InspireInside: Unlocking Your Internal Innovation Engine
Discover how the InspireInside program, a corporate innovation call I designed at Boehringer Ingelheim, systematically unlocks hidden employee potential and turns internal ideas into validated, high-impact solutions.
The Challenge: The Untapped Goldmine
In every large organization, there is a vast, untapped resource: the creative potential of your own employees. The people on the front lines—in the lab, in sales, in operations—are often the first to spot inefficiencies or groundbreaking opportunities. They face daily challenges and frequently have brilliant ideas for how to solve them.
The problem? These ideas remain locked away. Without a formal, supportive pathway, there is no bridge between an employee’s “lightbulb moment” and a business-backed implementation. This leads to missed opportunities, and worse, disengagement. Your most forward-thinking employees feel undervalued, and your organization’s innovation pipeline stagnates.
The Solution: The InspireInside Program
I wanted to change this. At Boehringer Ingelheim, I initiated and led InspireInside, a program designed to build a culture of intrapreneurship from the ground up. The mission was to systematically foster, find, and build these internal ideas.
My role was to design the entire ecosystem. We created a structured, company-wide innovation call that invited every employee to become a problem-solver. But unlike a passive “suggestion box,” we built an active framework for success.
In exchange for their ideas, we offered participants a powerful support system:
- Expert Mentoring: Access to senior leaders and subject-matter experts to refine their concepts.
- A Clear Framework: A guided, step-by-step process to move from idea to prototype.
- Dedicated Resources: A budget, partner connections, and allocated time to validate their solution.
- High-Level Visibility: The opportunity to pitch their fully-formed concept directly to senior leadership.
The Impact: From Idea to Implementation
The InspireInside program transformed the way innovation was perceived. It wasn’t just a top-down directive; it was a bottom-up movement. We guided teams through a rigorous process of ideation, coaching, and practical piloting.
This framework ensured that what we got at the end wasn’t just a pile of ideas, but a portfolio of validated, data-backed solutions. We didn’t just get PowerPoint slides; we got proven concepts ready for implementation.
The impact was twofold:
- For the Business: The company gained a set of innovative, practical solutions to real-world challenges, developed by the very people who understood those challenges best.
- For the Culture: We identified a “hidden talent” pipeline of intrapreneurs—motivated, creative leaders from all levels of the organization. This dramatically increased employee engagement and retention by sending a clear message: your ideas are valued here, and we will invest in you to make them a reality.
What This Means For You
Many companies try “idea boxes” and fail because they lack a supportive structure. The success of InspireInside proves that with the right framework, any organization can build a reliable engine for internal innovation.
If you are struggling to unlock the potential of your own teams or find that your best people are “too busy” to innovate, I can help you design and implement a similar program. I have the hands-on experience to build the bridge between your employees’ great ideas and your company’s future success.