Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/111663
academia, current partners, and innovators���to ���nd innovations to ful���ll those key business needs. Third, our teams around the world are continually looking for emerging innovations or developed solutions that might accelerate our work in all areas of innovation, from packaging and processes to new business models, technology, and in-market products. Why do you think C+D works? What have been some of the best ideas to come from it? C+D works because it���s rooted in, and continues to develop from, the core belief that together we can do more than any of us can alone. Coupled with that is a commitment to develop partnerships that deliver a three-way win: for the consumer, the partner, and P&G. Several examples of products that have resulted from C+D work include Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, Olay Regenerist, Swiffer Dusters, and Tide PODS. What do you think business students should most understand about the nature of innovation? That innovations are based on insights. Today���s students cannot gain insights unless they can make connections, both inside and outside the classroom, inside and outside the business. They should never stop asking ���Why?��� because that will lead them to those insights. They need to have the mindset that there is a better way and try to approach life in a state of constructive dissatisfaction. When you were hired at P&G in 1980, A.G. La���ey became your 38 March/April 2013 BizEd STUDENTS NEED TO HAVE THE MINDSET THAT THERE IS A BETTER WAY. THEY NEED TO TRY TO APPROACH LIFE IN A STATE OF CONSTRUCTIVE DISSATISFACTION. sponsor and acted as a mentor to you. If you were guiding someone coming into P&G today who could potentially become its CEO 30 years from now, what advice would you offer that person? I am a mentor to a number of people both inside and outside the company, because I too bene���ted from the counsel of others during my career. My advice to others at the beginning of their careers���either at P&G or another company���is to engage fully. Be part of the conversation and listen carefully. You should never stop learning and trying to search for answers, and you should realize that those answers could come from anywhere and anyone. That���s why it is so important to create and foster connections and networks. We are much stronger as a team than we are as individuals. We all have unique qualities that we can bring to a discussion. A diversity of experiences, skills, and perspectives is critical to problem solving. If you were designing a business course today to help develop those skills, what content or assignments would you be sure to include? That is a very dif���cult question, and I���m not sure that I���m truly quali���ed to answer it. But I can tell you what I say to students at our management colleges and what I share in presentations around the world. First, know that our world is changing, so embrace change and use it as a source of inspiration. Second, have a passion for learning, and nurture it for your entire life. Third, truly understand your audiences, spend as much time with them as you can, and listen intently to what they tell you. Fourth, treat people the way they want to be treated, not the way you would like to be treated. Finally, always choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong because that will de���ne you and your work. In a video with Cincinnati. com, you noted that the company now receives 1 million applications for 5,000 jobs. What sets apart the candidates you end up hiring? Those candidates are looking for a meaning to their lives. Yes, they want to work and earn a good living, but they also want to know that what they do has a purpose greater than themselves. At P&G, our goal is to touch and improve lives, whether through creating a new product, building a new school in China, or helping to provide clean drinking water to an African village. We are constantly searching for individuals who share that same purpose. It was that purpose that brought me to this company more than 30 years ago, and it is that purpose I have tried to live every day since.