JUGAAD

 Jugaad Innovation  A frugal and flexible approach to Innovation for the 21^st Century by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, and Simone Ahuja ; Published by  Random House ; Pages 318 ; Price Rs. 399/-

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“Jugaad” means finding an innovative solution to a problem springing from extremely limited resources. The book under review is co-authored by the Cambridge-based Professor, Jaideep Prabhu, the US-based innovation strategist Navi Radjou, and Simone Ahuja, founder of a market consultancy based in the US and Mumbai.

This book begins with Simone’s meeting with Mansukh Prajapati who has designed a fridge that costs Rs 2500/- and is made of clay (it is called Mitticool ) and works  without electricity. Prajapati’s innovation has made it possible for even people in rural India to have access to cool water and the option to store fruit and vegetables for even three days. Prajapati was not an engineer—actually he had not even finished schooling.  A sterling example of innovation.  We can observe in India many such examples which have become an inalienable part of folklore.

 Diesel engines are attached to carts and result in a form of motorized transport. These are used in Punjab and christened Jugaad.

 The book has provided a variety of examples available in other countries like China, Brazil, Kenya and a whole lot of other places. The book argues that the West must look at these places for a new approach to frugal and flexible innovation and success in hypercompetitive market places.

 Fundamental to Jugaad  are six principles:

1. Seek opportunity in adversity

2. Do more with less

3.Think and act flexibly

4. Keep it simple

5. Include the margin

 6. Follow your heart.

We are also provided details of some of the Fortune 500 companies to see how they are leveraging the same principles to drive innovation in a resource constrained environment. Facebook, Google, PepsiCo, Philips, Renault-Nissan find a place here.  Of course the Nano story is there too along with examples from Siemens, Suzlon, Yes Bank which help to prove that Jugaad is the route for everyone.

New ways of doing business require the following six job skills.

1)  Resilience
2) Frugality
3) Flexibility
4) Simplicity
5) Empathy
6) Passion

These six traits are translations of the same six principles of jugaad innovation applied to the individual.

Consumer behaviour in many developing countries is very different from what we see in other parts of the world.When the priciest shampoos are packaged in sachets, they make the same premium brands accessible to a larger set of consumers who may not be able to afford the same shampoo in a 500ml pack. The Nano is a great example of making a car accessible to people who couldn’t afford a car.

Think of the features that exist in your cell phone or your camera that you have had to pay for but have never used. Software is bloated with useless features that makes the price out of reach of the masses.

The book has several examples of human ingenuity. Innovations often spring from the human effort of overcoming insurmountable constraints.

  Arguing that jugaad is a useful complement to the structured approach to innovation the authors emphasize that jugaad innovation delivers the most impressive results when it is practised in complex and volatile environments characterized by – rapid changes, widespread resource scarcity, frugal and diverse customers, industry immaturity, and exploding interconnectivity. To help CEOs integrate jugaad into their organizations, the authors have compiled a Do’s and Don’ts list, which argues that CEOs should not try to implement jugaad in a systematic top down fashion; they need not patent jugaad, but rather monetize them, and use Web 2.0 collaboration tools to harness customer and partner creativity. The book cites cases of large corporations from around the world—Google, Facebook, 3M, Apple, Best Buy, GE, IBM, Nokia, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, Tata Group, Siemens, Yes Bank, Renault–Nissan, Suzlon, SAP and more—that are actively practicing jugaad innovation.

The authors are of the view that jugaad innovators,when confronted with adversity, do not retrench but embrace the difficulties and learn from experience.

 The book is filled with examples which affirm this compelling argument. So, be it Benjamin 

Franklin whose jugaad innovation, Franklin stove, delivered ‘more with less’ or Mansukh Prajapati,maker of Mitticool, or Tulsi Tanti who founded Suzlon Wind; all  exemplify the fact that jugaad innovators are adept at taking on the 

arduous challenges, demonstrate resilience, 

ingenuity and seek opportunity in adversity.

The world has been talking about frugal innovation to deal with a world that is grappling with unemployment, recession and rapid depletion of the earth’s resources.

Replete with stirring  stories of resourceful jugaad innovators and entrepreneurs in emerging and developed markets  the book is a resourceful guide to help readers unlock the value of principles of jugaad  in enabling innovation. A must read for corporate leaders and entrepreneurs alike.

 Sam Pitroda emphasises in his introduction to the book -- India has to focus on innovations that meet the need of people at the bottom of the pyramid- for them, in which they participate and which they can own. These should be affordable, without compromising quality. While India has a tradition of improvisational innovation, this has to be scaled to a system of frugal engineering which can have tremendous benefits for solving challenges unique to our country. The country needs innovation processes that are ‘frugal’ in terms of the resources required and have a ‘frugal’ impact on the earth’s resources. Given the sheer resource constraint and the unprecedented challenges faced by the present business environment, not only in the developing economies, but also in the advanced economies, companies are posed with a question of what kind of innovation do companies need so as to enhance and sustain their competitiveness, and how should they embed that kind of innovation in their organizations. As an answer to this question, this book comes as a “How To” book for all the CEOs and entrepreneurs. Jugaad literally means an improvised arrangement or work-around which needs to be used because of lack of resources, i.e., a way of managing things by minimal resources. It is very common in emerging markets.

The authors have struck a note of caution--- businesses need to integrate the structured model of innovation of the emerged markets with the free-flowing jugaad model to create dynamic balance between both approaches in their organization, and not replace the existing structured innovative practices with jugaad technology.

The book is well written and offers a method of solving problems speedily and frugally through creation of a platform on which future innovation can develop.

P.P.Ramachandran.

 18/02/2018