QUICK SUMMARY
Michael Ott, a 29-year veteran at Clorox, partnered with innovation advisor Francesco Fazio to revolutionize the company’s innovation process by leveraging AI and digital tools, resulting in a 50% faster discovery process that reduced development time from nine months to three to four months. The new approach emphasizes a hybrid model where AI and human creativity work together, with the most successful innovations consistently coming from this combined approach rather than purely AI-generated or purely human-generated ideas. Clorox’s transformation included changing innovation metrics to measure success over a three-year period, fostering “sticky innovation” that grows consistently rather than just delivering short-term results.
KEY QUOTES
- “Innovation isn’t something that you can delegate. Innovation isn’t something you should go influence. Innovation is really something that, that you need to drive.”
- “We’ve really gamified that approach. So all our projects, we keep track of the ideas that AI comes up with and the ideas that the team come up with. And then there’s the middle section, which is the hybrid… and guess which one always wins? It’s always the hybrid.”
- “We went from about nine months to about three to four months… and we’ve also seen the quality of the ideas really go up… it’s not just about year one, but really every innovation that we launch at Clorox is measured over a three year period.”
FULL SESSION SUMMARY
The Moneyball Inspiration and Vision for Innovation
Michael Ott, a 29-year Clorox veteran who has held numerous roles throughout the company, was inspired by the book “Moneyball” and its approach to thinking differently about an established industry. Just as the Oakland A’s baseball team found success by analyzing different metrics like on-base percentage instead of traditional batting averages, Michael sought to revolutionize Clorox’s innovation process. He approached innovation advisor Francesco Fazio with a bold vision: to make innovation cheaper, faster, and better—specifically aiming to be 50% better, double the pipeline, and cut costs in half.
Michael emphasized the importance of setting a clear vision as an innovation leader, comparing it to Steve Wozniak’s vision of making a computer with a keyboard and monitor like a typewriter. While acknowledging that leaders may not know exactly how to achieve their vision, Michael stressed that they need to empower their teams to find the path forward.
Consumer Obsession as Foundation
At Clorox, consumer obsession serves as the foundation for innovation. Michael shared personal anecdotes, including shopping with his daughter for a Brita filter, where he gained insights about consumer decision-making (she chose based on color rather than features). He emphasized that consumer obsession doesn’t happen naturally in organizations—it must be deliberately fostered through activities like quarterly innovation summits where C-level executives meet with scientists to discuss early-stage innovations.
Michael noted that Clorox’s diverse portfolio—from bleach to cat litter—creates varied innovation challenges but also commonalities around consumer needs for superior products, convenience, and joy. He stressed the importance of finding purpose and inspiration in innovation work, whether it’s saving lives through hospital disinfection or bringing families together through products like Kingsford charcoal.
Transforming the Innovation Process
Following COVID-19, which had diverted attention from innovation to supply chain challenges, Clorox reimagined its discovery process. The company evaluated approximately 80 potential AI and digital tool partners, narrowing them down to four that could work across their diverse portfolio and integrate seamlessly into product developers’ daily work.
The transformed process maintained the same four-phase framework (define the problem, diverge, converge, develop the business case) but dramatically changed what happens within those phases. The first three phases now occur primarily in the digital realm, allowing Clorox to engage with nearly 50,000 consumers through digital platforms compared to the 500 consumers they might have involved previously.
This approach enables teams to quickly identify consumer tensions, discover consumer “hacks,” and determine potential solutions before moving to in-person consumer interactions in the final phase. The result is a process that’s 50% faster, reducing discovery time from nine months to three to four months.
The Hybrid Approach: AI + Human Creativity
A key insight from Clorox’s transformation is that the most successful innovations consistently come from a hybrid approach combining AI-generated ideas with human creativity. The company “gamified” this approach by tracking which ideas came purely from AI, which came purely from humans, and which were hybrid combinations. Almost invariably, the top-performing concepts were hybrids.
Michael shared an example of the “foaming toilet bomb” product, which was one of the rare cases where an AI-generated concept succeeded without significant human modification. However, he emphasized that most successful innovations involve human-AI collaboration rather than simply “pushing a button” to generate the next big platform.
Leadership and Organizational Changes
To support this new approach, Michael restructured innovation leadership at Clorox, seeking “player-coaches” rather than just managers. He expects vice presidents and directors to actively participate in innovation sessions rather than simply evaluating others’ work. This creates a safe space where titles matter less than the quality of ideas.
Michael shared a humbling story about one of his own ideas being ranked near the bottom when evaluated through their AI platform, demonstrating his commitment to trusting the process even when it challenges his own thinking.
Measuring Success: Sticky Innovation
Clorox also transformed how it measures innovation success, focusing on “sticky innovation” that grows consistently over time. Every innovation is now measured over a three-year period, and teams are penalized if products decline in years two or three after launch. This approach ensures that teams develop platform ideas that can expand and evolve rather than one-off concepts that might score well initially but lack staying power.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Hybrid Innovation Works Best: The most successful innovations come from combining AI-generated insights with human creativity and expertise, rather than relying exclusively on either approach.
- Speed Through Digital Tools: By leveraging AI and digital tools in the early phases of innovation, companies can dramatically accelerate their discovery process while engaging with more consumers than traditional methods allow.
- Leadership Must Be Hands-On: Innovation leaders should be “player-coaches” who actively participate in the innovation process rather than just managing or evaluating it, creating a culture where titles matter less than the quality of ideas.
Delivery on Event Focus:
Aligning Innovation with Business Strategy
This session directly addresses the event’s focus on aligning innovation with business strategy by demonstrating how Clorox transformed its innovation process to deliver better business results. The new approach not only accelerates innovation but ensures it delivers sustainable growth through the “sticky innovation” measurement framework that tracks performance over three years. By integrating AI tools with human expertise, Clorox created a system that consistently produces higher-quality ideas that align with long-term business objectives.
Delivery on Event Theme:
Harvesting Innovation and Sowing the Seeds of Future Growth
The session exemplifies the theme of “harvesting innovation and sowing the seeds of future growth” by showing how Clorox harvested insights from both digital tools and human creativity to develop a more effective innovation process. The emphasis on “sticky innovation” that grows over multiple years demonstrates how the company is sowing seeds for future growth rather than focusing solely on short-term launches. The hybrid approach ensures that innovations are both technologically feasible and deeply connected to consumer needs.
Action Steps for Innovation Experts and Corporate Changemakers
- Evaluate Your Innovation Metrics: Review how you measure innovation success and consider implementing longer-term metrics (like Clorox’s three-year measurement) to encourage sustainable platform innovations rather than one-off products.
- Implement a Hybrid Approach: Create processes that deliberately combine AI-generated insights with human creativity, tracking which ideas come from each source to identify patterns of success.
- Restructure Leadership Roles: Transform innovation leaders into “player-coaches” who actively participate in innovation sessions rather than just managing them, creating a culture where titles matter less than ideas.
- Expand Consumer Engagement: Leverage digital tools to engage with significantly more consumers during the discovery phase, while still maintaining meaningful in-person interactions for final validation.
- Set Bold Visions: Challenge your organization with ambitious goals (like Clorox’s 50% faster, double pipeline, half the cost) that force teams to fundamentally rethink processes rather than making incremental improvements