Getting to Yes, And

Mauro Porcini: The Human Side of Innovation

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Mauro Porcini

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Kelly connects with PepsiCo's first ever Chief Design Officer, Mauro Porcini, to talk about his new book, “The Human Side of Innovation: The Power of People in Love with People.”

You anchor this book on design on the idea of love. Did you begin with that or was that discovered along the way?  

“It's something I realized later in life. When I was studying design, I realized that design was much more than the meaning we usually give to the word design. It was actually innovation. It was all about understanding people, their needs, their frustrations and their dreams, and creating solutions for them. It could be a product; it could be a service; It could be a brand; It could be an experience. But at the end of the day, that's what designers and innovators do: you create something meaningful for people when they need or desire that thing. Then, if you take you to the next level, if you really understand the meaning of something like this in the act of creating that solution. If you do it right, if you do it in a sincere and authentic way. Essentially, by definition, you care the people you're serving. You're driven by that idea of love.”  

And the loving people first concept has other benefits, right?

“Loving people is all about creating something extraordinary for them and it’s all about loving what you do. By the way, that's another dimension of the love, and it's all about loving the people around you, so that you realize that it's not just your job, but it's something you need to do collectively with your teams, with everybody that surrounds you with your customers, with your partners. The more you build the kind of culture of authentic love, the more you will have a competitive advantage over any other organization that doesn't have that kind of culture. Today, this is more necessary than ever because of the competitive pressure of the landscape, the environment, the society, and the business world we live in.”

I like that even when you talk about disruption, you’re still trying to make a big tent for everyone.

“So many times, I saw these people making the same mistake: They go in and they just disrupt by destroying. And you don't know always - there is a difference between disrupting and destroying you. We need to learn to disrupt, but by bringing people with us. And there will be people that don't want to change. So, the first step is to find what I call the Co- conspirators: The people that do want to change. And, usually, they are one out of 10. There are not many. But they are there. They are there. We just need to find them.” ‍

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