Entrepreneurship - Good Trend in India

There is an interesting trend in India that is catching up and it is here for good reasons. More people want to work in garage. These days, more importance is given to "entrepreneurship" and after having discussion with few people, it appears to me that many has entrepreneurship or what they call "doing on their own" on the cards. What is even more interesting is that they want to do it sooner than later.

For example, one of the young professional whom i met sometime back told me that he wanted to startup in another three to four years. Another one told that he wants to take break to build a business that will generate. Also, if we look around, there are many success stories in India and even we have mentors who are serial entrepreneurs to guide through the process. There are people who give you infrastructure for your startup, mentor you throughout and even there are folks to give you the idea.

It appears to me that we are at the very last days of being "low end service providers" and entrance of "innovative power" - a paradigm shift. I see innovation is something that adds value to both who innovate and those who consume the innovation and in my view entrepreneurship is right step towards innovation. We see  right signs from bodies like Nasscom organizing events which gains a lot of attention these days and we are also witnessing a lot of meetups among like minded people in different cities. If you passionate about starting up "startup" at some point of time, you got to watch out now. Sow the seed now and let it germinate.

Problem Solving - Tools are Different, Techniques are Same

It has been a while and restless search to desperately find something, something that is invaluable to me - the experience in solving problems. Without knowing what to do, I have been wandering here and there for a while (close to seven years) only to find that problems can be difficult, the problems can be different, but the solution is common. The solution is to solve them. During my wandering, I found that algorithm of solving problems is same. But the application of algorithm will be different. Let me explain with an example.

In order to explain with a software engineering example, let us take "traveling salesman problem". This algorithm gives near optimal solution to reach nodes of a graph. This is a single algorithm but can be applied in courier distribution, aircraft industry to optimally fly aircraft between destinations and many more. A mathematician cannot say that he cannot solve airline problem if he can solve traveling salesman problem. If this can work for math, can't it work for solution problems?

Yes, it will work perfectly fine for solving problems. If we have experience in solving a single problem, it gives us knowledge to solve many problem and we understand the process of solving problem. When we are trying to solve the problem, it is the approach that gives us solution. The solution is not really the outcome of knowledge you possess but an outcome of the process you follow, the approach you choose and your ability to think through the problem - techniques are same, tools may be different. In order to solve the most difficult problems, first you need solve one problem and the rest is matter of time.

This is one of the priceless lessons that I learned when I wandered like a mad guy. :-)

Innovation - Simplification and Abstraction

I had a very vague understanding about innovation and trying to get good perspective by reading books, sharing experiences and seeing innovation live. Innovation is all about seeing things differently when your trousers go down :-). In my life, I had a great opportunity to live very closely with a person, who, in my perspective is very innovative. She is my elder sister who always moves through the problems to find solutions. She literally sees things in a different angle and many times she solved my problems. She has a great skill - she can simplify a problem and register the problem/solution at a very abstract level so that it can be applied to a different unrelated problem.

Innovation is about abstraction and simplification. You are working on a problem and it is highly likely that you will come up with a solution. This experience gets registered in your mind. Whenever you encounter a similar problem, you just apply it. You become machine. But on the other hand, the innovation is more about applying your experience and learning to a totally unrelated problem. That is humane. The first step towards innovation is simplification and abstraction. Then comes, the application of acquired knowledge.

Creating a WoW

We, as a human being are like goats. By and large, we go with majority. When so many people in a room say that "world revolves around me", we will also agree with it. If they say, they want to create a wow, all of a sudden and without understanding the science and art of innovation, we will jump in and say "yes, we will". Up to this, it is quite good. At least you have the curiosity. But the worst things is many of us tend to stay in the same place without taking any initiative. We just want to build a marvelous building at this moment without any foundations/hard work. Creating a wow or innovation is easy. But it is not so easy and does not come just like that. I am not a innovator and I have distantly worked with some innovators. Here is my point of view.

