P&G’s Innovation Leadership Elements *

* A.G. Lafley and Ram Charan (2008). The Game-Changer. New York: Crown Business

Characteristics of an Innovation Leader

Courageous– No fear– Learns from failure– Knows how to manage risk, relying on most

meaningful indicators/measures– Establish a ”there’s no bad idea” operating

principle

Connected and collaborative– Works effectively and productively with others

– inside and outside of an organization– Works seamlessly across functions, businesses,

and geographies to develop, commercialize, and execute

– Uses personal and professional networks to seek out innovation ideas

Curious– Remains childlike and naïve to enable best learning– Looks for unobvious patterns– Explores and likes to discover new possibilities– Looks for analogies and metaphors– Asks “Why? and “Why not?” and “What’s possible?”

and “How does that work?”– Uses the Columbo approach to solve problems by

asking “just one more thing”– Sets an expectation of ongoing learning and

brainstorming

Open– Open-minded to new ideas – from anyone,

anywhere, anytime– Open to learn with the assumption that others’

idea will ultimately make a product or service better

– Open to empathy to the customer/consumer to best understand their needs and wants

– Open to suspend judgment– Reward and recognize those of seek

out/commercialize innovation opportunities

Peter Drucker on Innovation

To be capable of innovation, an organization “has to make sure its incentives, compensation, personnel decisions, and policies all reward the right entrepreneurial behavior and do not penalize it.”