A few years ago, I was working with a large manufacturer of consumer goods. It was one of the most enjoyable experiences I have had working on an innovation project. There was far less organizational resistance, and the innovation teams seemed to always get the resources and time they asked for.
Upon reflection, I realised that the leader we were working with to drive this program was not your typical intrapreneur. While he understood the importance of innovation, he was not an expert at the innovation process at all.
Instead, he had been in the organization a long time and had developed a strong network of relationships. He was an ambassador. Something that innovators need more than they think.
Creation Versus Adoption
When you are trying to create something new inside a large organization, it is easy to believe that the quality of the idea is what matters most. But creating a great idea and getting that idea adopted are two very different challenges.
Creating something new requires you to be independent, contrarian and willing to challenge how the organization works. But getting that same idea adopted requires something different. You need trust, legitimacy, relationships and access to resources. You need people willing to take your calls, open doors, make introductions and advocate for your idea when you are not in the room.
In other words, getting new ideas adopted requires social capital.
The Ambassador
This is where ambassadors become incredibly important. This is the leader who understands innovation and believes in what you are trying to achieve. But they also have significant social capital inside the organization.
Social Capital refers to the resources that sit inside human relationships. These can be trust, reciprocity, access and influence. These resources are important for innovation or organizational change because they make coordinated action possible.
Leaders with social capital know who needs to be involved, whose concerns matter and how to navigate the organization without triggering its immune system. Social capital matters because organizations don’t operate purely through formal structures and processes. They also operate through networks of trust.
Borrow Social Capita
l
An ambassador allows you to borrow social capital while you build your own.
-
If your team needs funding for an experiment. Your ambassador knows the executive who controls the budget.
-
If you need access to a certain business unit. Your ambassador has worked with its leader for ten years.
-
If senior leaders are skeptical about your initiative. Your ambassador has enough credibility to ask people to give your idea a chance.
This is why ambassadors matter. They are bridges between your new idea and the existing organization. They understand enough about the organization to help you bring your innovation to life.
Over time, you have to build your own social capital. Every successful project increases your credibility. Eventually, you should be able to open some of those doors yourself. So don’t treat organizational relationships as part of a bureaucracy you need to overcome. Those relationships are very important resources for innovation success.
_________________
If you have a transformation initiative you are working on, we can help you to create the social capital you need to get your ideas adopted. Join my masterclass to learn and apply practical tools to create the gravity that attracts people to willingly support and actively participate in change.
