The rules of the game for entrepreneur-consultants

Benefiting from giving up a level of 'Command and Control'

For all the advantages of the Knowledge Transfer 2.0 (KT 2.0) approach, commonly the most difficult aspect to deal with is getting used to applying different control mechanisms and giving up some of the old levers. Should you no longer employ a greater proportion of your business development resource, the levels of control are more diffuse and a greater range of interests are at play. But, as long as the rules of the game and expectations on both sides are established clearly up front, this can be a positive, rather than negative dynamic.

The KT 2.0 approach will not work through the simple issue of instructions (if that could ever work in a modern hierarchical knowledge-based institution). The process has to work with the degree of autonomy and (enlightened) self-interest which independent entrepreneurs automatically bring to the relationship. This, however, frees up corporate capacity to focus on building the innovation eco-system, as opposed to backseat driving commercial projects; it drives entrepreneurial goal orientation, rather than corporate back-watching; and it allows the KTO to focus on Return On Investment (ROI), as opposed to focusing on HR management.

KT 2.0 means that there are more effective levers that can be used to ensure the right outcomes.

New collaborative framework levers

A whole range of more effective and less resource-hungry 'levers' are available for ensuring the right outcomes. The intention is not to remove control but to find those levers which are more suitable to the commercial undertaking. These include:

• Getting the right people in the first place (those that can do the job and be trusted)
• Setting the rules for the consultants (so they know how to behave and what to expect)
• Establishing the right ethos (so that principles are clear and not everything has to be written down and contracted)
• Aligning interests, so that the parties share interest in creating value and sharing value. (Since the consultants aren't employees and don't have a duty to act in the best interests of the university we need to build in the alignment of their own self-interest alongside that of the university's)