Social Innovation-Why Shankar in Surat & Wei in Shenzen are Wright Brothers of today?

Innovation is commoditizing faster than we think... scientists sitting in the corporate labs are struggling to hit that another monomer while Shankar moving in Surat market is hitting new fabric designs every week. Similarly, Wei Zhang in Shenzen market is coming up daily with the new models of mobile phones. Innovation is no more an isolated activity, rather in its new avatar.. its a group, team (team symphony), community & social collaboration.

Wei Zhang, owner of a small mobile phone assembly company in Shenzen, spends two hours every day in the market to know how the customers are buying, what competition is bringing in the market, and goes back to his factory to improvise on his research.  He comes back to the market, the next week, with a new improved design of the mobile phone and he is doing this every day for last 3 years consistently. 

pic source: NY times

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Similarly Shankar in Surat is a small businessman from Palakkad (1600 kms away from Surat) who comes every week to check the designs & new fabrics of Saari.  He carry the feedback of choices & preferences of his retail customers in South India, which small manufacturers in Surat immediately understand & produce the samples.  Shankar has been able to improvise many type of polyester fabric, its construction, composition, dyeability, colours & printing etc in last 6 years which was not possible by many other leading value chain players of the industry.

At the same time, need of the fundamental research is becoming critically important... whether its a quantum physics, medicine or agriculture, the need to come up with multiple solutions for the world's growing problems is unprecedented... and for the same, the research in Universities are doing a much better job in moving very fast towards bottom up, democratic, chaotic, hard to control innovation...Its very different now!

So while many corporate continues with perfection paralysis (giant corps killing innovation), you keep innovating now, without permissions, on the street, at the moment, every day.... with a proud on your permanent Beta status ! 

     

Branding-neither Panic nor Panacea !!

A proactive, gradual, value defining, forward connecting dots and strengths demonstrating process is what market respects from marketers.  Instead, most of the time market gets cosmetically tweaked, quick fixed, 3 months leased life and pushed kind of branding efforts or best, few fancy celebrity endorsed branding communications.

Brand is not an antibiotic, rather it is a diet regimen.  It does not promise to solve a business problem but it promise to keep you healthy and hungry every morning.  You are no more promoting a product or services, you are building a reputation and that needs to be nurtured with a lot of care.  

Great Brands can change the world, but their journey won't be easy, comfortable or always safe & at the end a great brand would live up to its promise for a very very long time.  

Don't worry too much for your trademarks, rather create lasting lovemarks !! 

You are a Permanent Bench of the organization!

You are a high performer,  you bring results,  market and colleagues recognizes you as passionate and deserving,  you are told many a times that you are on fast track, yet, your career doesn't seem to be moving for quite sometime.  Welcome to the bench strength of the organization.

source: NYtimes

Organization work hard to keep you engaged and motivated,  you feel again, that change-reward is coming now, but the wait is not yet over. Most of the bench in such a scenario (should) works double hard and challenge their permanent Beta status.... & that's the purpose of the bench for an organization.

And for you, because you are surely the first of the future...the art of patience should not be in "how long", but what you are demonstrating while benching.

Rock your bench, upgrade your bench, but don't fall off the bench!! 

Business of making decisions!

Buying time, going slow, plan carefully, check all the options, take no risk... if you are not in maintenance, planning or design profession, then avoid getting into the trap of above terminologies.  There is so much of power in making decisions right now !

While you save a lot of time & energy spent in maintaining that status quo,  actually no one would calculate the cost of lost opportunity while looking backwards.  So, if you are thinking of making the next career move, or trying to give that straight feedback, or figuring out a vacation spot, or still unsure about that yoga class.. take that small decision right now.  The world opens so many windows soon after that one small step.

Similarly, as a professional, you are not a barcode who decodes company's terms & policies to the customer,  you are The organization who thinks and decides... sometimes on-the-spot.

You are a great Symphony !

You are a "note" in that Orchestra which makes this symphony perfect. You are at times in the chorus singing melodious tunes and some other times at the core of the drums creating beats or simply playing the prelude on the violin....and it is truly your performance that makes it beautiful... you reflect dedication thru your closed eyes..... you enjoy its every moment.. and you smile while creating that magic divine.

And just like in an Orchestra, in real life too, its not your age, experience, color or sex that matters. What matters are the "notes", you contribute, on that specific issue, which helps the solution...thru the ideas you share and the dedication you bring in the team.  Similar to an orchestra, your team needs your sincerity, practice and strength for the final outcome of the team's performance.

Keep playing, keep singing and keep infecting the team with your extra-ordinary "note" that completes this magical symphony!
Pic source-Nikon Fotofest

Imperfections are welcome !

He would demand for all the great services at the lowest price,  you would attempt to deliver the best at the Value Price.  He'll be disappointed,  you'll be frustrated... expectations imperfect.

source-shanepennington

You would try to build all the muscles on the weekends,  your diet chart still has a mediocre results,  your investment is not keeping you happy most of the time,  the lane you chose in traffic is again the slowest,  the book you bought last month is still waiting for you,  authorized dealer was following frantically for due paid service but still you would walk out without a smile,  security cameras are unable to give you a hint of your lost stuff..... that's the real world and a world of imperfections.  As long as you believe and accepts that the most around, including you, are not giving their 100%,  you would grow... grow daily.

Fail fast... get rich slow... & keep welcoming all the imperfections in between !

Last attempt... once more.

Yes,  there is always a space for one more smile and win you can make for your customer today.   One more attempt to simplify the sales experience for him.   One more attempt to ask your customers to support you in rough times.   One more km in your last mile run.   One more genuine clap for your team's achievement.   One more doubt that this crack in the relationship is irreparable.   One more attempt this Saturday morning to meditate and un-clutter your mind and desk.    

Truly there is talisman in... one more!!