Innovation System - "How to" in 9 Slides!

On Linkedin I posted Crafitti's 9 Slides on Setting up an "Innovation System" 

The 9 Slides are 

1. INNOVATION IS A HUGE CHALLENGE !

2. CHALLENGE - INNOVATION SUCCESS ANXIETY

3. CHALLENGE - PSYCHOLOGICAL INERTIA OF CORE COMPETENCE

4. NEEDED - A SYSTEM OF INNOVATION

5. "TRIAL AND ERROR" "ARCHIMEDES BATH TUB" "EDISON'S NEEDLE IN THE HAYSTACK" - will not work!

6. THE SYSTEM OF INNOVATION - AT ALL LEVELS

7. AN INTEGRATED THINKING APPROACH - BEYOND ANALYSIS

8. SOUL-ALVIS-CRAFT IS THE FRAMEWORK FOR INNOVATION SYSTEM

9. BLUEPRINT FOR AN INNOVATION ENTERPRISE

You can access the 9 Slides at the Link 9-SLIDES TO INNOVATION SYSTEM

What are India's National Interests?

What are India’s National Interests?

The interests have to be derived from the definition of a Nation state. Community of people living together in a piece of land that they own, where they live according to a system of governance and have built a common shared culture and above all have complete sovereignty is called a Nation. For example India before independence was not a Nation as it didn't have sovereignty of taking its own decisions. We became a nation only after 1947, well, arguably. Well we have an ancient history – greatness indeed, as per history, was a casual character of the people, kingdoms and culture that evolved in this land. 

Whether one agrees or not, perhaps we can claim that ancient India and our scriptures had lot of knowledge and it's lost substantially. The fact remains the industrial revolution in Europe especially in UK started through a new way of looking at things called scientific method. Science explains the reality in deterministic and repeatable manner which can be replicated by anyone following the scientific method which is clearly articulated. Also science is open to correction, evolution and rejection of its theories based on new and contrary evidence. 

All said and done our nation missed that step-change of scientific method leading to industrial revolution. Europe utilized it and in fact exploited it to the hilt. Applying science to make or build things which can perform different functions, productive functions leads to technology. Steam engine that drove the industrialization and the motor car our Nation missed. The computer or so called information based world that was born around the second world war was also missed by us as India was not a nation at that time. Below key National interests that the author feels should be protected by India as well as pursued with intensity that we have not seen in last 7 decades.

1. Sovereignty at all costs If someone had told my grandfather in 1915 that India in 2015 will actually be 3 different nations, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, he would have laughed. Let's say if I tell you if we do not wake up now India in 2057 will become 5 nations or may be more, you will laugh at me. However the momentum is clear about how the sovereignty of our Nation is being slowly divided. How do I maintain my sovereignty and sovereignty of India along with the land and its people is the major task of all of us? To carry out that task of maintaining the nation as well as forming certain rules we have the government. Our expectation from the chosen representatives is that they should articulate our national interests. Any mechanism that may lead to any threat to sovereignty of the nation should be nipped in the bud. Given the trend of division of India into three countries as well as 800 years of rule by the invaders, I am very cautious and extremely aware of forces that would like to nip out any assertiveness of the land, our people, our government, and our sovereignty. Nation by definition leads to the above national interests. If our chosen representatives are not doing their job, it is our interest and our job to help them by pointing out various potential pitfalls that may be visible to us. After sovereignty comes development.

2. Learner Nation The national interest of Indian nation today is ability of its people to raise questions and in fact ask questions that don’t have answers and questions that reject those answers that does not stand the crucible of scientific method. How to build this ability in our people is the national interest. Asking questions and using integrative thinking to answer those questions in a scientific manner rather than using the centuries old established belief system. To impart the thinking tools and techniques we have devised an education system. As of now Indian education system has huge weaknesses. The national interest is to give our people an education system which makes them learners and thinkers besides giving the known skills and knowledge. Building an education or a learning system is our biggest need. Further, proliferation of the learning system to every citizen of India is the key interest. Develop an education system which focus on questions rather than answers, learning rather than passing exams and based on science rather than one on belief.

3. Invention based Businesses Next national interest is to build what I call invention based businesses. In India traditionally business has meant trading. Someone has something I find that someone else needs it so I create a trading business and get my commission in between. I will search and then supply to the place where it is needed. I am not going to invent. In fact why should I invest my money in inventing? Our businesses are not built on inventing. Instead of make in India, we need India invent. India invent should be the business mantra with traders given low value

4. Technology creation using science is our national interest because that gives us maximum long term strength. What are the key technologies that India has given to the world in last 7 decades? How should be inculcate the technology creation DNA in our people in a natural manner. 

