P&G realized that many of its best products emerged when designers made unexpected connections across its business units or when it sourced new ideas from outside the company. In response, P&G restructured its approach to innovation and set a strategic goal of acquiring 50% of its product ideas from outside the firm. In other words, half of all new products would originate from within P&G’s own labs, while the other half would come through them as the firm improved, scaled, and marketed nearly turnkey inventions acquired from lone inventors and small startups.

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