Luck usually traverses the shortest and the smartest route. It took me many a days to finally get going on this second article on my blog after realizing at least twice that technology can play truant when you don't want it to. The 'autosave' feature on this site helped save blanks after I had literally typed out my entire thought. The usual 'cut and paste' feature that every application loves providing was being used by me during this process. To ensure I am grammatically sound, I wanted to check my writing in the offline word application. Bizarre as it may sound, the effect was loss of entire data and of my thoughts which had poured into these pages.
Nevertheless, all is well that ends well. It was probably a blessing in disguise, as it allowed me to infer on my actions and retrofit these thought processes into the plausible reason why there is so much of less innovation for the bottom of the pyramid.
The highest percentage of innovation happens for activities or products which can usually impact the tip of the pyramid. That is for obvious reasons. Enterprises continue to build focus on technologies which can provide them the highest returns in the shortest possible time. Why would anyone 'waste' their 'luck' on economically unviable projects?
To capitalize on the idea of 'value of innovation' there are two approaches an enterprise follows - large volumes of low cost products providing large top lines which in turn drive large profits, or else low volumes of high margin products driving large profits. The resultant in both the cases is 'large profits'.
I meet some innovators, who term themselves as 'social entrepreneurs' and who intend doing well for the bottom of the pyramid. They are usually lost in the melee after a while and wind themselves up in larger organizations that look out for business drivers with a wide variety of social understanding. The zeal of social responsibility usually ends up in working for profitability for someone else. There are a few who do not loose patience. They are 'creatures of the outer world' - I hear this phrase meted out to them in unequivocal manner by the very protagonists who speak one language and subscribe to another to lead their lives. But these patient entrepreneurs, who struggle to keep their two ends meet on a perpetual basis, are the real heroes of this pyramidal world. These are the people who have the capability to turn the pyramid upside-down and drive innovation relative to the need of the new-found 'tip' of the pyramid. This 'tip' is such a huge market opportunity that every business entity then clamours to reach out to this new found Nero.
I would love to see the pyramid turned upside down many a times, repeated at regular intervals. The telecom revolution did create one such upside-down effect. The effect is seen in many a ways in countries like India. Though I haven't yet seen anyone pointing to the general election results this time and equating them to the rural telecom revolution, but I strongly believe of a new-found communication channel which created transparency of sorts in rural India this time. The citizens did make a conscious decision and didn't follow the usual path they always do. And I am sure the political parties will wake up to understand that they need to turn the pyramid upside-down and support the growth of innovation. Unless the bottom isn't seen at the top, there will be few who will work for them. Lest this momentum be lost, innovators should steadfastly work towards reaping benefits of impacting the lives of a multitude of human beings not just in India but across the globe.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Innovation Context
It has always been a big question on my mind if an innovators' desire is to create a solution for a problem they have encountered during the course of their life or they have potentially visualized a problem in someone else's life. It is pertinent and intrinsic to the nature of the innovation cycle that the curiosity generated in the mind of an innovator is usually contextual to the fundamentals and the environment he is exposed to.
There may also be a need to dissect the population in terms of education, economy and enlightenment. I call these the three fundamental "E's" which help build the desired motivation in an innovator. There were times, ages ago, when a 'real' innovation used to hibernate for an extended period and then the discoveries around the globe would happen in a highly dispersed manner relative to the time scale. There were very few innovators and most of them had challenges during their education, weren't from a strong economic background and because of lack of effective communication medium the enlightenment in the form of a market pull was missing. But yet, these innovations changed the world forever in a profoundly practical and profitable way.
The animal species learns to walk or fly by imitating their mothers or fathers. You can watch a baby duck following that process. Many species, including we humans, develop much of their behavioral repertoire by following role models. One distinctive characteristic of humans, however, is that as we become adults we can choose whom and what to imitate. If you believe that you would like to cultivate and exploit all the aspects of the human potential then there will not be a better person to emulate than Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was probably the most creative and well-rounded genius who has walked on this earth. But if you believe in honing your most important and ambitious goals then there is probably no better individual than Edison. He has been history's greatest achiever and by far the most practical innovator.
I studied a lot on Edison and his innovation methodology to break open the codes of his invention factory. Possibly, besides his patented 1,093 innovations, the one which stands out most and which he didn't patent was the systematic approach to innovation. Before Thomas Edison, invention was viewed as the random product of a solitary genius. Edison was, of course, an exceptional genius, but the greatest product of his genius was the establishment of an approach to creativity and innovation that he believed anyone could follow. As he proclaimed, "If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves."
There may also be a need to dissect the population in terms of education, economy and enlightenment. I call these the three fundamental "E's" which help build the desired motivation in an innovator. There were times, ages ago, when a 'real' innovation used to hibernate for an extended period and then the discoveries around the globe would happen in a highly dispersed manner relative to the time scale. There were very few innovators and most of them had challenges during their education, weren't from a strong economic background and because of lack of effective communication medium the enlightenment in the form of a market pull was missing. But yet, these innovations changed the world forever in a profoundly practical and profitable way.
The animal species learns to walk or fly by imitating their mothers or fathers. You can watch a baby duck following that process. Many species, including we humans, develop much of their behavioral repertoire by following role models. One distinctive characteristic of humans, however, is that as we become adults we can choose whom and what to imitate. If you believe that you would like to cultivate and exploit all the aspects of the human potential then there will not be a better person to emulate than Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was probably the most creative and well-rounded genius who has walked on this earth. But if you believe in honing your most important and ambitious goals then there is probably no better individual than Edison. He has been history's greatest achiever and by far the most practical innovator.
I studied a lot on Edison and his innovation methodology to break open the codes of his invention factory. Possibly, besides his patented 1,093 innovations, the one which stands out most and which he didn't patent was the systematic approach to innovation. Before Thomas Edison, invention was viewed as the random product of a solitary genius. Edison was, of course, an exceptional genius, but the greatest product of his genius was the establishment of an approach to creativity and innovation that he believed anyone could follow. As he proclaimed, "If we all did the things we are capable of doing we would literally astound ourselves."
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