How P&G Tripled Its Innovation Success Rate

Reprint: R1106C

In the early 2000s, faced with an alarming gap between its growth goals and what its innovation pipeline was delivering, Procter & Gamble created a “new-growth factory”—a network of novel structures and capabilities to rapidly shepherd new products and even business models from inception to market. The resulting innovations range from a 33-cent razor for customers in emerging economies to Tide Dry Cleaners—establishments with drive-through windows and 24-hour drop-off and pickup.

Brown, who is P&G’s chief technology officer, and Anthony describe the factory’s components and practices: new-business-creation groups, entrepreneurial “guides” to help them, an innovation manual, a disruptive-innovation “college,” and more. They also offer six lessons for leaders seeking to set up new-growth factories of their own.

Although the factory is still ramping up, its early successes suggest that collective creativity can be managed—and can generate sustainable sources of revenue growth no matter how big a company becomes.