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My favorite question nowadays at the office and outside is – Name the top 5 Indian Innovations in the last 25 years. Most people struggle and I rarely get an answer. Why is that? Does that mean Indians cannot innovate? The simple answer is – Of course we can!! But the harder thing to do is answer the question – Then why don’t we?

 

I have been doing some thinking about this myself and as someone who’s trying to spearhead the innovation culture, I have arrived at some simple truths. But before I dive into those truths, I need to destroy some myths too. 

 

Myth #1 – Our karmic culture dictates our way of living. We believe in more than one life and therefore, the need to improve the current one is not an imperative. Wrong!! I don’t know a single Indian who doesn’t want to live a better life. We’re a big consumption engine today and we grow by the day. Why? Because, Indians want a better life and the good things that go with it.

 

Myth #2 – Indians are apathetic. We don’t really care about what’s happening around us. I’m sure we can all cite instances where the average citizen could have contributed and did not. But this too is fast becoming a Myth!! For the longest time we lived in a socialistic society and that framework dictated our thinking. We now live in a society where people believe that Individual endeavor can have an impact and that drives the thinking of people in all walks of life and discipline. Not everyone takes up a paying job or becomes an entrepreneur. People are becoming activists, reformists or politicians. Why? Because they now believe an individual can make an impact and on occasion transform society. This belief is fundamental to innovation. History shows that inventors don’t invent to make money. They invent because they believe their inventions can transform lives.

 

Myth #3 – You need to be technically qualified or a whiz kid to innovate. Wrong!! This couldn’t be farther from the truth. It’s all about common sense. Don’t underestimate the power of common sense. Once you’ve an idea, you now need to reach out to those who understand the different elements of your idea and can help you to build on the idea.

 

For Indians, the process for innovation is no different than what it has always been for others around the world. The key is persistence and perseverance. We understand our market better than anyone else. But there are some challenges we need to overcome to embrace innovation:

 

Truth 1 – We need to transform our Education System – Our education system celebrates conformism. Non-Conformists don’t thrive in this system. Your success or failure is judged by the grades you score. Innovation thrives on non-conformism, questioning the norm and finding better ways to do things. Our education system needs to transform itself to nurture innovation and creativity. If you talk to a five year old today, you’ll be dazzled by his/her knowledge, exposure, ideas and cognitive skills. But by the time the child reaches the age of 10 or so, the system has suppressed a vibrant creative mind and supplanted it with a conformist mindset geared to reproduce by rote.  In essence we are training the future generations to do what they’re told. We need to empower them to think freely. In my own experience, I have had to take apart and un-learn everything I held dear to me to create a platform for innovation and creativity.

 

Truth 2 – We have an Overriding Need for External Endorsement – I’ve heard this time and again and see it in action too. We have an almost undeniable desire to seek endorsement from folks in developed countries. The Japanese evolved by challenging conventional western paradigms and developing products which were unique and relevant to their context. Miniaturization emerged from this thrust. They weren’t waiting for endorsement from outside to believe in their innovations. We need to learn to de-link the notion of a viable innovation from an external endorsement.

 

Truth 3 – We need to Think World Class – We need to avoid Duality in strategy. We must innovate with quality in mind. For too long, we have had this duality in strategy i.e. export quality and domestic quality. You’re sounding the death knell on your innovation if you think you can palm off a poor quality product in our market. Save yourself some time and effort. Build a world-class product and see it succeed.

 

Truth 4 – Observation, Insights and an Open mind are the Key. Too many of us go through our day-to-day lives without questioning the status quo.  Questioning the norm and asking why something needs to be a certain way is the key to innovating. The first step is to allocate 10% of your bandwidth to observation. It’s then important to list out those observations.

 

Truth 5 – We tend to shy away from taking Risks. The fear of failure and social indictment is so high that we shy away from risk taking. It is much easier to take an accepted product from another market and plug it in our market. But not all products that succeed elsewhere will click here. And that’s where the opportunity lies. Embracing failure is pivotal to Innovation. The learnings from failures are key to innovation. Take a look at the cash reserves of the large IT company’s in India and you wonder why they can’t put aside some of it to try out or test new ideas and innovations and see them through.

 

Truth 6 - Role Models and Story Telling – If you look at the success of innovation models or innovation breakthroughs elsewhere, they feed on the art of story telling. It calls for creating an aura around the innovation, the innovator(s) and the process that made an innovation possible. The Apple IPOD owes its success to both the aura behind the company, the founder Steve Jobs, the very basis of the idea and the way it’s been delivered. But storytelling is a pivotal part of the innovation exercise. We don’t do enough of that in India. We have excellent role models to talk about but they can only emerge if the storytelling is compelling. This is also tied into Truth # 2. We don’t need endorsement from elsewhere before we accept that a story is worth telling. The Story of the Dabbawallahs in Mumbai became a story worth televising only after top business schools abroad picked up on the story.

 

None of the above hurdles are insurmountable. Indeed most innovators must expect a certain amount of skepticism when they step out to pitch their idea. But that’s the true test of an innovators conviction and strength of character. If you get over that hurdle, you have a winner.