Discovering the Intrapreneur: The Best Inside Job Every Government Employee Should Know

The challenges of bureaucracy and the gradual pace of systems change can make innovating from within government appear untenable. Enter the Intrapreneur! Empowered by agility, tenacity, and a fierce humility, intrapreneurs are catalysts to change through constant internal discovery rather than external disruption. This talk will explore the traits of intrapreneurs, including the creative confidence to rethink and remix solutions to existing problems in a way that is mission-based and silo-resistant. Drawing from my experience of working first at a larger government agency with over 20,000 employees to now working at an independent federal agency with under 150 employees, this session will highlight lessons learned from involvement on various initiatives that called on my ability to connect with tradition and yet collaborate with the unconventional. Furthermore this talk will examine how the government community can foster a culture where intrapreneurs are no longer hidden assets and intrapreneurship thrives at all levels, including NextGen leaders, hiring officials, and supervisors.