Innovator Interview: Mark Hausfeld, Procter & Gamble

Mark Hausfeld
Innovation Manager,
Global Business Services
Procter & Gamble

the
innovator’s
interview
The Innovator’s Interview highlights unique innovations from a wide range of industries, and is an
opportunity for futurethink and some of today’s leading innovations to share insights and ideas.
May 2009

Turn innovation into action
|
Future Think LLC © 2005–09 Reproduction prohibited
|
New York NY www.getfuturethink.com

the innovator’s interview 2

Mark Hausfeld
the background
This Innovator Interview series highlights leading innovators at Fortune
500 companies. In contrast to past interviews, focusing on a single
innovation, this series examines the state of innovation at global
organizations. We spoke with both innovation leaders and practitioners,
within varying business units and organizational structures, across a
broad range of industries both for–profit and not–for–profit.
The interviews offer a unique insider’s view into the world of
innovation—what makes it work, what holds organizations back,
and what critical advice new innovators need to know to be more
successful with innovation overall.

the interview
Mark Hausfeld is the Innovation Manager within Global Business
Services at Procter & Gamble. He shared with us thoughts on how
‘innovation inside’ is as critical as external innovation, why nails are
more important than hammers, and what metrics really matter.

Tell us a little bit about your role at P&G. Where do you sit in
the organization?
P&G has four main business units or groups. One group consists of
Global Business Units (GBUs). This organization basically owns our
brands and the development of products that we sell externally and
commercially. Next, there’s the Market Development Organization
(MDO). That’s basically the on-the-ground sales organization which
sells to our various retail customers, such as mass merchandise
retailers, drug chains, etc. Then, we have Corporate Functions, which
encompasses our corporate support areas such as legal, tax, audit,
accounting, external relations, etc.

Finally, there’s Global Business Services (GBS), which is where I sit.
GBS was created in the late 1990’s as part of the larger, company-wide
reorganization called “Organization 2005.” This critical reorganization
shifted the company from a country-by-country hierarchy to a more
holistic, globally structured organization. So, instead of having Pampers
managed differently in each country, we began managing Pampers
as one global brand. And with this reorganization, we now had to
create – and support – global information systems for our different
brands across the countries we operate in, and provide shared services
throughout the organization. And that’s how Global Business Services
(GBS) was started.

Within GBS, I lead the Solutions-Space Network, which is a network of
innovation labs within the GBS group. These labs are actual physical
spaces designed to inspire and encourage ideation and innovation. We
have one here in Cincinnati, one in Geneva, Switzerland, and there are
also several mobile Solutions-Space versions, which we ship as needed
around the world. Anticipate. Innovate.
|
|


Mark Hausfeld
So your function is to facilitate and support – through the use of
technology – innovation on the inside of P&G. Essentially, you’re
building an innovation capability internally in order to allow the other
“Some organizations say:
business units to do their job. ‘Let’s find all the cool
Yes and no. Yes, in that most of the consumers of our GBS services
are internal P&G employees – that’s 130,000 strong. But, we also take technologies and ideas out
clear direction from the from the GBUs and MDOs on what they’re there, and then we’ll go find
seeing in the market, and how they want to get closer to the consumers
to drive the first moment of truth (the reaction to a P&G product on a problem that they solve.’
shelf) with them. So, we don’t build commercial products, but we
help simplify the process in the other organizations to help them get We take that and we reverse
innovation done. it. We say: ‘Let’s have a clear
What is the biggest challenge in making innovation happen? How understanding of the problem
do you help the various business units connect with customers and
come up with innovative products?
we need to solve.’”
One of the key things you need to be innovative is to get clear on what
the unmet needs of your consumers are, or of the organization that you
provide services for. We constantly challenge ourselves to understand
what the big opportunities out there are, and then articulate those
needs in a way that can help us really drive innovation around that
opportunity area. There are a couple of different schools of thought
out there on this. Some organizations say: “Let’s find all the cool
technologies and ideas out there, and then we’ll go find a problem
that they solve.” We take that and we reverse it. We say: “Let’s have a
clear understanding of the problem we need to solve.” For example, we
explore: is there a way that our consumers are not interacting well with
our products on the shelf? Or, is the employee being overloaded with
too much complexity in the way we get things done? We make sure the
problem is well-defined first, and then come up with the innovations to
solve those problems.

