

Before implementing new tools and practices, corporate managers generally wonder how they can predict and maximize economic opportunity. The quickest way to take action was to join the action.Īct, reflect, then expect. Rather than being viewed as an unnecessary add-on, the social intervention was seen as an improvement to a recognized communication tool. For example, Cisco remodeled its basic employee directory into a Facebook-like tool, allowing the global workforce to quickly find experts, to staff project teams, and to discover other interests and affiliations. Similarly, the more accomplished corporate social media users we interviewed tended to test social media by linking it to existing processes or initiatives, such as collaboration or workforce integration efforts. Nothing more than a $50 investment was required to buy a URL and shoot the initial video. The company simply reapplied this piece of the engineering process in a way that was interesting and accessible to consumers. For years, Dickson donned safety glasses and tested his powerful blenders by jamming large pieces of wood into them. A select few organizations we interviewed offer a glimpse into how big firms can successfully adopt entrepreneurial practices:īegin pilots with the means you already have. When it comes to social media, large corporations can learn a lot from Dickson’s penchant for experimentation, according to our Babson Executive Education study of 33 corporate social media programs.

Dickson just happens to experiment more conspicuously than most entrepreneurs, using a lab as the setting for his popular social media content. The pervasive use of experimentation - of acting then reflecting, as opposed to analyzing then acting - distinguishes entrepreneurs like Dickson from most corporate managers, according to scholars. It pays off, too: Blendtec has increased sales to consumers and businesses like Starbucks and Jamba Juice by more than 1,000% in four years. The iPad experiment, which has already yielded more than 5 million YouTube views, is yet another example of the Utah blender company’s innovative approach to getting people’s attention. And as the latest video by Blendtec founder Tom Dickson shows, sticking an iPad into a blender creates a fuming gray gunk smoothie. With each new innovation from Apple, millions of global consumers find themselves asking the same question: What would happen if someone put this thing into a super-powerful blender and pressed “On”?
