"Transformation? WIFM -- what's in it for me???"

What's it like to work in a business-within-a-business organization? Let's take a look....

Many Jobs are a Drag

In some jobs, people toil day after day. And as hard as they work, they go home feeling that they haven't done enough. It seems so much more is expected of them than they have time to deliver. And despite all that hard work, they're never really sure they've done any real good in the world.

Others feel differently (but not necessarily better). They're on a mission, one they believe in. But it feels like the rest of the company is resisting, or even fighting, their great ideas -- or at best, just ignoring them. These folks go home each day frustrated that they can't implement their vision and save the world.

Neither of these jobs is fun -- or productive, for that matter.

And these organizations find it difficult to attract, inspire, and retain top talent.

What's the Alternative?

Consider a different kind of organization, where work is fun and worthwhile....

Think of your little group as a business within a business.

Your group is not defined by competencies, roles in processes, or responsibilities for tasks. It's defined by what it "sells" as an internal business.

Your job is to produce products and services for customers -- people elsewhere in your department, or throughout your company, or even outside the company.

As a business within a business, your job is to produce products and services for customers -- people in your department, your company, or even outside.

You have a catalog of products and services, each entry defined by what your customers get (not what you do to make it). You're not asked to do tasks. Your customers buy results.

(I use the word "buy" to describe the customer-supplier relationship, not that you actually charge for your services.)

Your Budget (Including Your Time)

Speaking of money, you are not given a budget to pay your costs -- any more than we go to the grocery store and given them money for their rent, electricity, and check-out clerk. It's not like the old days where you're given a fixed budget, and your customers demand everything they can dream of, all for free.

Instead, your budget is the enterprise's way to pay for your products and services. It's revenues. Actually, it's "pre-paid revenues" in accounting-speak -- money put on deposit with you to buy your products and services in the year ahead.

Your budget is "pre-paid revenues" -- money put on deposit with you to buy your products and services in the year ahead.

It's like a bank account that your customers use to buy things from you.

Here's the key: Your customers only get what they can afford -- they can only spend on you what's in their bank account (which came from your budget). If they want more, they'll have to give you more money (which you can use to expand your business with contractors and vendors). Thus, demand equals supply; your commitments to customers are covered by your budget.

By the way, when you planned your budget and promised a certain list of deliverables for a given amount of money, you have implicitly set your rates. In your calculations, you set aside time and money for sustenance costs (which customers don't buy, or decide), such as planning, process improvements, training, and innovation. This way, you have time to keep your business running, competitive, and growing.

Accountabilities and Authorities

As an entrepreneur, you are accountable for every aspect of your business. Obviously, you're accountable for delivering the (funded) products and services that your customers have chosen to buy.

You're also accountable for running a good business -- competitive rates; quality; offering the right products and services; delivering a great customer experience; and innovation in your products and services, and in your methods and tools.

You are empowered to run your business your way.

However, with those accountabilities come authorities. Before you agree to deliver a product or service, you have to be given any needed decision rights, information, and resources (including your own time, by way of that bank account which came from your budget).

And more broadly, you're empowered to run your business your way.

Good for the Company

What's in it for the company is clear:

• Entrepreneurs build great partnerships with their customers. They proactively contribute to customers' success. That's how they generate business.

• Entrepreneurs offer a comprehensive, up-to-date catalog of products and services. This allows them to respond flexibly to their customers' needs (not a solution in search of a problem).

• Entrepreneurs offer the best deal in town. They may not be the cheapest source; but for a given level of quality, they offer the best value. To stay competitive, they manage their costs well, since frugality is in their interests.

• Customers control what they buy. This ensures that deliverables are aligned with business needs (both operational imperatives and business strategies).

• Entrepreneurs are willing to tailor solutions to customers' needs (not "one size fits all") to optimize value. If customers deem customization worth the additional costs (and can afford it), entrepreneurs are happy to deliver it. And they do so within enterprise standards and with the maximum in reuse of prior work, to make customization more affordable.