The example we use here a lot is the hammer and nail analogy. We go
out and identify what the nails are and then identify and use the right
type of hammer. Is it a jackhammer or a ball-peen hammer? What kind
of hammer is it? Innovation happens better not with just any tool, but
when you have the right tool to do the job.

If the CEO were to request a progress report on innovation, what
metrics would you report on and why?
There are a lot of internal metrics you can use, such as how many
items are in the innovation pipeline, or how many ideas have been
generated. But, those metrics don’t necessarily say whether those
ideas are good ideas, or ideas that’ll be taken forward. One milestone
we look at closely is if an idea has passed several approval gates and
made it into the portfolio. This means, “Hey, we’re going to do this and
align the resources and the funding to take this all the way through to
commercialization.”

Anticipate. Innovate.
|
|


Mark Hausfeld
The other big one is, did it make it to market? So, did we actually
commercialize it? And did we commercialize it all the way into the
market, or just to a pilot test or small launch? “Corporate sponsorship and
Metrics are a work in progress, but we’ve become very good at it. We leadership around innovation
have a finance organization that works with us very closely to look at
our measures in a variety of ways – to go beyond the obvious (such as
is key. If you don’t make
sales generated or ROI) and measure the attractiveness or the value [innovation] a strategic part
of this opportunity. That could be measured by level of simplification
or productivity savings for the employee, or for the company. Or, it of your business plan and you
could be from a growth standpoint. Success along these measures
increase the probability of closing the sale with the consumer, and other
don’t drive that into the culture,
important factors. I don’t think you’ll have a
What is the importance of metrics in innovation? Should you strong innovation pipeline.”
employ a lot? And at what point in the innovation process do these
measurements come into play?
Metrics bring discipline to the way we manage innovation and so, yes,
we believe they’re extremely important. There are definitely two schools
of thought on how to approach this, though. One is, “let’s measure
everything.” So, let’s measure how many ideas are created, how many
ideas are passed at each little gate, how many ideas have different
elements. Our management wants to know which ones are we really
going to get behind and we’re going to put into the portfolio, and which
ones have been commercialized.

At the end of the day, our CIO and corporate GBS officer is basically
saying, “I want to know what you’ve commercialized and what we’ve
been able to take to market, and what was the value of that to the
company.” So, you can measure any number of things, but those are
the main things we care about.

What advice would you give to a company that doesn’t quite have
the experience of P&G and is just building my innovation program?
Would you approach it any differently?
I believe you would. We were lucky in that we had a starting point
when our group was formed. We took the methodology that we had in
the product R&D space from an innovation standpoint and reapplied
it for the business technology side to drive business transformations,
both internal to P&G and external with our partners, along with both
technology partners and our partners as far as retail customers.

You always hear P&G leaders say, “Innovation is our lifeblood.” I think
that key corporate sponsorship and leadership around innovation is
key. If you don’t make it a strategic part of your business plan and
you don’t drive that into the culture, I don’t think you’ll have a strong
innovation pipeline.

|
|


Mark Hausfeld
It seems that at P&G, innovation is driven both from the top down
and from the bottom up. How do you get leadership committed
to making sure that innovation is trickling down to the 140,000 “With this tough economic
employees on the ground?
time, one area where you
You’ve got to put your money where your mouth is. If you look at what
we invest in innovation corporately it’s very strong; and even within don’t want to decrease your
an internal group like GBS, it comes to a substantial amount. So, you
have to have dedicated resources and funding to allow for innovation spending is in innovation.
to happen and to allow that to happen within all the employees within In fact, this is the time
the company.
that P&G can drive a better
But you also have to allow that time within everybody’s work plan to
say, “Okay, I’m empowered to make a difference. It’s up to each person marketplace for when the
to be part of innovation, and we drive that culturally by keeping it front
and center…in leadership communications, in the processes we set
economy picks back up...
up, and in our reward and recognition systems. ,. For example, the Our CEO looks to us and
importance of innovation was shared right alongside our PVP (Purpose,
Value and Principles) our Bible for how we behave as employees. says, ‘How can we continue
to simplify and reduce cost?
Given our current economic climate, there are a lot of organizations
that are scared of innovation, or of investing resources in the How can we innovate in this
unknown. What would you suggest as some quick wins, or easy ways
for them to build momentum and show success? space?’ We use these cost
With this tough economic time, one area where you don’t want to savings to continue investing
decrease your spending is in innovation. In fact, this is the time that
P&G can drive a better marketplace for when the economy picks back in innovation on both the
up. We’re investing at the same level, or more, in innovation so that,
we’re in a better position of strength, we have larger market share, we
business transformation side
have higher volumes, etc. And it gives us an opportunity to simplify our and on the product and
in-house processes.
R&D side.”
But, if you’re a smaller company, it is a matter of getting that one success
story and really commercializing and driving it into the organization. And
we do that pretty well in GBS. If we pilot something in a small region or
a small country or organization successfully, we get that in front of the
leadership and say, “Hey, look at the value this is driving.”

