Jugaad Innovation - Jugaad King

Jugaad Innovators do not reinvent, they improvise. There are some simple methods that can be implemented to enhance improvement at regular stages. Improving on regular basis will ensure that the need never arises of reinventing. Some of these methods are given below and explained briefly. Break Rules and Shift Values When Necessary In July 2003, IBM’s then CEO Sam Palmisano organized a ‘Value Jam’. A three day long online brainstorming session in which all employees were invited to renew and update IBM’s century-old value system. This collaborative exercise re-contextualized the very notion of innovation and IBM’s core values. Such activities ensure that there is always innovation happening within the company, not just product ideas but cultural and working environment wise too. Don’t Let Inflexible Investors and Customers Dictate Your Innovation Agenda Henry Ford, founder of Ford motors said “If I had asked customers what they wanted, they would have said ‘faster hors...

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 ...

Few years ago if you told a typewriter making company that, soon the computers will be taking over the world and typewriters will be useless. The company would have considered shutting itself. But the company that once made typewrites is still making International Business machines. The company was rightly named International Business Machines (IBM), earlier it made typewriters; now it makes computers and corporate communication solutions. According to Carol Dweck, professor of psychology at Stanford University, most leaders operate with one of two mindsets, a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. Leaders with fixed mindset often tent to use the tried and tested ways to overcome challenges. They believe that their qualities are carved in stone and they prefer to stick to the rules. In contrast, leaders with growth mindset believe that their basic qualities can be nurtured and improved through efforts. Jugaad innovators are endowed with a growth mindset. IBM is one such company tha...