• Entrepreneurs meet every commitment. In part, this is because they don't make commitments that aren't funded by their budgets (or incremental revenues). It's also because their reputation is important to them. It's their name on the door.

• Entrepreneurs look after the safety of the enterprise's assets (including information) and people. In many cases, those are their own assets. But even when they deliver assets to customers, they design safety in, because their reputation is at stake. Again, it's their name on the door.

• Entrepreneurs continually innovate in ways that both improve their work and position them to deliver tomorrow's opportunities.

That's what's in it for the company. But what's in it for you, the employee?

What's In It for Me?

Why is a business-within-a-business organization a great place to work?

There are many reasons. Five stand out:

• Empowerment: The word "empowerment" means that authorities and accountabilities match. You have all the authorities that you need to win at your job.

  Empowerment: authorities and accountabilities match.

  Your accountabilities are clear, not vague and open-ended. You know exactly what you've agreed to sell to your customers. And you don't agree to sell things that aren't funded, or that you can't deliver.

  You are not a dumping ground for an endless list of tasks. You are not a helpless victim. You're in control of your business.

• Reasonable expectations: One manifestation of empowerment is inherent in the way budgets are managed.

  When budgets are treated as pre-paid revenues, customers have that limited bank account (from your budget) with which to buy your products and services. And they can't honestly expect (or demand) more than they can afford.

  Thus, your commitments (and reasonable customers' expectations) are limited to your resources.

• Teamwork: Cross-boundary teams form dynamically whenever one entrepreneur "buys" help from another. It's like the general contractor who built your house; they subcontracted to an electrician, plumber, etc. -- just what they needed to get that particular job done.

  Cross-boundary teams form dynamically whenever one entrepreneur "buys" help from another.

  Teamwork works great because accountabilities are clear. There's a "prime contractor" who sells the entire project; and each subcontractor is accountable for specific sub-deliverables (products and services in their respective catalogs).

  Sure, there's team spirit; team members do all they can to help one another. But clear individual accountabilities within teams minimize confusion, contention for control, finger-pointing, and stress. Internal customer-supplier relationships make teamwork highly effective.

  This makes it fun to work with people throughout the enterprise.

• Adventure: Running a business is a grand adventure.

  You have the challenge of growing "market share" (earning business away from decentralization and outsourcing -- your competitors) by building great relationships with, and delivering great value to, your customers.

  You have the challenge of building awareness of the value to your customers' businesses of your products and services (marketing), which might grow your business in the future (more budget).

  And you can initiate new adventures, like introducing new products and services that add value to the enterprise in new ways.

  All the while, you're learning how to run a business. You have so many professional growth opportunities.

• Purpose: Perhaps of most importance, you have a sense of purpose.

  "Purpose" means using your unique talents to do something hard (that you'll be proud of) and that has value to others.

  "Purpose" means using your unique talents to do something hard (that you'll be proud of) and that has value to others.

  It's not just about the mission of the enteprise as a whole (which can seem distant from your day-to-day work). Your little business within a business has a purpose. You deliver real value in the form of needed products and services to people you know -- your customers throughout the enterprise.

  This is what makes it worthwhile to go to work each day. And this allows you to look back on each week and know that you did some good in the world.

How to Think Like an Entrepreneur

Even if the rest of the company doesn't think this way, and even if the organization chart isn't designed this way, you can behave as an internal entrepreneur.

To learn to think and act as a business within a business, consider four key questions:

1. What are my products and services (my catalog)? These are specific things that customers will own or consume as a result of your work.

2. Who are my customers? Hint: It's not your boss.

3. Who are my suppliers? What do you need from other groups around the enterprise?

4. Who are my competitors? How can you be better than decentralization and outsourcing?

I'm confident that as you move down this path, your job will feel more and more fun and worthwhile.

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