You’re focused on really simplifying and identifying areas to
drive efficiency.
GBS is one of the largest drivers of cost reductions for the company.
Our CEO looks to us and says, “How can we continue to simplify and
reduce cost? How can we innovate in this space?” We use these
cost savings to continue investing in innovation on both the business
transformation side and on the product and R&D side.

How do you maintain energy around innovation? How do you make
sure that everyone is involved and excited about it?
I think part of it is the culture. One way we build culture is that we
continually get the message from our corporate sponsors and our
corporate leadership that innovation is important to the company. And
we continually get strong messages that it is the lifeblood of how we Anticipate. Innovate.
do business. It’s part of being open. It’s part of driving change. We |
continually ask why do we do this, how do we do this? Can we change |


Mark Hausfeld
it? Can we make it easier? I think the other part is that our people are
proud. P&G hires some of the greatest people out of the universities.
And when you have those types of people and they’re an A-type person
in their DNA, they want to their innovation initiatives to be successful.
And so, visibility of those ideas and those innovations to their senior
leaders is something that excites everyone.

Would you say that Connect & Develop (your external partnership
effort to drive innovation) is similar to crowdsourcing in a sense
that it lets a large group of people on the outside shape ideas, or is
it more in terms of having a solutions network of experts out there
ready for different problems that may eventually arise?
It’s a little bit of both, because if you have an idea for P&G as just a
consumer, you can go to the Connect & Develop site and suggest it. On
the GBS side, we allow a lot of our key partners to help us shape what
the solutions look like.

What would be your single biggest piece of advice you’d have for
another – either an individual or an organization that’s trying to get
an innovation effort going?
It still has to start at the top, I think. It’s imbedded in the corporate
culture and it’s very visible. Rather than a behind-the-scenes
discussion, it’s an outward discussion of innovation within the company
– and to the street. If you don’t really have that top sponsorship and
support, it’s going to be very tough to get an effective innovation
organization off the ground.

Second is getting those quick wins, making sure they’re visible to the
leadership, and making sure they’re commercialized well so that they
are adopted well within the organization.

Just what makes someone good at innovation? Do you think that
having this framework and having this organization allows anybody
to build the right skills and build the right mindset? Or do you think
that innovation is something that just some people are good at and
others are not?
It’s a hard question, because my background’s accounting, and I’m in
innovation now. So, you can’t get more different than that! We define
innovation broadly in GBS…IT innovation, innovation to make our
workplace more sustainable, innovation to help us “reinvent the way
we work.” With a scope this broad, you need people with different
personalities and with expertise in different areas to make things
happen. If you have people who are just left-brain thinkers or who
are just right-brain thinkers, you’re probably not going to get much
done. I think any person can be a valued contributor to an innovation
organization. It’s just a matter of knowing your role within that group.

|
|


Mark Hausfeld
What can you learn from successful innovators like P&G?
• ‘Innovation inside’ is as critical as external innovation: How much time are you spending on internally-
focused innovation vs. externally-focused innovation? Are all the groups in your company – even
traditional ‘cost centers’ – innovating?
• Find the nails, then get the right hammer: How much time do you spend understanding the root
causes of the problems you’re trying to solve vs. simply brainstorming and coming up with new ideas?
• Establish metrics to monitor results and areas of improvement: Do you have a set of established
metrics for innovation? How do you see these metrics evolving or improving over time?

To learn more about the research, tools and training you need to better anticipate change and move innovation
forward, visit us at getfuturethink.com.

|
|

Innovator Interview: Mark Hausfeld, Procter & Gamble

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Dernier

Dernier (20)

En vedette

En vedette (20)

Innovator Interview: Mark Hausfeld, Procter & Gamble