Innovative Brain Food from New & Improved

Jugaad – What we can learn from India’s frugal and flexible approach to innovation

Kanak Das, like many Indians, rode a bicycle to work on roads that were full of potholes and bumps. This really slowed him down, but there was clearly nothing he could do to change the road. So he asked himself the question - how might I make this constraint work for me instead of against me?  How can I use the cratered road to make my bike run faster? That question inspired him to retrofit his bike so that when he went over rough road a shock absorber on the front wheel released energy to the rear wheel moving the bike forward. MIT engineering students are now looking at his invention and exploring how to use this same principle in cars. This is a prime example of what Indians call “Jugaad Innovation.”

“Jugaad” is the gutsy art of spotting opportunities in very adverse conditions and resourcefully coming up with solutions using simple means. A critical mindset, practiced by most Indians in their daily lives, to make the most of what they have. In American slang we often refer to these kind of ad-hoc ingenious solution as a “MacGyver” derived from the action TV series in which the hero solved complex problems with whatever he found at hand, along with his ever-present duct tape and Swiss Army knife. What’s different with jugaad is these are not just temporary quick fixes but are often more permanent solutions that become a part of everyday life. One example: a refrigerator made of clay that uses no electricity. Using resilience, perseverance and a willingness to learn, jugaad innovators respond to their challenges and create opportunities for themselves and their communities. In US history Benjamin Franklin is an example of a jugaad innovator with his focus on devising frugal solutions to address everyday needs (Franklin stove, bifocals, lightning rod). What other examples come to mind ? How do you and those on your team practice this form of innovation now?

The core principles of Jugaad Innovation are:

1. Seek opportunity in adversity
2. Do more with less - work with what you have
3. Think and act flexibly
4. Keep it simple
5. Include the margins - they may be the new majority
6. Follow your passion

I discovered Jugaad Innovation while surfing for trends in a New Delhi airport bookstore. I was searching for local material to include in a course on Strategic Thinking that New & Improved provides to one of our clients’ sales and marketing staff. In this search I came across an excellent book entitled - you’ll never guess - Jugaad Innovation by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu and Simone Ahuja. The book is filled with lots of examples and ideas that nicely integrate with the topics participants explore in the course. If you are interested in looking at what might be learned from this approach to innovation it’s a must read.

Anger and Creative Collaboration

With rare exceptions, creative thinking of the individual (you and me) can only lead to innovation if there is creative collaboration between you, me and others. We need each other to bounce around ideas, to build better thinking, to apply rigorous critical thinking to strengthen ideas, and to share the load of responsibility to move things to action. It’s easier to do long term strategic thinking with people that we have a desire to be with in the future, than it is with folks that we’d rather not be around.

Now, let’s introduce anger into the mix. Let’s be pissy with each other. Let’s come to work angry about something that has occurred at home. Let’s go home angry about something that happened at work. Let’s have (and mentally re-live) conversations telling others about some way we have been offended by someone. Whatcha think? Creativity, innovation and creative collaboration enhanced?  Not likely.

Anger generally inhibits creativity and good strategic thinking. So, we see it as our responsibility at New & Improved to find ways, methods and thinking patterns that help us at least manage, and hopefully move beyond, unproductive anger, irritation and crummy moods. Both for ourselves as a team, and for those who look to us for ideas and coaching to improve their own creative potential. It’s why we’ve written articles about Emotional Management and Anger, about Apology, and about Forgiveness in the past.

As a strategy to help ourselves with this mental self-management, many of the New & Improved gang read “Daily Good”, a blog that a group of volunteers puts together every day, telling stories of positive, creative human activity. It’s a useful, productivity-enhancing, cognitive exercise to start our day with an inspiring tale. A great one came in this morning focused on “10 Life-Changing Facts About Anger”. It, along with the newsletters referenced above, is a nice series of provocations with respect to this interesting emotion. Have a read. It’ll pay dividends on your personal “triple bottom line”: Work, Home & Community.