How to Bring an Entrepreneurial Spirit to Your Work

A common image of an entrepreneur is someone driven by ideas, unafraid to bet on themselves and forever in the process of starting a new venture.

Across Duke University and Health System, there are employees who have those qualities and use their creativity and drive to improve how things get done.

Sara Johnson, a senior strategic services associate for Duke Gastroenterology, falls squarely into that category.

She hadn’t worked at Duke long in 2014 before she began thinking of ways to tackle the high rate of patients missing scheduled procedures. The root of the problem came from an inconsistent method of contacting patients, leading to missed appointments.

Johnson took it upon herself to craft a solution and came up with a standardized pre-procedure contact protocol that could be synched with patients’ charts. Her idea was implemented and cut down on missed appointments.

That entrepreneurial thinking helped Johnson earn a Duke Presidential Award in 2015.

“Don’t be afraid, some of the best solutions come out of some of the craziest ideas,” Johnson said. “Never be afraid to say something out loud. Some of it may not work, but some of it could be amazing.”

Here are a few tips from Duke experts on how, like Johnson, you can harness your inner entrepreneur and generate positive change.

Let curiosity guide you

Before Johnson offered up her solution to the issue of patient no-shows, she wanted to learn everything she could about what was happening. She studied how other clinics interacted with patients. She went to conferences, talked to colleagues and asked questions.

“The only way you’re going to come up with a solution is if you understand the problem,” Johnson said.

Steve Dalton, program director for daytime career services at the Fuqua School of Business, said this kind of approach is common among successful entrepreneurs.

Whether it’s on the job or away from it, entrepreneurial minds are constantly learning. Curiosity, when combined with an open mind and focused on a specific problem, often yields solutions.

“If you pursue understanding and curiosity, the solutions will present themselves organically,” Dalton said.

Seek out mentors

Colleagues kept telling Dalton that he should turn his job-seeking advice into a book. While intriguing, Dalton saw writing and publishing a book as a challenge he wasn’t sure he was ready for.

But before giving up on the project, he decided to ask around.

“Before you dismiss an idea as unrealistic, talk to someone who’s done it before,” Dalton said. “They’re usually very happy to talk about why they’ve been successful. Just the act of reaching out to someone who’s been successful in a similar space to get their advice and feedback is a great step forward.”

Dalton learned plenty about the process from some of the many published authors on Duke’s faculty. Their advice helped Dalton’s book “The 2-Hour Job Search,” get published by Random House’s Ten Speed Press in 2012.

“Duke offers this very rich community of people who have been there and done that,” Dalton said. “It’s a real shame to not tap into it.”

Keep at it

If you know your idea is good, don’t give up on it.

In a previous job 12 years ago, Howie Rhee pitched the idea of using social media platforms to develop a network of entrepreneurs. At the time, his employers opted not to move forward with his concept.

A few years later, after he’d arrived at Duke, where he’s managing director at Fuqua’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and managing director for student and alumni affairs for Duke Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, he floated the idea again. This time, it was greenlit.

Rhee’s online community evolved into Duke Global Entrepreneurship Network, which has hosted nearly 300 events in the last decade, drawing around 15,000 attendees.

“Sometimes, when a person comes up with a new idea, they see a stumbling block and say ‘Well, it’s just not possible, we can’t do this anymore,’” Rhee said. “A lot of successful entrepreneurs just believe so strongly in their idea, and what they’re doing, they overcome many of those roadblocks.”

Don’t settle

Sara Johnson said that, in the years since her pre-procedure protocol was adopted, it’s been altered a handful of times.

“Nothing is ever perfect, and there’s always room for improvement,” she said. “Shame on us if we see something isn’t working as well as it should be and we don’t make changes.”

While there is value on not giving up on good ideas, there is danger in thinking they’re too good to be changed.

“Be open to many possible solutions,” Rhee said. “One problem that we often see groups have, is that they often select one solution very quickly and they just stick with that solution as the only possible one.”

Make entrepreneurial thinking part of culture

Rhee points out that the innovation that comes from entrepreneurial thinkers doesn’t happen in a vacuum. For new ideas to take root, there has to be an environment that’s receptive to them.

“I think there needs to be some courage and resiliency that this might fail but we can still go for it,” Rhee said. “Being open to the possibility that it might not work out is a key thing.”

Johnson credits the leaders of Duke Gastroenterology for helping create the kind of workplace that nurtures ideas like hers.

“I was just excited to be a part of a division that was willing to try new things and supported new ideas,” Johnson said. “I still feel that way. I come to work and feel grateful.”

Know a colleague or team who displays an entrepreneurial spirit? Let us know.