David Gram: Becoming Diplomatic Rebel

David Gram:

BECOMING A DIPLOMATIC REBEL

Entrepreneurs often face an uphill battle. It’s difficult enough to come up with a product, service, or system that’s innovative, useful, and effective. When you add in hours of solo work and trying to gain funding, it’s no wonder entrepreneurs seem stressed.

That’s where intrapreneurs have it easy, right? They are already employed within an established company, with resources and budgeting. Well, that notion is incorrect. Intrapraneurs don’t walk a path of leisure. Deriving new thinking and strategies within a business is notoriously difficult, and it’s especially difficult to be an intrapreneur within a legacy company. The bigger and older the organization, the more difficult the task. That being said, change is constant, and businesses have to adapt. The result? Intrapreneurs are becoming more important.

David Gram worked as an intrapreneur within companies for 15 years, including LEGO, before starting his own company,

Diplomatic Rebels. Growing up with two artist parents, Gram had always been drawn to creativity. His career started as a semi-pro drummer before he ventured into the realm of music management. There, he found he was really good at management and began to realize there needed to be a balance between the creative and business mind, which the skill intrapreneurs often excel with.

…On Being an Intrapreneur at LEGO

Although ‘Intrapreneur in Residence’ isn’t Gram’s official title, it is a good representation of what he does at LEGO. By working at LEGO as his own company, he isn’t forced to follow the organization hierarchy. Instead, he has the opportunity to follow the project. He is able to work to solve the big challenges, build the structure or procedure, ensure the challenge is solved, and move on to the next project.

And more and more businesses are pulling in intrapreneurs for these types of positions. Similar to freelance contractors, these interim intrapreneurs are able to move freely and strategically within a company, solving problems and driving radical

innovation within an organization without having to worry about the otherwise mundane tasks of the org’s employees and managers. There’s no question that there’s an influx of employees operating with an intrapreneurial mindset, and when businesses employ this forward way of thinking, it appeals to those intrapreneurial individuals. They care more about the project and less about their position. They’re less interested in managing than they are in problem solving.

This is why employees like Gram

thrive in free positions like resident intrapreneurs. At LEGO, he is able to engage in digital transformation, launching pilot programs, and propelling a legacy company forward. He explained his role as questioning “How do you merge digital and play in a way that doesn’t compromise the creativity

of the child?”

…On Being a Diplomatic Rebel

Questioning how to transform and add value to a company/system

without compromising the integrity is the job of an intrapreneur. However, creativity and project management can be difficult to balance, especially within a legacy company that is set in its ways.

This is why Gram started Diplomatic Rebels, to teach intrapreneurs the skills required to work within an established company. The key, according to gram is to be both a rebel, who can challenge the system and ask why, and a diplomat, who can be strategic and business minded enough to get the corporation on board.

Implementing new techniques, systems, products, etc. without getting locked into the system you’re trying to change is the challenge intrapreneurs will face. And according to Gram, there aren’t many people who can naturally be a diplomat and a rebel at the same time.

From his experience, Gram derived five habits needed to serve as a diplomatic rebel: 1. Accept resistance: “There will be resistance,” says Gram, “It’s human nature.” If you understand that, you won’t burn out as easily.

2. Understand the rules you’re breaking and why they were

there: Why is the company built the way it is? Why do people behave the way they do? What are the rules, and why are they there?

Your job as an intrapreneur is not to disrupt the existing organization, it’s to improve it. By understanding why the current rules are in place, you are better able to assess the ways to alter and improve upon them in a way that doesn’t undermine the mission of the company.

3. Build a tribe: Intrapreneurs shouldn’t be confused with

introverts. Well, they could be introverts. But one of the keys, according to Gram, of successful change is building a tribe, a group of like-minded individuals. He explained, “this is less about the project and more about making a movement.”

Find others within the institution that have skill sets and attitudes necessary to complete the project

and include them in your process.

4. Write love letters, literally:

Gram explained that entrepreneurs tend to be a little arrogant, in a

good way. Their work is impressive. But intrapreneurs should remember to be humble and kind and cultivate humility. Aside from having the resources of a large company, intrapreneurs are in the same position as entrepreneurs, says Gram; they’re building from scratch. And to do that, they must get people on board.

He suggests, literally, writing love letters: “Reach out to those people and ask them to help you, knowing you’re standing on the shoulder of giants to look into the future.”

5. Make others shine along the

way: Like resistance, it’s human nature to want to save successes for ourselves, meaning taking credit for our wins. And this is

something you definitely should do! However, it’s important to give credit to other when credit is due. Gram says that in his experience, it drives morale and excitement.

At LEGO, he explained working on a small project, Life of George, a quirky little game that involved building something and being scored on accuracy. “A lot of people helped,” he said, “So toward the end, we created golden bricks (within the game) and gave them in boxes to people who’d done a lot. They received a little statuette, and people were happy and excited. Remembering who helped and celebrating them is powerful when trying to change behavior.”

To find out more about

‘Diplomatic Rebels’ visit

diplomaticrebels.com

Intrapreneurship is the TOP workplace skill for 2020! There is a growing demand for intrapreneurs in the workforce – even BEFORE the massive disruption facing the world of work right now due to COVID-19.

Why are intrapreneurs in such demand? Because they are those valuable employees who will help businesses and organisations to be ADAPTABLE and future-ready.

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