Jugaad Innovation - Jugaad King

Jugaad innovators are able to get more from less by applying frugality in every activity they perform at every step along the value chain. Their frugality shows up not only when they utilize the natural resources and limited finance, but also when they save time and energy by relaying on their partners to do the work rather than trying to do everything by themselves. Some of the frugal approaches employed by Jugaad innovators to gain more from less are listed and explained below. Reuse and Recombine Rather than creating something entirely new from scratch, Jugaad innovators are more likely to reuse or seek new combinations of existing technologies or resources. Zhongxing Medical, a Chinese medical device maker, borrowed Digital Direct X-ray equipment from its parent company Beijing Aerospace. It was use in everyday application like chest X-rays. Similarly Jugaad innovators in African countries are leveraging existing cellphone networks to devise frugal business models that ...

Jugaad Innovators find opportunity in adversity in 3 different ways 1. Re framing or changing the lens through which they perceive the situation they face. 2. Making constraints work for them rather than against them 3. Being quick to act in response to the opportunities they see We saw in the previous post how O.P. Bhatt (former chairman of SBI) used the first way to do the most with what he had and brought the Parivartan. He looked at the same situation with a different angle to make the most with the current situation and the given resources. We also saw in a previous post how Kanak Das used the second way to make the constraints work for him rather than working against him. Das used to ride his bicycle to work and faced a lot of bumpy roads on the way. Being frustrated with his situation he modified his bike to collect energy every time the front tyre hit the pot holes. This energy is then used to power the rear tyre and accelerate the bike. Professor Anil Gupta of IIM ...

O.P. Bhatt State Bank of India (SBI) is India’s largest and oldest bank with 2 Lakhs employees and 20,000 branches across India. Appointed in 2006, O.P. Bhatt former chairman of the bank was aware of the immense creative potential of SBI’s large employee base and was eager to find ways to unleash it. Dr. Prasad Kaipa The problem faced by him was, since SBI is partially owned by the Government of India, which in turn is run by risk-averse bureaucrats who vet every hiring and firing decisions. As Dr. Prasad Kaipa, a CEO coach who has advised Bhatt, points out “it was clear to Bhatt from the start that he could neither ‘get the right people on the bus not get the wrong people off the bus”. Rather than feeling that his glass was half empty, he decided to do the most with what he has. He used his superior communication skill to develop an internal communication targeted towards staff. He wanted his employees to feel proud of SBI’s distinguished 200 year old history. It was done...