When we think of hot spots for innovation and growth, our minds rarely think of washrooms. They are the unsung yet necessary hero of commercial and public buildings.

Yet washrooms became a huge platform for Kimberly-Clark Professional (KCP). The innovation, called Onvation, provided a new service to make better use of KCP's traditional products, cut down on wasted products, and stop the annual churn of customers flipping from one manufacturer to another based on commodity pricing. Most of all, the innovation solved multiple problems facing tenants and facilities managers.

The outcome had multiple upsides. The getting there wasn’t so easy. Not until strategies of Third Angle’s Way of Weaving were applied, did Onvation get buy-in and traction within Kimberly-Clark and within the customers’ businesses.

The Challenge of Gaining Traction

Onvation introduced a sensing technology that signaled just-in-time need for refills in washrooms supplies. It promised savings in time, money, and wasted supplies (replaced before total usage). It promised a positive impact and customer loyalty for KCP. In other words, the innovation was supported by a strong business case. However, the reception was, at first, lukewarm from customers and especially from KCP execs.

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Discovering the Deeper Needs

Instead of giving up, Bryan Semkuley and his team went on a treasure hunt to find the real needs and deeper pain points this innovation could address. Within the customer segment, they found facility managers felt their time and talent were wasted when distracted by overseeing the replenishment of washroom supplies. They felt they were paid to take on more complex, high-value challenges. The washroom worries were a headache that marred their days and professional identities.

Going further, Bryan and team found that tenants, particularly women, perceived the washroom as more than a functional necessity. They called it a “sanctuary” amid the high stress cultures of their workplaces. They appreciated the potential for a smooth, clean, low-effort experience for always having what they needed.

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Convincing Internal Stakeholders

But what about the KCP execs who saw their business as products, not services? In addition to early adopting customers sharing their value stories with the execs, Bryan and team built a prototype washroom, complete with the technology, for the execs to use and for the KC crew to maintain. They experienced the value add. Furthermore, Bryan and his team did the leg work for training the KCP sales team on how to sell services with products, rather than products only. They took what felt complex and out-of-bounds for KCP and made it feel simple and doable within the company’s business model. 
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Multiple Wins for Multiple Players

In the end, Onvation delivered financial and customer relationship wins for KCP. It delivered wins in terms of time, professional enhancement, and tenant satisfaction for facility managers. And Onvation delivered tangible and intangible peace, trust, and reliability to building tenants. Furthermore, the potential for other public, high-traffic, high-stress places such as hospitals and airports gave Onvation wings to grow in the future.
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Key Lessons Learned

1. Address Mental Models: Understand the deeper needs and pain points of those involved.

When building something new, go beyond the business model to also addressing the mental models of the people involved. What are their spoken and unspoken deeper needs, seeds, and headaches that your innovation can address?

2. Simplify Complexity: Make new ideas feel simple and feasible.

Lesson two is that the innovator/intrapreneur often needs to do some heavy lifting, outside of their usual job description, to make the complex feel simple and doable for those who need to adopt and execute a new way of working because of the innovation. An example was teaching the salesforce how to sell services with products. Another example was designing a prototype the executives and in-house facilities team could experience.

3. Create Triple Plays: Design innovations that benefit all stakeholders.

Design innovations that deliver multiple wins for multiple players, at multiple levels, at once. The levels range from individuals all the way up to the company and its larger economy and environment.  In Third Angle, we call these Triple Plays. 

4. Tap into Unusual Suspects: Don’t overlook unlikely places, and data, for innovation opportunities.

The fourth lesson is to not discount unusual suspect locations, or situations, that hold great potential for creating value. Fresh perspectives shed light on why unusual suspects are important. Unusual suspect data points reveal secrets to buy-in. This includes individual, personal data that are often not captured in business cases or marketing assumptions. Some insight can only be discerned through authentic conversations. The importance of facility managers’ professional identity and the “sanctuary” role of washrooms are two examples.

These four lessons mirror the four strategies of the Way of Weaving:

• Begin with needs, seeds, and friends with headaches.
• Make the complex feel simple.
• Construct Triple Plays.
• Tap Unusual Suspects and Secret Passages.
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Next time you are looking for a place to innovate and do something new, consider some places that people take for granted and yet matter greatly to a lot of people. Also, rather than risking your idea being met with a thud, bake the Way of Weaving strategies into your business model and innovation plan from the beginning. 

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