His guest post here reflects  his deep thinking about innovation in organisations. Especially the role of leadership.)

Imagine that a child climbs up a tree and below is his father standing. The child has climbed high up on the branches and now his dad says, “Time to go home,” for which our child says, “Dad. Should I jump from here?” Now when the child actually jumps from high up there, who do you think is afraid- father or the child? I believe it’s father! The child on the other hand is extremely confident that his dad would catch him. Now that’s what I call leadership. Leadership is the ability to motivate people around oneself so much that they overcome the fear of failure. This sense of leadership is the cornerstone of innovation enablement.

Passionate Pavan enjoys teaching

The million dollar question that perplexes modern day thinkers and doers is- would Apple be as innovative if Steve wasn’t there? Or would Tata Nano been possible but for Ratan Tata’s commitment? In other words, does innovation require leadership as a necessary condition? This question becomes all the more significant when we see performance dichotomies around us. We have firms such as 3M, Toyota, Samsung, BMW, Nike, McDonald’s and HCT, among others, which are characterized by low profile leaders and one might not explicitly link performance to leadership charisma or hands-on involvement here. Contrast this with the success of firms like Google, Apple, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, and Infosys, where one can’t but think of leaders.  Even though we largely agree that great leadership is not a sufficient condition for innovation to happen, but is it that innovation can happen in absence of leadership or when leaders change? Let me attempt an answer to this question by drawing inspiration from researchers and practice, and help you with some broad-level actionable.

For starters, read this statement from William McKnight, the legendary Chairman of 3M.
“As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance. Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do their jobs in their own way. Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs. Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative. And it’s essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.”

Keep in context that this statement was made in 1948, way before the word innovation became a fashion! What you read through these lines is the cognizance that mistakes will be made when someone tries something new and leadership is about giving the safety net for those to ‘try’. It’s the same philosophy that laid concepts such as, 15% time-off or linking managers’ incentives to new product performance, rules that have been adopted widely by firms ranging from Google to Facebook and even some Indian firms. This enduring philosophy articulated by McKnight is an indicative of the fact that ‘yes’ leaders do play a significant role in setting up a ‘climate’ of innovation. Please note that I used the word ‘climate’ here instead of the loaded word- ‘culture’- to emphasize that a climate can be made conducive more readily than the culture  and enduring climatic conditions have the potential to influence cultures.

Getting back to the question, I initially posed. My answer, considering the ‘bounded-rationality’ that I possess, is a resounding “Yes.” I believe that great innovations require good leadership. These leaders need not be hands-on, but what’s important is setting up the overall intent of the firm, something that could be done right at the inception, the way McKnight did in the case of 3M. Either founding fathers or current captains, leaders are the necessary conditions for innovation to happen, but not sufficient.
So here is my three point agenda on how leaders can shape the innovation ‘climate’ of an organization and in turn have an enduring effect on the ‘innovation culture’. A caveat here, you needn’t be a CEO or GM to appreciate and possibly implement these lessons; they are amicable to anyone who is responsible to shape up others’ dreams and careers.

Attract Unreasonable Talent: It takes me to a dialogue between Subroto Bagchi and Azim Premji, which the former articulates in his book- Go Kiss the World. Subroto says that when he was leaving Wipro, Premji asked him the reason for leaving the company, to which he responded, “We don’t think alike. Your way to working is not same as my way of working. We are different”. To this Premji quipped, “If the way you think has to be the way I think, then why do I need you?” Now that’s the trait of a great leader. Leaders understand the virtue of being surrounded by people who are unlike them. As I say- being comfortable with people who make you feel uncomfortable. The general tendency for us is to make friend with people who are like us or even choosing to work with people who share our thought process. In life in general and in business in particular, such tendencies of seeking parity is inappropriate. Not only that such tendencies limit learning, but also dangerously inhibit thinking. It’s quintessential that managers, at all level, very consciously identify, attract and retain a share of unreasonable people around them. This unreasonable talent must be cerebrally challenging, yet emotionally enabling. In other words, resistance and argument shouldn’t be for the sake of proving a point and hence hindering progress, but to discover the right answer and not rushing through what the boss has said.

Enable Ambidexterity: Ambidexterity in literal terms is one’s ability to effectively use motor skills of both hands, but in organizational context, it translates into the ability to explore and exploit, simultaneously. It’s about exploring the current resources and capabilities of the organization, while concurrently investing into creation of future assets. It’s about not taking one’s eye off the current business and run it profitably enough, yet not getting busy with or tied-to the current performance in missing out the next growth engine. The organization that comes to mind here is Toyota, the producer of world’s largest selling economy segment car- Corolla; one of largest selling luxury cars- Lexus; and maker of world’s largest selling hybrid- Priyus. Any reasonably read business student or a manager would discern it being suicidal to compete in orthogonal markets and strive for leadership position. Yet Toyota has done it so successfully. The secret is- Ambidexterity. And where does it come from? From the top. The leaders have to apportion mindset, resources, processes and networks to enable competing asset creation, one focusing on today and another on tomorrow. Keep in mind that it’s easier said than done, as often current resource requirements siphon our any future investment, owing to the inherent risk involved in the latter.  Leaders are able to balance this very well by not getting tagged to current performance issues and enabling creation of future avenues. Call this Yin and Yang of leadership, and such attributes percolate all the way down to the grassroots level in successful innovators.

