Innovation Killers: The Corporate Immune System Strikes Back!

Copyright by Stephan Klaschka 2010-2025

Feb 25, 2025

Parallel Universes

Our body’s immune system protects our health and defends us against threats entering our body. It identifies intruding germs, isolates them from the surroundings, and flushes them out of the system to prevent further harm. Our immune system also keeps track of intruders formerly identified to reject them even more effectively should they ever reappear.

Large organizations consist of humans who tend to follow behavioral patterns that are not unlike their inner immune systems when it comes to evaluating new ideas brought forward by an aspiring intrapreneur. Especially, if a new idea comes with a ‘wishlist’ of demands to make it happen: typically, time and money.

Preserving the Equilibrium

It’s in our human nature to approve ideas we like or that further our objectives while we tend to reject ideas that don’t match our likings, beliefs, commitments, or that cause disruption to our equilibrium or budget. Disruptive ideas come with uncertainty and may require uncomfortable or additional efforts on our side. The outcome may appear risky, could waste precious resources, or have other undesirable repercussions for us.

The fear of losing something is generally stronger than the incentive of gain. Often enough, we just don’t fully understand the idea or its implications, and don’t take the time or muster the impetus to look into its details - so it seems safer and more convenient to rightout reject it.

Joining the Dark Side

This way, as managers and coworkers, we act as a part of the organizational immune system. We become part of the reasons why mature organizations can’t innovate – we join the ‘dark side,’ so to speak.

Like our body remembers a previous intruder to respond even faster the next time – and so do we. Interestingly, though, we tend to remember better who presented the idea that we rejected rather than what the idea was about. So when the ‘quirky guy’ shows up again after a while with the next idea, our suspicion is already kindled, and we more easily reject this next idea too.

Facing Defeat

For intrapreneurs, it is crucial to avoid the “No” response from the Organizational Immune System because it is hard to turn it into a “Yes” again later on. This is why we teach How Intrapreneurs avoid "No!" at the School for Intrapreneurs: Lessons from a FORTUNE Global 500 company, a highly effective talent and leadership development program and corporate incubator.

Too often an intrapreneur lets their enthusiasm take over and confronts us straight on with their ideas bundled with a request for resources of sorts. Most often, this discussion ends quickly with a “No,” when we perceive this ‘frontal attack’ as a threat to the status quo, the establishment, or the well-oiled machine that we run as a manager - and so it triggers the ‘corporate immune system’ leading to rejection.

Stepping Stones to Success

So, just short of having control of the "The Force" like a Jedi in the famous Star Wars saga, how should an intrapreneur seek support for an idea from managers, potential sponsors, or coworkers? While there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ or a silver bullet approach, here is a selection of tried approaches for your consideration:

Seek support: The trick is to ask in ways that build support for driving the idea forward – and not necessarily for the whole implementation project all at once. Even a small step is better than none or hitting a wall early on.
For example, supporting evidence can help to raise curiosity and deflate resistance. Find out if a similar approach worked out in another company or industry; it helps to emphasize validation elsewhere. It can help to frame and position your offer to a potential sponsor.
Build trust: Derived from a strategic sales blueprint, a more social approach includes building a personal relationship first: It is much easier to connect from a position of mutual trust and openness to find support building the supportive network by asking for advice or references before you ask for resources.
The key is, however, to remain authentic with mutual respect and integrity, and not to fake a relationship or trick your counterpart. Remember that if this idea doesn’t find support, perhaps your next idea will, so work on framing true and lasting connections.
Just a test: Cautious managers may open up more easily when they hear the intrapreneur saying they do not intend to change anything radically. Instead, let’s just ‘try something out,’ so as not to threaten their established processes, investments, or power structures within the organization.
Emphasizing the ‘experimental’ and non-threatening nature of the idea helps to prevent triggering the immune system at this early stage.
Gathering Insights: Successful intrapreneurs listen very closely to the responses to learn from them.
Rather than asking a closed question that forces people into a quick Yes-or-No cul-de-sac, it is much more insightful to carefully phrase questions in a way that the gate-keeper already solves the problem, or provides an answer or approach to the problem the intrapreneur is trying to solve.
Know the Goals: The larger a support network an intrapreneur can build for their idea, the better. Rather than the direct manager, it may be more informative to work with people who have insights into the organization's goals and priorities, which could be sources of resistance.
This way, the intrapreneur can learn about possible conflicting goals (for example, “do more with less” or “stability versus creativity”) that need to be known and understood. These goals can then be addressed and dealt with constructively to pave the road to a " Yes.”
Show Gratitude: Finally, intrapreneurs need to pay respect and express gratitude no matter what the outcome of their conversation may be.
A ‘thank you’ goes a long way and keeps the door open to talk more and possibly receive support in the future. Even if you didn’t like the answer, the person you talked to has spent time and thought on your idea, and deserves credit for doing so.

Stay tuned for my next post: My Top 10 Strategic Innovation posts