Hire the pirates
Hiring the right people is more important than money and technology in promoting innovation within a business. This was the message that came across at the first Practical Innovation event, held at Säid Business School.
Drawing on his experience as co-founder of Bybox, guest speaker Stuart Miller, explained how overfunding in a start-up can be “a dangerous disease”.
“If you have lots of money the tendency is to employ very well educated, professional, corporate people. When you don’t have much money, you have to recruit people who I describe as pirates or rebels.”
So what makes a pirate and how do you spot one? Stuart describes pirates as people who are often insecure, perhaps with a chip on their shoulder, but most importantly they are out to prove something. They are not afraid to bend, break and re-write the rules.
Reflecting on the success of Bybox, Stuart believes that lack of funding has forced the business to innovate to solve problems that people will pay for.
“Constraints are often the cornerstones of creativity. When you have a lot of money you can almost be seduced into thinking you are right, whereas when you are underfunded you can’t afford to be wrong.”
The event, sponsored by Oxfordshire Business First and Bicester Vision, is part of a series of workshops where guest speakers share their real-life experiences of making innovation work across a variety of organisations.
The next session, ‘How to be innovative’, will be held at Unipart House in Cowley on 15 March. Speaking at the event will be Frank Nigriello, Chairman of Oxfordshire Business First and Director of Corporate Affairs at Unipart and Placi O’Neill, Partnership Manager at Bicester Vision.
Attendance is free of charge but attendees must pre-register by booking through the Oxfordshire Business First website http://www.obfirst.org.uk/events or contacting Denise Moffatt at denise_moffatt@unipart.co.uk or on 01865 384232.
Posted by admin on March 2, 2012 | Comments Off