5. Self-Reliance in fulfilling Basic needs of the population What exactly do we mean by self-reliance? We have diverse population of 1.25 billion which has basic needs. Are we self-reliant for basic needs today? All the basic needs can be met potentially from self production - meaning whatever India produce or make or create. 

6. Inequality Reduction Reduce inequality especially the wealth property right through birth. Besides the basic needs there are other human needs as per Maslow hierarchy of needs that need to be fulfilled. However as per data as well as existing information in India we have a substantial population whose basic needs are not fulfilled. On the other hand we have extremely rich Indians, very few obviously, whose fraction of wealth potentially can feed the population for a generation. This is called inequality – the uneven distribution of wealth is worldwide phenomenon. Thomas Piketty has published a book - Capital in the 21st century and he produced a remarkable reason for continuing inequality and in fact increasing gap between poor and rich. The rich keeps on getting richer and poor keeps on getting poor generation after generation because of one major factor, i.e., transfer of property from one generation to the next generation - basically what my parents has will be transferred to me and I will transfer it to my children and so on. He found that poor remained poor through generations and rich keeps on getting richer generation by generation. Obviously in India with 1/7th of world population this difference is extreme. The biggest problem, as I see in the world as well as very acute in India, is the increasing Inequality generation by generation. The uneven distribution of wealth because of transfer of wealth to progeny. The right to the property of my father and my father's right to give away his property and his father's property to me. So one national interest should be to look at how to minimize the inequality or stating otherwise how to reduce the difference between the extremely poor and extremely rich in India so that we can have self reliance in fulfilling the basic needs of whole population.

ALVIS for Innovation and Decision Making Talk at Dr Reddy's Labs

(**** Talk at DRL Science Day 07 January 2016, Hyderabad ****)

ALVIS for Innovation and Decision Making

Navneet Bhushan

Abstract

In broad terms, we define innovation as successful creation of change through ideas. We propose that most innovation attempts fail because we overemphasise success from the very beginning of the process. Further two main challenges of innovation are identified as generating strong ideas and making strong choices. What makes an idea and a choice “strong” is an integrative thinking involving three dormant dimensions which we identify as value, inventive, and systems thinking. Our overemphasis on analytical and logical thinking orients our collective mindset towards a particular emphasis on quick and first perceived successful idea or choice. We propose in this task an integrative thinking framework that incorporates value, inventive and systems thinking along with analytical and logical thinking into the Analytical, Logical, Value, Inventive and Systems thinking (ALVIS) dimensions. Further, we explain the innovation crafting process involving SOUL-ALVIS-CRAFT as an integrated framework for making innovative organizations.  Further we describe in comprehensive detail how to be an innovation co-crafter using ALVIS thinking.  

o   An Innovation Co-Crafter is a Simpleton, Scientist and Saint - who starts along with people in a system (experienced domain experts) to reach to the SOUL of the system. He starts every time as a simpleton - then he becomes a scientist and finally achieves sainthood - reaching and delivering a wisdom of the system to effect change that is needed - making the system as close to Ideal as is possible. In this journey - he creates systemic change along with people in the system.

o   Every time the co-crafter starts as a simpleton who has multiple lenses to view reality and many times creates new lenses to look at reality - during these adventures in wonderland he behaves like a scientist – experimenting, exploring, understanding through the steps of SOUL - See, Observe, Understand and Live - after the simpleton has reached to the SOUL of the system, he starts the change process needed - a change that impacts all around him. Slowly the wisdom gleaned from this becomes the new change that the system needs and experts start developing their expertise in the new change!

o   A co-crafter is a simpleton who becomes a scientist and then achieves sainthood by working with a system and the people in the system to make the system as close to an ideal system as is possible - He has to be humble, has to accept that he doesn’t know and actually need to reach the SOUL of the system by learning to See, Observe, Understand and Live (SOUL) the system. Achieving Sainthood from being a simpleton every time is a learning process!

o   A co-crafter takes the organization that he works with to the Simplicity on the other side of complexity - one has to go through complexity. This side of simplicity will keep us simpletons - I hope you can connect with being Simpleton at this side of complexity - being a Saint is on other side of complexity and exploring complexity is being a scientist!

o   The co-crafter takes the system through a journey of simplicity from this side of complexity to the other side of complexity, breaking and many times shattering the mountains of complexity!

Learning is the Key

·         Complex Learning Happens in an environment of High Challenge Low Threat through Immersion in multiple authentic experiences and then active processing of these experiences to glean meaning–The Innovation co-crafter focuses on the above three for all “creative learners”

·         What is needed is an approach that is less control more creation, less management more on-its-own, less of post-facto data analysis, more of empiricism and experimentation - less of hierarchies more of networks, less of pyramidal thinking more of all-inclusive thinking. We have to wake up to the fact that world is self-organizing!

