Innovations in India - a Perspective

This is in response to innovation in India v/s USA and; Europe.

US and UK have built institutions like financial institutions, judicial system and Intellectual property rights in the last 200 years or more. 

India, though geographically single entity, was divided amongst various states until independence. (Different institutions (in different princely states) were working at different levels of maturity, largely suboptimal level.) The above mentioned institutions (at global maturity level) are taking firm ground now in India. Thanks to IT revolution & reforms in 1990, we have now come to the present stage. 

In view of the above, India has done relatively well and will do better. To give perspective, does anybody talk about the same about Pakistan, Srilanka, ...(the examples were deliberately chosen to contrast.) 

It does not mean that we should be complacent. Understanding these soft structural issues will help in arriving at optimal solution and the road map. 

If our elders could do so well in spite of institutional hurdles; we should do much better. Now that, they already have proven that Indians are good in IT (Infosys, TCS...), management (Ram Charan, Nitin Nohria, Pandit of Citibank, Indra Nooyi of Pepsi), high end mfg. (Tatas, large no. of auto ancillaries..) 

I am sure we will deliver many innovative products within a few years. 

BTW, before Alexander expanded his empire, Greeks used to lament the same way. And Alexander conquered the whole known world then!  

In a way, it is happening. There are more than 26Mn. MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) in India. Out of them nearly 80% (approx. 2Mn.) are Micro enterprises. I am sure, many among them, have the ability to become the super entrepreneurs. 

The entrepreneurial ecosystem of Seed Funding, Angel Investors, VCs, ... is growing. Govt. has formed a task force to help these MSMEs.  

Whereas, we have lot of hopes in private entrepreneurial ecosystem. Government bodies are also joining hands with private initiatives as it is happening with Economic Times' Power of Ideas initiative. In this initiative already 850 are shortlisted in the first round out of >16K business ideas presented 

http://www.ideas.economictimes.com/FirstCutOffList.aspx  

TiE (The Indus Entrepreneurs) local offices are conducting events to galvanize the ecosystem. http://bangalore.tie.org/  

There are many such initiatives running currently at various incubators and under the guidance of many angel investors. Additionally, there are many seed funding agencies located outside the major cities. 

It's happening. People can provide their inputs & insights in such initiatives conducted by various associations including TiE.

Thoughts on Passion & Success

Passion:Passion is a strong inclination to achieve in specific field without affecting the others' rights and without neglecting our own duties. Whatever crosses these boundaries will be obsession.  

Success: Success, in my view, is a function of Ideas*Execution*Reality., ie. Success = f (Ideas*Execution*Reality) In management context, I have elaborated on the same for high performance organizations. (Kindly visit  ...Elements of High Performance Business Initiatives)

Reality: Reality, here is being referred to as the one which is generally termed as, 'Fate/Destiny/Karma'. We can't decide on our parents, country of birth, social status, initial education, genes, situations around us,... Reality (Fate/Destiny/Karma) has the greatest effect on success. 

Ideas, emerge from the person's passion, knowledge, creativity, wisdom, personal ability, his friends, family, influences (eg. debate on passion due to '3 Idiots' movie,..)... 

Execution is a function of passion again and capability (we may refer to it as talent or genius) 

Now, an individual needs to figure out success, dynamically, leveraging these dynamic (and a few relatively static factors) around here. 

Let us deconstruct Harsha Bhogle, (an IIM educated cricket fan, who is charting his career in Sports Management sector.) in this context (without getting into too many specifics). He has good 'managerial capabilities to build career around his passion cricket without he becoming a cricketer, where his natural talents do not lie in playing. 

We may take up Dr. Manmohan Singh's example here (again, without getting into too many specifics). He is one of the globally respected great economist. He possesses financial talent and background. His passion lies in leveraging his wisdom and talent for the larger good of his nation. He is not an accomplished politician. He is doing his best for the nation. 

In my view, we sometimes come across the reference to 'calling'. When we deeply look into our life in context with the happenings around us, we realize that 'calling'. This calling will be, intuitively (unconsciously) and rationally, based on all the above factors. When we follow our calling, our focus is on 'enjoying the journey' rather than undue stress on the results (success), which are/is determined by the realities (fate) beyond us. Of course, one follows this calling with the realistic expectation of survival (in the long run) but may be ready to sacrifice the comforts (even life). 

Such people, following their 'calling',  turn out to be great people like; 

Mahatma Gandhi: He went to pursue lawyer's profession in South Africa, but many incidents prompted him to follow his 'calling'. 

Narayana Murthy: He had failed initially in his earlier venture, he was pro-communism, a day in a jail in a communist country changed his views, Infosys even after 10 years after the establishmment was not a 'great success', where others were keen to sell the company, Narayana Murthy took a bet to continue to strive further... 

Almost every great person became so due to the 'calling'. 

Almost at the end of the movie, Raju and Farhan follow their callings, Rancho is always after the calling (Success ke peechhe mat pad! = Don't follow success!) The smart guys they are; though they are not as 'calculating' as Chatur, they are following their passion in a mature manner. 

So, I think, if we want to achieve something great in life, we need to follow our calling with detachment to results as is envisaged in Karmanye Vadhikarsthey....in Bhagavadgita by Krishna. 

We win (or expand) the areas based on our limitations, innate &/or acquired capabilities within that unknown territory. In my view, the challenge lies in turning your back to the world and take the first step and start moving ahead. 

I had read a story quite some time back; about God telling a man to take as much land as the man wants, which would be determined by the area covered by the man by the end of the day. 

Life is pretty much is the same. In fact, I go a step ahead and say, we can win/expand as much as we can run through out our life. 

In summary, to go that extra mile, you need the following; 

* Tenacity (against the treacherous unknown terrain of future in the selected field),

* Stamina (since it is a long haul & race against others & time),

* Seek pleasure in what we continue to do (amidst lot of boring & exhausting tasks)... 

If you have passion for the field, the journey is exhilarating and self invigorating. Thus, it helps in creation of virtuous cycle. 

In my view, passion, thus provides you extra fuel than the ones without passion. Thus passion enables you to achieve the pinnacle of success, while you continue enjoying the journey. 

Let me give a few examples; 

Infosys' founding team, even after 10 years of operations, might not have thought they would emerge as one of the largest IT companies in India. But they did. 

Mahatma Gandhi, would have never thought that he would be leading India's Freedom Struggle, when he started fighting Britishers in South Africa. 

The point is the calling due to passion sets the direction of your life's journey. Our own strengths, weaknesses, dynamic changes in realities (fate?!) determine what we become. 

So the greatest success is NOT assured when you follow your passion; however, the RELATIVELY BETTER SUCCESS, JOY and HAPPINESS are assured.