In recent articles for Harvard Business Review, Len Schlesinger and Charlie Kiefer have outlined two different models for understanding and creating innovation in intrapreneurship.

About the first, called Act-Learn-Build, Schlesinger and Kiefer write:

Form the habit of acting your way into the future with low-cost, low-risk steps using the means you and your network have readily at hand. Over-planning and over-thinking are not nearly as effective. External entrepreneurs are often supported by the discipline of staged venture capital for this work. Entrepreneurs inside instead use their emergent networks to explore their learning and build support for what comes next.

The steps of this framework are to define your desire, figure out what you can invest in the next step, build the people you need into a team, take action and evaluate.

About the second framework, “Make-Help-Let-Keep,” Schlesinger and Kiefer write:

You, your boss, and your organization can each be in one of four modes: Make It Happen (Make), Help It Happen (Help), Let It Happen (Let) or Keep It from Happening (Keep). If you personally are not in the Make mode, you should stop selling your idea now. But assuming that you are… do your own diagnosis of your boss and your organization and an appropriate action strategy will become obvious.