Instill Belief: Countless studies have depicted that there are no major psychological, trait related differences between entrepreneurs and managers in large organizations. Two of the attributes in decision making styles that differentiate entrepreneurs from managers are- excessive usage of biases and heuristics by entrepreneurs that by managers. Leaders in organizations more akin to entrepreneurs than managers. The usage of biases and heuristics help quicker decision making, an imperative in dynamic environments, and stems from high level of self-confidence, often to an extent of over-confidence. What does it mean for innovation? Innovation is inherently a risky endeavor, albeit that one can contain the potential damage. When embarking on such efforts, a sense of belief in the cause and confidence in the means can’t be overstated. It’s essentially the prime role of a leader to provide the safety net to his team that they experiment and be ready to fail. It’s important to instill an ‘experimental mindset’ amongst the team members and the only way is to take the fear out of the equation. Remember, there’s a difference between irrational exuberance and achievable ambitions. Leaders’ role is to contain risk and make his men leverage the situation with freedom.

What I have articulated here are but three of the traits that leaders hone while inspiring ordinary people to achieve extraordinary goals. Innovation being an ambitious venture, setting the right context and enabling resources goes a long way in ensuring commitment from people. Numerous studies have hinted that innovations in large firms happen not because of organizational support, but in spite of such support. Most innovations are personal endeavors where managers leverage their position to garner resources and ‘push’ their innovation through the organizational value chain. If lack of leadership commitment and organizational alignment can produce as many innovations, imagine what a conducive environment could unleash?

Let me seal my letter with this anonymous quote: “Leading by setting example isn’t the best way to inspire anybody. It’s in fact the only way”

“Attract unreasonable talent. That is an interesting point. Have you ever thought about this?”

“No Prasna. We used to talk about not hiring clones. But this is a refreshingly different angle.”

*Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

Later we worked together to win the ITC Welcome Group business for Ogilvy & Mather Direct (now Ogilvy One). She came up with a brilliant idea that helped us win the pitch.

I have always admired her ability create a vivid picture in your mind with her words. After an award winning career in advertising she took up writing and editing as her profession. She writes on travel as well as on social trends and literary subjects. Her first short story appeared in Illustrated weekly when Khushwant Singh was its editor.

She has contributed to The Times of India, the Hindustan Times, India Today, Travel Plus, Jet Wings, Go Now and The Economic Times. She was a columnist with the Khaleej Times and Time Out London. She is currently copy-editor for Sommelier India, India’s only wine magazine. Calcutta Exile, her debut novel, was published at the end of 2011 by Harper Collins. Bunny shares with us the inside story of how she wrote her first novel.

Calcutta Exile: The writing of a novel

By Bunny Suraiya

Hemingway, when asked the best way to get started on a writing project, famously said, “All you have to do is write one true sentence..”

That may be good advice for an autobiography, but not for fiction, which is not a whole lot of truth anyway. When I first sat down on day one to write my novel, Calcutta Exile, which was released two months ago, I found the starting very difficult. I had much of the plot in my head, but each time I tried to start, I found the first words far too tame, not engaging enough for a novel.

In advertising, if the headline doesn’t grab you, chances are you won’t go on to read the rest of the copy. Similarly with a novel; if the opening words have no oomph, your story is at a disadvantage, particularly with in-store book buyers, who often read the beginning before deciding whether or not to buy a book. Think of great opening lines: Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful, but men seldom realized it when caught by her charms as the Tarleton twins were. And: Mother died yesterday, or maybe today, I can’t be sure. And: Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Each of these openings arouses the reader’s interest, hooks them into the next sentence, and the next, and the next…

Striving for a similar effect, this is the way I opened my first chapter: Ayah’s name was Sohag Khatun, but she was never addressed as anything but Ayah by the Ryan family with whom she had worked for nineteen years, first as a nanny to the children, then as a highly-valued cook and general factotum.

The sentence establishes rather a lot: It introduces Ayah, one of the key characters in the novel, gives the name of the family who will be introduced in the next sentences, tells the reader about her domestic skills, and offers a time-frame which gives the reader some idea about Ayah’s likely age and the length of her relationship with her employers. It worked. I know this because most of the feedback I’ve received from people who’ve read the novel, included the words, “I just couldn’t put it down; I read it virtually in one go.”

A period piece, Calcutta Exile is set in Calcutta at the turn of the decade – from late 1959 to mid-1961 – when it was one of the most vibrant and cosmopolitan cities of Asia. Indeed, the city itself, which even now evokes great nostalgia among those who lived there in the 60s and 70s – although many have left to live in other parts of India and the world – is one of the key characters in the novel.

Calcutta’s social and cultural mosaic included Indians (both Hindu and Muslim), the British and the Eurasians or Anglo-Indians as they were known, who belonged to neither community but claimed kinship with the English.

Central to the story is a typical middle-class Anglo-Indian family, the Ryans. The head of the family, Robert, is a senior executive at Barton Ferne & Co, a managing agency with connections to Britain and has dreams of going ‘home’ to England as soon as he can. His wife, the beautiful Grace, however, is unsure about leaving her comfortable life in India. Their two newly-adult daughters, Shirley and Paddy, are meanwhile discovering new emotions and relationships which will make them cross invisible but inflexible boundaries.

