What exactly is an intrapreneur? As my friends know, it takes little to animate my inner language geek. So when this question comes up, I almost automatically lapse into the history of the word —which, while usually entertaining, can sometimes stray well away from the actual definition. In this case, though the etymology is actually illuminating.
Enterprise
Quite simply, the word intrapreneur comes from the merging of the prefix “intra” meaning within, with the word entrepreneur. Hence an intrapreneur is simply someone who behaves like an entrepreneur while within a corporation. The word entrepreneur, on the other hand, has its roots in the French “entreprende”, meaning undertake, and the English word “enterprise.” The English word enterprise is itself rooted in the French word “entreprendre”, being borrowed from the French “entrepris”, a past participle of the word “entreprendre.”
Dictionary.com defines enterprise as: (a) a project or undertaking, especially one that requires boldness or effort; (b) participation in such projects; or (C) readiness to embark on new ventures; boldness and energy. Similarly, the online etymology dictionary defines the noun enterprise two ways: first, as an undertaking and second, in the abstract, as a sense of “adventurous disposition, readiness to undertake challenges, or spirit of sharing,” and traces this latter use of the word to the 15th century.
The modern usage of the word entrepreneur clearly emanates from both definitions of the word enterprise. Google defines entrepreneur as “a person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on greater than normal financial risks in order to do so.” Webster’s simple definition of “entrepreneur” reads: “a person who starts a business and is willing to risk loss in order to make money.” Simply put, an entrepreneur is one who founds and runs an enterprise, taking on the risks necessary to do so.
Entrepreneur
Actual use of the word entrepreneur in the modern context can be traced to the 1700’s. Jibran Malek of MassChallenge credits Richard Cantillon with the first traceable use of the word as “non-fixed income earners who pay unknown costs of production to earn uncertain incomes.” This definition embeds risk-taking in the definition of entrepreneur. Malek credits Joseph Schumpeter with the linking of entrepreneurs with driving “change and progress.” Malek explains that it was Schumpeter who “championed the idea that “innovation and change in a nation only come from entrepreneurs.
All of this brings us to modern meanings of the word entrepreneur and explains why entrepreneurship is seen as critical to national and even regional economies. Entrepreneurship is widely seen as the engine of economic growth.
More specifically, entrepreneurship that is founded on innovation, is seen as the primary engine for economic growth.
This whole nation of driving change and progress links back to why the idea of creating “entrepreneurs” within corporations is seen as increasingly important. More and more, innovation is driving not only business growth but also the foundation for survival in an increasingly competitive and fast-moving business environment. What many managers and researchers have realized is that the early foundation of modern management, and most large enterprise management especially in the traditional economy, is about creating discipline and order. In short, most of what happens within large corporations is about creating predictability.
Being able to continuously create successful business innovation requires something extra. It requires entrepreneurship. This is the lesson we see again and again in high growth industries.
Intrapreneur
By contrast, the word intrapreneur is a much younger word. In fact, Dictionary.com traces the earliest use to the late 1970’s.
Wiktionary defines intrapreneur as “a person employed to work independently within a company in order to introduce innovation and to revitalize and diversify its business.” Webster’s simple definition is “a corporate executive who develops new enterprises within the corporation.” Dictionary.com defines as an intrapreneur as “an employee of a large corporation who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services, systems, etc. and does have to follow the corporation’s usual routines or protocols.”
These definitions make it clear that intrapreneurs, like entrepreneurs, are expected to create something new.
Intrapreneurs, like entrepreneurs, subject their creations to the three key tests of a successful new enterprise (or project or product line, or method): (a) that it is technically viable (It can be done in the desired scale); (b) that it is market viable (It can be done in the scale and at the cost that helps the company be market competitive); and (c) that it is economically viable (it helps the company turn a profit, protect revenues, or save money).
Finally, intrapreneurs, like entrepreneurs must be willing to take risks and forge new paths. To this end, many companies provide intrapreneurs with more “wiggle room” to pursue their goals.
And that, in fact, is what I like to say to both entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs. Three words lie at the heart of entrepreneuring: inspiration, discipline, courage.
The ability to continuously find inspiration for new ideas is what keeps an entrepreneur (and intrapreneur) fresh. It is what allows him to keep finding new alternatives for creating a better future. Discipline allows the entrepreneur and intrapreneur to husband his resources so that the portfolio of risk-taking creates success. And, finally courage (entrepreneurs call this passion). Courage is what helps entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs take that first step, and all of the succeeding steps forward.
The heart of intrapreneuring, like entrepreneuring, is not about taking risk for risk’s sake, it is about having the courage to take risks because of the vision that they see. That is where the courage comes from. The risks that they take are not risks that they create – that would be just foolish. The risks they take are a function of the reality that every new thing entails unknowns. That is where the risks come from.
The humbling reality is that sometimes, courage trumps discipline. Some ideas are so big, so new, that much of the data does not exist. There is nothing to analyze. Courage is what it takes to even begin.
This month, as we push into a post-Brexit world, with a new president whose style is radically different from anything we have ever had, that is something worth thinking about.
Readers can email Maya at integrations_manila@yahoo.com. Or visit her site at http://integrations.tumblr.com.