Building a Growth Factory

Conclusion: Parting Thoughts

WE SUSPECT SOME READERS might feel overwhelmed at this stage. Attaining the status of P&G’s growth factory, for example, might seem like an impossibly lofty goal. After all, the company has been working on its innovation systems for decades; and despite all those efforts, it, like all companies, still struggles with growth. In any endeavor, it is hard to go from novice to expert over-night. Unfortunately, many companies starting their innovation journey make just this mistake by overreaching in initial efforts, staffing large teams with big budgets and overly lofty goals.

Studying the process by which P&G revitalized its approach to innovation over the past decade provides important pointers for leaders that are ...