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"Our R&D is to solve the next limiting factor for customers," she says. "Until customers tell us there's no more to work on, we will invest 5 percent of our revenues on R&D to solve problems for the customer." The company known for paper printing invests in solar panels, nanotechnology, digitizing documents, and other emerging technologies to evolve away from copy machines.

"Crisis is the best motivator," she says. "The best time to change is when a lot of things are uncertain. It gives you permission to think about things differently, and connect that thought to action."

Part of thinking differently involves partnering with clients to solve their problems. "We spend time understanding what [our customers] do. What their workday looks like, where they get stuck? What pain points do they have? We ask questions and get close to customers and potential customers. We co-develop problems to work on with them."

With Procter & Gamble, for example, Xerox had "dreaming sessions" with executives to understand potential opportunities. One issue that was uncovered was that P&G executives often travel around the world and constantly use their PDAs to communicate with their team. Knowing this, Xerox developed a secure mobile print solution to the standards P&G wanted. "We did it by knowing how they work," Burns says.

In another example, by listening to customers Xerox learned that parents would write their children's names on disposable diapers when sending them to daycare. As a result, Xerox and P&G developed a product where customers can order pre-printed diapers online. P&G provides more value to its consumers and Xerox provides more value to P&G. "These are things you can do when you get close to the client," Burns says.