Many of us are working on creating wow for others. I don't question the willingness and focus to create wow for the others (mainly customers). But I do like to ask you a question. Have anyone did something for you that impressed you. Otherwise, did anyone in your life created a wow for you. How does a wow smells, what do you feel about it, does it speak to you? When someone did it, did you feel that you were in heaven. Without understanding what a wow is and without even experiencing something, how can you create a wow. Even if you create a wow, how can you say that it is "wow". Creating a wow once or twice is easy and may be gotten due to luck. Do you know how to do it consistently? Do you have the magic of converting the air as wonderful music like a flute.

First of all, may it be innovation or quality or productivity, it sucks without daily improvements. The daily improvements are the foundation. Here my point is not the final product (the big idea) but it is what we do to bring that big idea. The knowledge we gather, the type of people we interact, the number of minutes, hours we think and so on. Without focusing these foundations, creating a wow is just a lip service and I am sure that it is never going to happen. Innovation is a chemical reaction, the reaction that takes place in your brain and you really need to work hard and be consistent in fusing your neural circuit.

Creating wow is not an one time event. We need to come up with techniques where we can create wows like an engine. The customer may not like to stop with just one idea. She wants two, three, and infinite. The ideas are going to give an impression , and it is also true, that you care for her (though it is not the only way to impress). So, if you are consistent, you will be in the game. Else the customer is going to say that you are outdated.

Another thing that we are doing is "ritualize" wow creation rather than internalizing it. When you practice as a ritual, you do it but without involvement, passion and halfheartedly. After internalizing and comprehending it, you do it more with involvement and wholeheartedly. This is another key thing that we need to watch out for.

The final thing is give people the resources and freedom. The resources can be in terms of time and environment that is suitable for creating wow. You cannot expect an idea when people are squeeched and used to maximum possible extent. If you ask a stressed guy, he can only give mediocre ideas. Give them time to think and then expect sparkling ideas.

The above discussed things are my viewpoint. I look forward for your response/comments to learn more on this.

Technological Innovation - How simple is it?

This is the time, when so many companies are sharply cutting back, the creative thinkers and innovation managers talk about continuous investment in innovation. They argue that the companies should look for opportunity to cut back on operations but not on innovation. Their concern seems to be valid. While many companies are giving a bleak outlook, there are very few companies growing even in the tough times. Are those companies well managed or do they happen to delight the investors just by mere coincidence? Whatever it is. The innovation is going to be a key differentiating factor. Many companies say that they are "most innovative company". But the real fact is that they aren't. No one other than the company says that they are innovative. They speak "Greek and Latin". Without understand what is innovation and simple way to move forward, most of the companies are going to be in no man's land. Is there are simple way to identify where the market is going? It is simple to say "Stay Abreast".

Innovation is doing things in a way that no one has done before. Innovation has clear business results both for the producer and consumer. For example, consider the case of Edison. He had so many inventions and he marketed all the inventions.  He produced so many products and sold them (obviously for a profit) and the inventions changed the quality of life of the consumers. Business results are key to innovation. All innovations must have Win-Win proposition.

Innovation can be classified into two types - blue ocean and red ocean. In the case of red ocean, you primarily focus on improving or redefining existing things and few of your competitors are doing the same. Blue Ocean is all about creating new markets. In the current climate, it is difficult to create new markets in realistic terms. However, you can be the first to swim in a red ocean.  

Innovation is catching up with the trend and moving along with trend. The nature spawns so many species but only very few species survive. The same is the case for innovation. When there are so many technologies, the fittest one survives. However, for someone who is innovating, the probability of identifying the right one is very low and hence there has to be a portfolio in innovation. One should try so many things and only then he/she can innovate few things (Darwinian law). But one can increase the probability of innovation just by observing the developments consistently. Who believed that "Web 2.0" would be a big success. But the companies who had Web 2.0 in their portfolio where successful.

How to spot on the developments? Simple. Just subscribe to lot of newsletter services and do a data mining at a simple level every month. At the end of few months, you can see where the world is going. Once you see the trend in a specific direction, maximize your energy and focus on high traction area. When you do this, the probability of uncovering something new and solid (with tangible business results) is more. Innovation needs a lot of hard work and never comes that easy.

Are you asking me, did you try it? My honest answer is "No". However, I wanted to try this approach towards innovation and get my idea reviewed by you :).