The Ryan household also includes Ayah and her husband Apurru, a middle-aged Muslim couple who are making their own plans for going home, to an East Pakistan that they have never seen; the country came into existence in 1947 when India became independent and was partitioned.

Karambir Singh, the young scion of an aristocratic Hindu family becomes involved with eighteen-year-old Paddy Ryan in a relationship which will put him at odds with the feudal legacy he has inherited.

At the managing agency where Robert Ryan works, his boss is a young Englishman, Peter Wilson. Both for him and his wife Alice – who lives the life of a lady of leisure while efficient servants run her house and take care of her children – the thought of going back to a bleak, post-war England is a less than welcome prospect. Neither of them can understand Robert Ryan’s obsession with going to live in Britain, a country he’s never visited.

Also working in the same agency house is Ronen Mookerjee, the anglicized misfit son of a barrister who belongs to the Bengali landed gentry. Having been forced into an arranged marriage with the manipulative Reela, Ronen also finds himself caught between two worlds.

Through their intertwining stories, set against the richly textured backdrop of Calcutta, the novel raises questions about individual and collective identities, the foremost among which is: Where’s home?

Readers often ask me if I wrote the book because I too am a Calcutta Exile, in the sense that I left Calcutta, my hometown, in the late 80s to move to Delhi. My response is an unqualified “No.” Simply because Calcutta had left me long before I left the city. It had changed from being my Calcutta to a different kind of Calcutta altogether. I believe this is true of all cities and their inhabitants. People who’ve been born and raised in say, Delhi or Bombay or Bangalore or London, and who’ve seen their surroundings change, must surely feel some sense of alienation from the city they’ve considered their home for three or four decades. Change is inevitable – and not at all a bad thing – but anyone who’s loved a city and seen it alter beyond recognition, will identify with the sense of loss that compelled me to write Calcutta Exile. My tribute to what was once my city.

“Very nice. Who is going to write your next guest post?” asked Prasna*

“Why do you ask?”

“Your guests write better than you do.”
*Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

BITZUA AND CHUTZPAH TO ACCELERATE INNOVATION
By R Gopalakrishnan*

Bitzua and many other Israeli or Jewish concepts are brought alive in an eminently readable and inspiring book called Start-Up Nation: the story of Israel’s economic miracle (by Dan Senor and Saul Singer, published by Twelve, Hatchette Group, 2009). Some of the ideas in the book are very relevant for India and its innovation capability as was brought home to me on a recent business visit to Israel.
Bitzua is a Hebrew term that roughly translates into ‘getting things done.’ A bitzuist is a pragmatic person with a quality of activism and of doing what is to be done. Israel’s first leader, David Ben-Gurion, epitomized bitzua because he exhorted citizens of his newly formed country to get on with nation-building by ‘doing and learning’ rather than forever debating about the ‘right approach.’ This spirit of ‘try it, just do it’ is all-pervasive in Israel and has led to the country becoming a top destination for R&D.

Mr. R. Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, Tata Sons

Israel is an incredibly innovative nation. It ranks the highest in the world in the per capita number of patents filed. A partner at A&G Partners, an organization that specialises in building bridges between Israel and Asia, says that even her hairdresser has a patent on an exact algorithm for deducing the right hair shade! Over 30 percent of the Nobel Prize winners are from the Jewish community, an amazing statistic, considering that the number of Jews on the planet peaked at 18 million before the Second World War, and number only about 12 million nowadays.
So what makes Israelis so innovative? I was curious to observe similarities and differences with Indians and explore ideas and lessons.

Israel is a highly diverse and multi-cultural society with people of various ethnic origins–Russia, Europe, Middle East and Asia. They are amazingly talkative and argumentative. For a century now, and particularly during the last 60 years, they have lived with the fact that uncertainty from their neighbours is a certainty. The constant challenge to their national existence and their very being has made them fiercely proud as they seek self-preservation. They are restless in their quest for economic advancement and social progress; they are highly entrepreneurial.
They are competitive with one another to the point that sometimes, they give an observer the impression of pulling one other down wantonly. For instance, after the tragic terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26/11, an emotional subject like the renovation of the Jewish Centre at Nariman House has become a controversy and a legal dispute in the courts. Between whom? Between the family of the rabbi who was killed and his religious denomination, Chabad-Lubavitch!

Viewed another way, they have three of the Cs required to be highly innovative: challenge, creativity and chaos. But there is a fourth C to which I will return.
Now remove the word ‘Israel’ and substitute with ‘India’. Barring some detail, all those comments would be applicable. India has huge diversity, is pretty much multi-cultural, is an argumentative society, faces constant threats to peace from the neighbourhood (albeit much less than Israel), Indians are restless, they have a long tradition of being entrepreneurial, and  Indians can be considered to be competitive to the point  of pulling one other down. Indians too have the same Cs of challenge, creativity and chaos.

But Indians do not have the rich record of innovation that Israelis have. What is missing? As an American of Chinese origin once explained to me, India needs to improve in the fourth C, channelization. The raw energy of creativity is not captured into a sufficiently meaningful, disciplined and process-driven engine of innovation.
The Israelis use expressive Hebrew words to communicate a sense of action, of doing and of learning and celebrate these characteristics. Chutzpah, according to Jewish scholar Leo Rosten in The Joys of Yiddish, is ‘gall, brazen nerve, effrontery, presumption plus arrogance.” Rosh gadol is a term that is used to connote a ‘can-do and responsible attitude with scant respect for the limitations of formal authority’. Davka approximately means ‘in spite of’ or what in India would be referred to as ‘kar ke dikhana hai.’

