Innovation in the Personal Enterprise

Chicago’s Western Suburbs have long been a hub of technological innovation, after all we have two of the largest national laboratories right here in our backyard! So when XNet Information Systems saw the opportunity to host a TEDx event that would showcase some of the incredible minds at work in the area we leapt at the chance.

Organizing this even has been a great opportunity, not only to rediscover places like Argonne and FermiLab, but also to meet with some new faces and develop deeper relationships with some acquaintances who, it turns out, are stellar innovators in their own right!

Cross Fertilization & Joint Partnerships

Entrepreneurship & innovation go hand in hand. Silicon Valley was founded through joint
partnerships between government agencies and Stanford University to push innovation in
the electronic communications field during World War II and very little has changed since
Stanford set up their entrepreneurship model. New companies spring up daily from the
fertile field of graduate students coming out of institutions like Harvard, Stanford, and
Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business.

Robert Wolcott and Michael J. Lippitz’ studies of corporate entrepreneurship provide an
interesting look at the classic structure developed by Stanford for large organizations
to promote innovation through entrepreneurial divisions and subsidiaries. Their updated
review provides a clear picture of how large, centralized organizations can still utilize
the maneuverability of entrepreneurship to spur innovation despite the tendency towards
stagnation frequently encountered in the hierarchical management models and cut/paste
best practices common to most large companies.

Back to Their Roots

Even government organizations like NASA are returning to their entrepreneurial roots and
discussing how to use the private sector to create more efficient innovation in the realm
of space exploration. We often forget that stalwarts like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory
at CalTech were originally organized using as many ‘hobbyists’ as certified academic
scientists. Since advanced communications allow for greater leverage of entrepreneurial
growth in innovation, and allow organizations and individuals to collaborate in ways that
were impossible before, there is much to be said for this shift in focus back to the
private sector.

Models such as those described by Wolcott, Mohanbir Sawhney, and Inigo Arroniz’ in their
‘12 Different Ways for Companies to Innovate‘ in the MIT Sloan Management Review are
helpful tools for aging organizations looking to capitalize on these trends. It’s
interesting to observe the struggle these organizations are having as communication
technology supports more decentralized models and make it difficult for the often
unwieldy corporate behemoths to move forward in this environment.

The Discussion Continues

We’re very excited to have Robert join us as a speaker at TEDxNaperville. He has found that the techniques for innovation at the enterprise level can be applied to personal goals as well. It’s a perfect circle that mirrors the return of larger organizations to their entrepreneurial roots and we’re looking forward to discussing the future of entrepreneurship & innovation with him.

As a co-founder of the Kellogg Innovation Network in 2003 with colleague Mohan Sawheny, and with his work at the Pentagon’s Institute for Defense Analysis, he represents a long tradition of collaboration between academia, government and corporations. These collaborative efforts form the basis for the advancements that mark the 21st century and will surely continue to lead us into the future.