- Kimberly-Clark: Opening the Innovation Pipeline
THE CHALLENGE:
Bill Wilson knows about innovation. Mr. Wilson spent 42 years at Kimberly-Clark and is largely responsible for transforming the struggling paper and pulp company into one of the world’s biggest producers of paper-based consumer products. Brands like Kleenex, Cottonelle, Huggies and Scott have propelled the Neenah WI-based manufacturer to the winner’s circle with revenues of $18.3 billion (2007).
Back during Kimberly-Clark’s growth spurt, Mr. Wilson and a small group of Kimberly-Clark employees used to take their pet projects home to their garage and basement labs, working on their new product ideas until perfected.
Understanding the vital role that Mr. Wilson and his band of mavericks played to the company’s growth, Kimberly-Clark brought in Synecticsworld to develop a process to support the company’s band of innovators that would:
- Foster interpersonal synergy and,
- Facilitate better communication within the company
THE PROCESS AND RESULTS:
During the two-day Synecticsworld-led meeting, experts from different departments within Kimberly-Clark used Synecticsworld’s pioneering methods for encouraging creativity and innovation to generate a host of improvement ideas. But more importantly, the group was able to connect on a personal level using non-traditional methods, thus developing a sustainable group momentum that would help them continue to generate powerful ideas long after the workshop ended.
