to direct and manage the effort for
you.

You should never be embarrassed to ask for help, no matter how
big you are.

Here's to your success!


About The Author: Tim Knox Entrepreneur, Author, Speaker
http://www.prosperityandprofit.com
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