Page 193 - Free the Idea Monkey

DAVID STRATEGY #3: THE APPROVAL OF THE KING

Nothing maintains momentum like C-level support. Unlike giant

companies, midsize and small companies benefit from the involve-

ment of the CEO. When the CEO spon-

sors an idea, you can bet it is approved “We want the CEO
(in record time). Remember the cycle: on our team.”

try, fail, learn? CEO support allows you

to run this cycle quickly and often.

Most Goliath CEOs talk about inno-

vation, but they simply can’t be involved

with the day-to-day innovation initia-

tives. If you are the CEO, you need to be

involved. If you aren’t the Ultimate Idea Monkey, you need to garner as

much upper-level management support for your new idea as possible.

If you don’t, the odds of nothing happening increase dramatically.

A final thought about strategies 1, 2 and 3: in the Old Testament,

David picks up a stone and with his slingshot, hurls it at Goliath,

toppling an opponent thought to be invincible. There has never been

a better metaphor for innovation.

Hmm..“Those who live by the sword
will be shot by those who don’t.”

– Gary Hamel, Leading the Revolution,
Harvard Business Review Press

HOW TO BE LIKE DAVID
I’ve talked about three strategies you could employ to be more

entrepreneurial. Here, let’s provide three tactics as well.
1. Take a lot of small bites. Big businesses must try to create

big wins because their costs for launching new products are so high.
It is not uncommon for our clients to ask for a $100 million return
from a single launch. Entrepreneurs can hardly fathom the type of
budgets that typically support one of these “mega-projects,” yet they
often manage to bootstrap their way to the kind of results these big
firms are seeking.

178 T H E D A V I D S T R A T E G I E S