In a recent book The Other Side of Innovation (by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble, published by HBS Presss), the authors point out that in any program of innovation, there may be an inadvertent and excessive focus on idea generation. This action undoubtedly unleashes incredible energy, but the authors argue that ‘focusing on execution is far more powerful’. I wonder whether the Brahminical intellectual tradition in India, which recognises and rewards ‘thinking’ more than ‘doing’, could be an underlying reason for the excessive focus on creativity rather than disciplined execution.
Continuous improvements and innovations are best performed by an existing organisation within a company (the authors call it the ‘Performance Engine’). Because ongoing operations are repeatable and predictable, they are easily absorbed into the already existing strategy-planning-execution cycle. And Indians are super at it. Most people agree that this is a strength for India.
However when it comes to a lateral or different idea, which involves a ‘break all the rules’ approach, a new form of organisation and approach is required. This organisation is likely to be less disciplined and more accepting of failures and setbacks as compared to the Performance Engine. This organisation too requires planning, but of a different type. If the innovator tends to jump directly from idea to execution, then the outcome is likely to be sub optimal. And I think this is where India has a big opportunity to focus and improve. What does it take for Indians to more explicitly demonstrate the qualities of chutzpah, rosh gadol and davka?

Indians have been incredibly successful in executing some radical ideas, but not enough of them. They demonstrated davka and chutzpah when America denied her the technology of the supercomputer. As the Washington Post wrote, an ‘angry India’ set out to develop the Param supercomputer. Dr RA Mashelkar often says that unless India ‘gets angry’, Indians do not seem to get cracking. India demonstrated the same davka and rosh gadol when America cut out the PL 480 aid for wheat supply in the mid 1960s.

India has had great icons in demonstrating such qualities of being daring and getting things done: C Subramaniam and Vallabhai Patel in public life, Ratan Tata and E Sreedharan from the field of  industrialization, and Raghunath Mashelkar and MS Swaminathan from science and technology. Our management academic curriculum and national folklore should shift a bit more focus to this fourth C of ‘channelization’. Coupled with the strong presence of the first 3 Cs of challenge-creativity-chaos, Indians can aim to deliver innovation somewhat like the Israelis, but in our own unique way.

“How do you know Mr Gopalakrishnan?” asked Prasna**

“I know him from my Ogilvy days. He inaugurated  our Voices Within Workshops for the Tata Group.”

*The author is Executive Director, Tata Sons and a member of the National Innovation Council. The views expressed are personal.

**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

“Because I believe innovation happens when people ask a good question or have a good idea. I know many people think that they are not creative and suffer from mental blocks. I believe that every one is creative and with a little help everyone can have ideas.”

“Stop lecturing to me, Sridhar. What is this e-book you have just published? What is it about?”

How do you get ideas

“Sometime ago I wrote to several people. I asked them 3 questions. ‘How do you get ideas. Where do you go. Whom do you talk to?’ Many wrote back sharing what they do to get ideas. I found their tips fascinating.”

“Give me an example”

“Here is one. ‘Don’t chase ideas, don’t get into brainstorming’. Instead the recommendation is to soak into the subject, speak to people, listen and let things be. Ideas will arrive.”

“Do you agree with this?”

“I know this works for a few of my friends. It has worked for me too.”

“I notice you are calling this ‘An incomplete book’. Why?”

“Because it is incomplete! I would love to continue getting more views. When people read this they might wish to share what they do differently. I want to carry those views too. I believe that this book is sowing a seed and many things can grow from this. So I call this incomplete. I am looking forward to bringing out Version 2.0 soon.”

“How can people get this e-book?”

“Here is the link: http://ideasrs.com/ebook/  . All they have to do is to simply click on the link to read the e-book. ”

“What new things are you planning for 2012?”

“I am excited about going online with my workshops in 2012. My pilots have done well. ”

“Good luck.”
**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

“Tell me. How do you know people read what you write?”

“Are you referring to my blog and wall posts in my social sites?”

“Yes. And even some of the articles you write in some publications?”

“Why do you ask Prasna? I am curious.”

“Because I know you are obsessed about results.  Stop asking me questions. I want an answer.”

“I know people read my blog, but I have no statistics to prove it.”

“Don’t you know how many people visit your blog?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Don’t you know how much time they spend on your blog?”

“I do.”

“You also know who is coming back again. Right?”

“I am not sure but I guess I can find that out.”

“Then why is it difficult for you to know how many people read your blog?”

“Because just visiting my blog does not that mean some one has read what I have written.”

“Why don’t you ask some people you know?”

“Well, I don’t know why but I asked a few people recently.”

“What did they tell you?”

“One of them said that you need not respond outwardly to everything you read. Another said that the response need not be to me. The third said that something I have written might incubate in his mind and he might act on it later.”

“What else?”

“Another friend said that people may not have anything specific to say. Sometimes they may not be able to articulate what they have in mind.”

“Have you had any empirical evidence to show that people read what you write?”