·         Three Key Questions?

o   Understanding the world around you

§  Discover yourself and your business – Make your model of the world – articulate that model

§  Key Techniques/Methodologies

·         TRIZ  - Inventive Thinking                                                            

·         Scenario Planning/Crisis Gaming/Seminar Gaming           

·         The Scientific Method                                                                   

·         The Science of Networks/Social Networks

·         Theory of Evolution

o   Understanding your customers and markets

§  Describe and Develop your Business– Identify key opportunities and problems – Develop possible strategic directions that your business can take

§  Key Techniques/Methodologies/Subjects

·         Strategy                                                                              

·         Intellectual Property Systems   

·         Understanding Wealth and Money             

·         Globalization                                                  

·         Theories of Innovation                 

o   Understanding your business

§  Deploy and Measure your Business – What is working – How you are making decisions about your business

§  Key Techniques/Methodologies/Subjects

·         Why and how your Business can fail?               

·         Systems Thinking

·         Digital Disruptions                                           

·         Value, Lean and Quality Thinking

·         Theories of Decision Making                      

*****

Key Bullet Points of the talk

(a) ALVIS Thinking (Analytical Logical Value Inventive and Systems thinking)

(b) See Observe Understand and Live (SOUL)

(c) Scenario Planning with System operators

(d) ALVIS for new Concept creation

(e) CRAFT (communicate relate allow follow-up turn-around)

(f)  Designing an innovative organization

(g) How to be an Innovation Co-Crafter

(h) Conclusions and Q&A

*****

The agenda for the day 

 

What I wrote on Linkedin in 2015

In 2015 I wrote 5 posts on Linkedin.

Just a brief summary with links to the posts for starting the 2016 - a fresh year!

1. StartUp Lessons - Innovation Consulting - Crafitti Story

Jan 6, 2015

 

  The StartUp Lessons from 7 years of Crafitti consulting - the story of Crafitti was the main themewith following lessons (a year later - I must say just reinforced)

• IT HAS TO COME FROM WITHIN YOU! – Discover your Passion!
• YOU have to define what you are doing!
• YOU will become a CATEGORY in someone’s mind! Create your own category!
• YOU have to invest time to understand Value to each Customer
• Create a system
• A system to understand and deliver Value to your clients as soon as possible
• Remember Everyone is you customer and you are everyone’s customer – as “Ideas” can come from anywhere
• Understand – World, Customers and Business – its your responsibility!

2. Innovation - Software, India and Entrepreneurship

 Jan 9, 2015

Key messages from three interviews after starting Crafitti was the content on which I built this write up.

....Then, what lessons did you learn from your failures?We were told many times to get out of the room when we presented our ideas to potential investors and potential customers. I run a consulting agency for innovation and meet new start-ups regularly. At that time, I thought because the professors at the university also consult the companies, we could approach the professors with our innovation frameworks. But it did not go smoothly. Personally, I have failed many times in business and in trying to apply these new methods and frameworks for innovation. But I have learnt that you can empower people just by saying good words.

3. The Way We Solve Problems - Creative vs Methodological

 Feb 11, 2015

This post was turned out to be most popular of all 5 of my posts on Linkedin. The key message was

How can we be proactive in hunting problems -

  The engineering mind - always will reduce the problem into smaller more manageable problems while an artist will always try to construct patterns from observation.

.... before the ideation process - what was the state of your mind - whether it was more right brained excited or left brain excited will impact how you solve the problem.

4. Age of Intelligent Machines - What will Man do - Open Evolution

 Jun 23, 2015

 From the age of machines to the age of information, we will be moving to the age of Mind. A rather logical evolution of humanity and human created reality. Here, I must invoke evolution - and not the survival of the fittest advocated by popular press and wrongly attributed to Darwin, but, evolution which we can call  "Open Evolution". 

The "Open Evolution" and "Unpredictability of Evolution" does not allow us the luxury of reducing our options of the future. Rather, my hypothesis is that with integration of Space-Time with Energy-Matter and now Information, i.e., STEMI, we will be integrating the STEMI with Mind - an unexpected explosion of creativity that evolution has not yet seen. 

 

5. Why Innovation Attempts Fail?

 Nov 4, 2015

 The attempts fail because of a peculiar propensity to start the attempt NOT with identification of needed change - assumed that everyone knows and we also know what is needed to be changed - BUT with How to make "whatever you change or whatever way you change" successful?

I call this Success Anxiety.   This anxiety is so overwhelming that we are blinded to seeing or putting an attempt to find out what change is needed - "why to change something that anyway is working?"  

WISHING THE READERS A WONDERFUL 2016 

keep on Crafting Innovation !