"Do we really think GM could, in effect, create an entirely new division in a couple of sprints?"
Actually, such things are done with some frequency, and the way you do it is precisely that you don't make "GM" do it. You spin people off entirely, fund them, take ownership of the resulting entity, and then tell GM qua GM to just take a hike. Run it as a startup that happens to have a really, really big brother.
In my observations, it's an unstable structure. Eventually the sponsor in the parent organization loses interest or power, and then someone in the parent corporation decides that their organization needs credit for what this little startup is doing, and sucks them back in, of course completely destroying the whole thing in the process. Behold the awesome destructive power of basic politics. Still, it can work for a while. In this particular case, "a while" is all we need.
AIUI, for at least a good long while, this was almost an officially unofficial way to get Microsoft to do something it lacked confidence in to do directly or couldn't get the organization as a whole to move on; grab a few of your buddies & spin yourself out, prove it works, and get acquihired back in.
Actually, such things are done with some frequency, and the way you do it is precisely that you don't make "GM" do it. You spin people off entirely, fund them, take ownership of the resulting entity, and then tell GM qua GM to just take a hike. Run it as a startup that happens to have a really, really big brother.
In my observations, it's an unstable structure. Eventually the sponsor in the parent organization loses interest or power, and then someone in the parent corporation decides that their organization needs credit for what this little startup is doing, and sucks them back in, of course completely destroying the whole thing in the process. Behold the awesome destructive power of basic politics. Still, it can work for a while. In this particular case, "a while" is all we need.
AIUI, for at least a good long while, this was almost an officially unofficial way to get Microsoft to do something it lacked confidence in to do directly or couldn't get the organization as a whole to move on; grab a few of your buddies & spin yourself out, prove it works, and get acquihired back in.