“I have had occasions when I meet some one and he talks about something that I have written. I do get a mail occasionally in response to my blog. People I meet socially talk about my posts in Facebook and LinkedIn, and Twitter sometimes.”

“Is that all?”

“Well something really encouraging happened recently. I had not posted anything on my wall in Facebook for the last 5 days, because I did not have access to my computer. This morning there was a private message for me from a friend which read ‘Everything OK, Sridhar? Havent seen you post for quite some time (5-6 days?) ”

“You therefore believe that people read what you write.”

“I now have reason to believe that people read what I write.”

“Well, I am not entirely happy with your optimism. However, keep at it. May be we will get some substantial evidence to show that people do read what you write.”

“Why is this so important, Prasna?”

“Because I am keen that you don’t get into the trap of writing for yourself and getting smug about it.  I believe that a performing artist must have an audience, a TV show must have  viewers and a writer must have readers.”

Picture by Maria Reyes McDavis available under a Creative Commons Attribution- licensed for commercial use.
**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

“It is invariably the headine and sometimes the picture.”

“The award winning blue ribbon brewmaster‘s story. How did you pick that up?”

“The words  ‘Secrets of a blue ribbon brewmaster’ caught my attention. I read it in a flight, tore the page and brought it home.

Secrets of a blue ribbon brewmaster
Microbrewing beer might be a male-dominated sport, but one of the industry’s biggest medal winners is a petite, 42-year-old redhead with a decidedly female attribute: She’s not afraid to ask for directions …

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904199404576538340458467326.html

Taking boredom out of the classroom
Chennai: Chitra Ravi thought of harnessing the potential of the Internet in 2001 to launch an e-learning venture, an almost unheard of space at the time, abandoning a lucrative family business in furniture.

http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/25231603/Taking-boredom-out-of-the-clas.html

Internet could get 100 times faster
Two Nobel Prize winners have come up with a way to use graphene, a form of carbon that’s also the thinnest material in the world, to potentially boost net speeds

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=7&contentid=2011090120110901025852134e1f6037

When email fails go back to basics
To break down this new barrier to communication, make face-to-face communications part of everyday life at your office. The Australian name for it is “going walkabout”; many business management consultants call it “management by walking around”

http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/05231458/When-email-fails-go-back-to-b.html

Sweat meter warns patients of low blood sugar
When the concentration of sugar in the blood drops, most patients have a hypoglycaemic attack. Symptoms may include palpitations, sweating, a tingling feeling in your face, altered sensory experiences and intense hunger. Some patients receive no warning before they pass out from low sugar, a sweat meter could alert patients in time.

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/index.aspx?page=article&sectid=7&contentid=2011090720110907035526608da0b029d

Handwriting still thriving in digital age
It’s discussed a lot these days. “Are laptops, smart phones and the iPad going to kill off X, Y, or Z?” (Bound books, newspapers, the paper-based office… human interaction.) The latest new-vs.-the-old tidbit to hit our radar is a study by Forrester Research that concluded that 87 percent of business professionals still use handwritten notes in addition to technological aids. Obviously this goes against the conventional thinking that the smart-phone-&-computer-dominated world of the modern business professional might somehow be down on the pen and paper. The study also found that:

http://blog.paperblanks.com/2011/07/handwriting/

Dial a meal from train, get delivery in next station
MUMBAI: Commuters will soon be able order meals over the phone while travelling in long distance trains and have it delivered at the next station, under a “book a meal” scheme that the Railways plans to implement by the year-end.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/railways/dial-a-meal-from-train-get-delivery-at-next-station/articleshow/10138046.cms

You can buy a hotel room and rent it too
BANGALORE: If you are planning to buy a second home, you could consider buying a unit in a condo hotel.
Condo hotels, a relatively new concept in India, allow buyers to own a hotel room. The owner is entitled to 21 to 60 days of use of the room in a year, and the hotel management uses the rest of the time to generate revenues from tenants. The rental proceeds are split between the owner and the hotel chain.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/You-can-buy-a-hotel-room-and-get-rent-too/articleshow/10100215.cms

CEOs Sing for their supper in Bangalore
Peter Sarstedt’s ‘Where Do You Go To My Lovely’ used to be one of the favourites for Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and friends during her school days. Remembering those days in 1968 when she used to sing it, on Saturday, the chairman and managing director of Biocon India Ltd sang it again for her corporate friends for a cause as heart-warming as her voice – to fund the treatment of seven children in need of surgery for cardiac disorders, treatment for cancer and thalassemia. Cultural philanthropy has, indeed, arrived in Bangalore.

http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_ceos-sing-for-their-supper-in-bangalore_1566544

In UK, it’s the time to disco for the hearing-impaired
First there was Death Disco, now there is deaf disco. Or, more accurately, a ‘multi-sensory club night for both the hearing and hearing-impaired’.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-31/uk/29948628_1_hearingimpaired-deaf-people-sign-language

The Man who gives you your voice
Avaaz in Avaaz.org stands for sound and Gujarati-origin Ricken Patel, the group’s co-founder and president, sounds like an unlikely Gujarati. “This past week, my team and I made 30,000 calls to decision-makers of European Union countries to press for an oil embargo on Syria which is trampling on its people,” Patel says.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-09-04/news/30110248_1_citizen-journalists-campaigns-ads

