There’s never been a better time to step back and shift. Our aim is to help businesses develop capability to think differently and act entrepreneurially. We've spent years developing action-orientated programs to help businesses create value, and communities amplify initiatives and mindsets – all underpinned by focusing on taking action.

Every Thursday, whilst my family and I are self-isolating, I’m offering free 30-min consultations for people ready to act. Let’s connect for advice about how your business, institution or community can renew its business model.

With my colleague Dr Tim Rayner, who’s an entrepreneurial educator at UTS – we’ve created a startup approach for existing businesses to adopt. The ideology incorporates eight key levers, providing a framework to create business value by renewing your business model.

Here’s an overview of the first two levers, focused on your talent and the importance of empowering them.

OUR MOST IMPORTANT ASSETS

Talent is important, especially in startups and innovation communities. There are very few processes and teams figure stuff out as they go. This requires agency, initiative, flexibility and readiness to get stuck in and work out the real problem worth solving.

Tim Brown, Co-founder of IDEO Design Consultancy coined the metaphor of T-Shaped people. This is people with a broad range of skills, and expertise in one. Employing someone should be less about the job they’re required to do and more about the impact you’re trying to create. Fundamentally, it comes down to getting the right people on board.

ALLOW PEOPLE TO ACT, SOLVE AND GROW

Learning and Development opportunities for employees should no longer be stand-alone programs that rely on employees returning to work and applying their knowledge. It’s time for them to be held more accountable.

21st Century learning communities invest time and resources in training people in agile, design thinking, and lean start-up.

CLICK TO TWEET

At the heart of these methodologies, we develop an idea, build a pilot, and test its Desirability, Viability and Feasibility. Our growth will be realised as ‘learners’ seek ongoing improvement of the idea. This forms a loop: test, learn, and repeat.

As a respected community, you need to trust your teams, provide oxygen to an idea and let it breathe.

This can be quite challenging. Not all professionals like to admit they don't know how to proceed. Developing a hypothesis, building a pilot, and testing it is tantamount to saying: “I've got no idea what I'm doing.” Therefore, the approach of test, learn, and repeat, is necessary to mitigate risk and to avoid wasting time and resources.

Our model has been tested and refined with companies such as Stockland, News Limited, Hilltops Council, The Executive Connection and Westpac.

Are you ready to take action today? You can book time with me using Calendly.

Thanks for reading. This is the second of a 5 part series on renewing business models. You can find all the content at The Scale Institute. Take care in this unstable period and do what you can to just start!