A working class hero and his labour of love
PUNE: A parked autorickshaw and three sacks of grain outside Baba Adhav’s office are sure signs that news of his being selected for TOI’s Lifetime Contribution Award has got out. The autorickshaw’s driver and the men who are transporting the sacks on their backs are inside, on a brief break from work, to congratulate him. Through the day, hawkers and rag-pickers will wish him. Even in his finest hour, Baba remains a true working-class hero

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-20/india/30179859_1_baba-adhav-labour-social-security

IIT Kharagpur, US varsity develop low-cost rapid blood test kit
Kharagpur (West Bengal): In partnership with the University of California–Irvine in the US, the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (IIT-Kgp), has developed a rapid diagnostic test (RDT) device that will bring down to Rs. 20 the cost of blood tests to detect diseases such as malaria, dengue and tuberculosis.

http://www.livemint.com/2011/09/19235216/IIT-Kharagpur-US-varsity-deve.html

**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

“Why not?”

“ I am not sure. This is my hunch.”

“ What kind of objections could he have for your idea? Do you know?”

“No. I don’t know.”

“Then how do you say this? Has he ever thrown your ideas out in the past?”

“Not really.”

“What worries you then?”

“I am just uncomfortable…”

By Sanjiv Khamgaonkar

“Ok, let us approach it from another angle. Let us try filling this blank. My boss will support this idea if _________________”

“My boss will support this idea if, it improves our profits substantially”

“My boss will support this idea if, it will improve our productivity in some way”

“My boss will support this idea if, this makes us look like heroes in front of our parent company in the US”

“My boss will support this idea if, this idea is capable of producing short term sales increase”

“My boss will support this idea if, this eliminates waste dramatically”

“My boss will support this idea if, it improves the company image”

“My boss will support this idea if, it helps us retain our market share”

“My boss will support this idea if, it improves our speed to market”

“Any more?”

“No, this is it more or less.”

“Do you know his priorities? The top three where he would put most of his energy, people and money?”

“Don’t know really.”

“What if you have to make a guess? Think about his talks with colleagues, his presentations, press releases etc.”

“It could be company reputation, profitability, and  speed”

“Ok let us go with it. Now look at your idea. What do you really like about your idea? How do you think it will fit into your boss’s top three priorities? How will it help the company?”

“I am not sure. I have not thought about it this way.”

“Would you spend time on something that is of no interest or relevance to you?”

“Certainly not.”

“Right. That will be the response you will get from your boss if you take your idea to him. Not because you have a bad idea, but because you have not thought about it well. Look at your idea from your boss’s perspective, and present it in that context. If you can’t do that, get back to your desk and do your homework. ”

People who come out with good ideas don’t work hard to help others understand the value of that idea. They don’t communicate the idea’s benefits or relevance convincingly. They don’t demonstrate the passion or the commitment required. As a result many ideas get killed. Not because the boss is dumb but because the person who proposes the idea is lazy.

Here is an excellent example of how it must be done. The marketing manager of a major insurance company got a group of colleagues to generate ideas for her. Her team processed the ideas and developed three interesting solutions. The next step was to take the solutions to the Managing Director for approval and budgets.

She refused to present the ideas as they were. Instead she created interesting Direct Mail Examples and posters for each of the concepts. Powerful copy and pictures brought the concept alive and made it easy for the MD to relate to it.  She got the approval in just one meeting.

In another case I know a friend took across copies of The Economic Times with imaginary headlines. These headlines communicated news about a break-through idea (my friend’s idea) from the company. That  triggered the CEO’s imagination and got him really interested.

Some times a clear demonstration that you have done your homework thoroughly, is a big plus point. A team working on a project wanted sponsorship and budgets. They knew only the MD could sanction it. They worked on a presentation to the MD and spent three weeks polishing it. They brought in a colleague who knew the MD really well. He asked all the tough questions and raised all the objections. This helped the group in smoothening the rough edges.

Finally they chose the junior most person, most passionate about the idea to present to the MD. The other team members were present observing the MD’s reactions. When the presentation was over the MD felt that the idea was very big and they were underestimating its potential. He sanctioned a bigger budget and also put them on to some specialists who could help. The idea got the support it deserved.

Another thing that comes in the way of idea acceptance is our ego. Here is a good example of this issue. A good friend went to the CEO of his company with a well thought through idea that could benefit one of the top three brands of the company. The CEO gave him a polite hearing and nothing happened. Our friend thought he had done a nice job but was frustrated that nothing was done.

As luck would have it he talked about the idea to his immediate boss, the R&D Chief. The R&D chief knew where the problem was. While the idea was sound, our friend was just one year old in the company and had no credibility or track record to warrant serious attention. So he spoke to the marketing chief to examine the idea. The marketing chief saw the power of the concept but felt that it required a lot of refinement before it could be presented to the MD. A cross-functional team worked on it to dot the i’s and cross the t’s. It was then presented to the MD. Our young friend was present in the meeting and saw the complete difference in the communication of the idea.

They say that walking the last mile is always difficult. Presenting an idea and getting acceptance from the people who matter is in itself a creative task.

It is not for the lazy or the weak minded.

“Would you say there is more work to do, after you have an idea?” Asked Prasna**

“Yes, indeed.”

“Then why do you spend so much time talking about generating ideas? Why don’t you spend more time helping people their ideas forward?”

“You have a point Prasna. I will do that.”

**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

If you want to know how to get ideas on demand, we must first know how we get ideas. I share here an explanation I gave to a 10 year old boy. He had wanted to know how we get ideas.

“We get ideas from our brains/minds. Our brains and minds already have lots of information stored there based on what we see, what we hear and what we experience. It is like one huge customized Wikipedia.

You keep pulling out information from there, as and when you want. The more often you use it, the faster you get information because you become an expert in getting information.”

“Like in Google?”

“Correct.”

“What about ideas? Is it the same way?”

“More or less. However in the case of ideas we may sometimes combine two different pieces of information and get a new idea.”

“Give me an example.”

“Do you like Vada Pav?”

“Yes, I love it.”

“The vada pav is an interesting example. You know the pav was always there. So was the vada. One day somebody simply thought of combining them. And we got vada pav!”

“Wow!”

If you are in business, here are a few suggestions I have for helping you get ideas on demand. The good news is that my suggestions are tried and tested. They are guaranteed – they work. The bad news is that you have to put in the effort, to get ideas on demand effortlessly!

Read biographies of successful inventors, business people. They are rich with information about how they solved problems, created new ideas etc. Just reading the books is not enough. Make notes. Talk about what you read to a friend. If possible send an e-mail about it to a customer or any one else. This way you will remember it. I can recall several stories, ideas, examples that happened 20 years ago, because I talk about them, write about them.

Ideas have a way of occurring to you when you least expect them. The first thing is to stay tuned, like a good radio receiver. (Imagine complaining about your car FM radio not working, when it is not even switched on!) The second thing is to capture the ideas immediately.(They tend to evaporate in seconds).  Keep a small note book and pen with you. Your cellphone could be a great device. Capture it as a note or send it as an sms to your wife/colleague/secretary. On some cell phones (iPhone for instance), you can simply create a voice memo.

Identify what triggers ideas for you. For me music is a great trigger. Travel is another trigger. Therefore I go prepared with a note book and a pen. Often in a music concert my mind goes on an overdrive generating ideas on a current project. I capture everything. People think I am mad, but so what?

Spend time on the internet at least 15 minutes a day on browsing for subjects of importance to your business. Bookmark sites that you find not just interesting but useful as well. One good example is www.springwise.com . I go to this site whenever I am looking for ideas. It has a huge database of ideas from all around the world, on various business categories.
I spend a lot of time on YouTube, especially on TED talks. The kind of inputs I get there is mind boggling.

When you want ideas what should you do, where should you go and whom should you talk to? Most people get stuck for ideas, because they do not have answers to these three important questions.  Prepare your checklist for each.  For instance if I am looking for ideas  regarding software or IT related stuff  I will talk to a set of friends. They are very different people. I ask each person the same question; and I get 10 different options!

Join networking sites like LinkedIn, Facebook etc. Be active, join groups relevant to you. Follow the discussion in the groups. Sometimes you may find them boring, but often you might find them useful. Make notes of what is useful for you. You can also post your questions there. People are happy to answer them – free!

Learn to define your problem or opportunity sharply in one single sentence. Often what you think of as the problem may not be the real one. You must address the real issue. Be careful about the assumptions you make. They limit the quality of answers you get. Here is an example. An NGO wanted to know “How do I increase the loyalty of my donor base” On probing and questioning the real issue came out to be “How do I get my donors to donate more frequently”. The second question got her fantastic answers. She had assumed that it was a loyalty issue! Do not ask questions mechanically. Questions must emanate from your genuine curiosity to know something better.

Surround yourself with honest friends. Honest friends are not afraid of telling you the truth and asking difficult questions. These are special people who will open your minds and help you think clearly. Caution: You may not like their questions, because it will make you come face to face with the truth and make you squirm. You will be tempted to avoid them and you will rationalize it by saying “Oh they will complicate things by asking too many questions. I do not have the time for it now.” You are fooling yourself. Very often you will end up redoing things because you had not done the home work thoroughly. These people help you do the home work well.

Also surround yourself with friends who are experts in some thing or the other. Remember, experts love solving problems and giving advice! (May not be free all the time.) Experts also tell you where to go, whom to meet and what to ask. Something you might never have known.
Many people think asking for help is admitting to the other person that you do not know. There is nothing wrong in asking for help. You can ask for help from any one. I often ask my driver about something and he comes out with very useful suggestions. If you do not ask, thou shall not get.

Use e-mail. Send a request to your friends regarding what you are working on. Friends are happy to help. I was recently writing an article on Gandhi for a book, and I wrote to 30 people for inputs. I got amazing stuff. Sometimes I use an online survey; that is very effective too.
Become members of professional bodies pertaining to your business. All members may not be up to your standard. Cultivate the few good ones.

Be a helpful resource for customers, associates and friends. They should feel comfortable asking you for help.  You will sometimes get unusual requests and in the process you will get to know new things. Asking and giving help is a reciprocal process.

Meet people who want to meet you. You might be afraid that they might waste your time. They will, if you let them. When people ask to see me I politely ask what they want to see me about. Often, I finish the work on phone. If a meeting is required I try to know more about the person, so when we meet I not only know what to expect, I also know what to ask . I always learn something new.

Master the art of asking questions.  The man who has the answers is clever, the man who asks the right questions is wise. ( I do not know who said this; I like it.)

Be an idea magnet. When people have interesting things to share they will reach out to you. I learn a lot through this process. People will also mail you interesting stuff. I get a lot of mail from friends on unusual new products, books, articles, interviews. Many things I did not know existed.

Collect books/materials on idea generation techniques. The more you read about them, the better the chances that you will use them. Create your own little tool kit for generating ideas. Why do you need a tool kit? Have you tried prying open a wooden case with you bare hands? Prying open your mind is tougher. These tools will help you open your mind and remove the clogs there. Most essential when you are looking for ideas.

When you go through my suggestions you might say, “All this will take too much time.” Just consider the example of instant coffee. You can make yourself a cup of instant coffee, in a matter of minutes. But do you know how much time it takes to produce instant coffee? It is an entire process, albeit fascinating. It takes several months – starting from buying the coffee beans in an auction, to packing that freeze dried instant coffee in that 50g jar!

The moral of the story: Invest time upfront on preparing the mind. Sow all the right seeds in it. Only then will you gets ideas on demand.

If you want instant cash from an ATM, you must have money in your bank. If you want instant ideas on demand, you must have done enough work on your mind.

“Ah! There you are. Do you practise what you preach?”

“Good Morning Prasna**. I practise, but don’t preach!”

“Clever. Do you know others who do many of the things you have talked about?”

” There are many. Here is what I have done. I asked several friends this question ‘How do you get your ideas?’. I am bringing out an e-book with all their tips.”

“That is smart. Now you are crowd sourcing writing a book! When will the book be ready.”

“By December 31, 2011. I am hoping to give that book as my New Year gift to friends and others who are interested.”

“Now that you have got over your inertia, will you be more regular in writing your blogs?”

“I promise.”

Picture by numstead available under a Creative Commons Attribution- licensed for commercial use.

 
**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

“What have I not done yet, Prasna?”

“Write a blog on Steve Jobs. Some of your friends have suggested you should write one. Is it not?”

“Well, I am not keen to write just another blog on Steve Jobs.”

“What do you mean by just another blog on Steve Jobs?”

“I do not know anything about Steve Jobs that has not been published yet.”

“Why don’t you share your views on the man?”

“I want to do something else instead.”

“Like what?”

“Remember he did not make just another computer, just another movie, just another cell phone. Therefore I do not want to write just another blog on Steve Jobs.”

“What do you propose to do then?”

“I read something a Spanish doctor Javier Martinez said about Steve Jobs: ‘He was the soul of an idea for many people who want to do things better, differently.’  I think he captured the essence of Steve Jobs beautifully.”

“That is a nice statement. But what do you propose to do?”

“All I propose to do is to help people who want to make things better, make things different. That is my tribute to Steve Jobs.”

“Is that all?”

“That is all.”

“How will you do that?”

“Well, to begin with I will start with my own work. I will ask these two questions every time I do something. ‘How can I make this better? How can I make this different?”

“You know what you are getting into?”

“I think I do.”

“Something in your voice tells me that you have made up your mind.”

“Yes.”

“Good luck then”

 
**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach

“Well, you can say that. However the man who says this emphatically is Richard Branson, in an article I read recently.” (Click here http://goo.gl/Ffvo1 to read the full article)

“So what is special about this article?”

“He has some down-to-earth advice for CEOs.  Especially when things go wrong. What is interesting for me is to read about the fears of a CEO. He talks about the fear of embarrassment and how that prevents bosses from doing there jobs properly.”

“If you are a CEO which of his points will appeal to you most?”

Here are the 9 points things that appealed to me.

1. If your business is disappearing, face your  team and start looking into what is going on- sooner the better

2. Leave the safety of your office and sample the product and service yourself. Try the competition’s products and services too.

3. When you have uncovered the problem, get the right people working to fix it.

4. Be honest,be blunt, talk straight, own up your mistake. Explain what solution you have now come up with along with your team. Explain what you want now from your people.

5. Don’t hold back information. Don’t pass the blame. Don’t play games.

6. People do not expect leaders to be infallible; they expect them to make informed decisions.

7. Don’t make the beginner’s mistake of firing those responsible when things go wrong in implementation.

8. Innovation is about change – adapt to changing circumstances when things don’t work out the way you expected.

9. When things go wrong, take the hit on your chin, and move on. Just move forward. Don’t live in the past.

“Why did these points appeal to you so much?”

“Because I know that when you try something new, things may not happen exactly as planned. Sometimes things fail too.If we treat these set backs as speed-breakers rather than failures, a lot more innovations can benefit organisations. More than anything else Branson makes the CEO’s role abundantly clear in the context of making innovations happen. Especially when the CEO makes a mistake and things go wrong. His points are razor sharp and make a lot of sense.”

“Isn’t this piece adapted from his latest  book ‘Business Stripped Bare’ ?   Have you read the book ?”

“Yes, it is. No I have not read the book yet. But I will; sooner than later. I think I can learn a lot about what can go wrong with implementing an innovative idea and what to do about it.”

**Prasna Rao is an unusual friend. He appears every time I start writing something. He is almost always there when I am writing my blog. He asks questions that are razor sharp and often makes me uncomfortable. He is relentless till I answer his questions in simple, clear terms. You might find that he is most of the times asking questions that you want to. Therefore he is on your side, while he is putting me in the dock. I call him my Uninvited Coach