Not All That Is New Is 'Innovation'

As markets get tougher, consumers get jaded and success stories rest around new age technology and technology integrated business models, one keeps hearing about the 'need to innovate'.

Having worked, all through, in Industries where the product solution is hundreds of years old (lead acid storage batteries to cement) and pushing teams and self to generate customer value, I have either been preached upon to innovate or have had to preach to sell an innovative idea.

All that is new is not necessarily innovative. Innovation is not about tweaking your product and service to increase sales. It is about empowering your consumer. Some essential questions to raise are, what does the new product or solution do for the customer.

Does it make the customer :-

Empowered to handle a situation with improved speed or quality

Empowered to take a better decision

Empowered to seek a better price or extract better value, in turn, from his customer

Realize, logically, how it improves his quality of life or brings him peace of mind

Pushing ideas through such a sieve of questions improves the robustness of the innovation process. While an ideal innovation story should begin with how a customer need was captured and a product or service solution emerged, in reality it is not always a chronological, step-by-step process. In reality, bright ideas are thrown up from many corners of the organisation. Validating an intuition or gut is a good start to encouraging innovation. 

Observation and listening are important elements in this process. While apparently sounding simple, this is probably the most complex part of the construct. If your systems are only about catching consumer need through formal customer discovery and research processes, you may end up with only those needs recognised through comparative evaluation of yours v/s competitions' offers. Ideas, therefore, need to be encouraged from many quarters. 

A customer facing field officer, many a times, captures needs but is not able to see the potential for development. It is very useful for the top management, from different streams, to make periodic market visits and capture these needs in conversation with the officers. In the peak power crisis times of the early 90's, in a previous battery manufacturing company, our insight was that customers staying in compact apartments had to keep their invertors and batteries in their drawing rooms. Batteries, then, were mere functional items designed by engineers to deliver efficient power. This organisation worked on the aesthetics and positioned their batteries as objects to put on display with pride. It enabled the customer to do away with an elaborate cabinet to store the system, delivering safety and cost savings.

Studying the category, might provide some important pointers. About a decade back, my current company, a cement major tested the hypothesis that an individual building his home and viewing it as a once in a lifetime project would be willing to pay a premium for the cement. Logical, as he was ready to invest in designer tiles, branded bathroom accessories and kitchen cabinets and surfaces. This triggered a survey to establish specifics about expectations from the cement. The insight - a consumer would like to leave the house unpainted till the first rains, to identify seepage points, if any. This provided a dual opportunity to design a product with assurance of void free bonding as well as a smooth and white external finish, that did not require an immediate coat of paint. Providing genuine value addition, to date this product remains best in class.

A recent debate in our organisation was whether driving innovation as a core value, we could build processes that encourage a new way of doing things across the organisation. And, also, whether this was sufficient to be recognised as an innovating organisation. While, encouraging new ways of streamlining operations, generating cost savings, driving collaboration and improving people skills is necessary, it is not sufficient. 

To be recognized as an innovating organisation, three essential requirements are : quantifiable customer value addition, significant time or cost advantage over competition and a demonstrated intent to improve on offers in regular frequency.

Interview 1994

This is a much older interview but I take the opportunity to speak of a gender neutral work environment. This has largely been my experience. It is equally important to be aware and safe and I have been very careful on that count, given my intensive touring.

Direct Dilse

A link (excerpt) of my chat with Jimmy Tangree on Direct Dilse, 91.9 Friends FM

https://facebook.com/jtangree/videos/10158111852510397/

Interview Hindustan Times, Kolkata February 25, 2008

Sananda Interview (Bengali) 2010

Club-a-Holiday

Traveling on work, while I do check into Reciprocal Clubs, it isn't always smooth sailing. Many Clubs are yet to move to efficient billing systems. Most close reception desk by early evening, only to open post 9 am. That does become a challenge if one is inclined to catch early morning flights or check in late after dinner. Over the years, I have opted out of Clubs in a few metros, preferring to stay in a hotel (with sometimes the added advantage of a loyalty program)

On a holiday, however, nothing is simpler than checking out a Club option. In the year gone by, I tried out for the first time, Clubs in London & Colombo as well stayed at the more familiar Madras Club and all time favourite Royal Mumbai Yacht Club.

A breakfast on the verandah or a drink at the Club bar (depending on when you check in) is the fastest way to settling in. Unlike the buffet breakfasts in five star hotels, where people are either stressed grabbing a quick bite on a working day (or stressing themselves to eat some more on a holiday), Clubs normally stay with a 2-course offer. The warm smile and good morning from other members, a common courtesy, is the clear differentiator. 

As for the bar, you would be sure to catch some of the best, traditional cocktails. Old time bartenders and the bond with regular members sharing or guiding them with recipes normally builds capability to make a good cocktail. What's more, from the second visit you do not need to remind a good bartender of your preference, ensuring a welcoming smile and drink as soon as you take the high stool.

The Club gossip is best caught in the smoking lounge. There is something that bonds this community and Club politics, cliques, elections etc go hand in hand with those lazy Sunday afternoon beer sessions. Most Clubs, also, have a signature snack or two. So, the RBYC would boast of the Eggs Kejriwal or Devil on Horseback. At the Colombo Swimming Club, you understandably get some lip smacking seafood and cuttlefish salads garnished with herbs and semi-sambol (dried fish and chilli powder). In fact, over the weekends most clubs serve the local fare. I recall having the best Hyderabadi biryani at The Secunderabad Club and of course mouth-watering delicacies like appam, stews and wattalappa (the Sri Lankan variant of caramel custard made with coconut milk) at the Colombo Swimming Club

Both, the Colombo Swimming Club and the RBYC have breath-taking views and the travel weary may opt to just relax in the room and read.

 The Colombo Swimming Club is practically on the beach, with an interesting railway line stretch between the Club boundary and the ocean. Every few minutes, you see a train chug by reminding you of Carl Muller's Yakada-yaka. Anyone with a love for photography could spend hours waiting to catch that perfect skyline shot.

The RBYC, of course, overlooks the Gateway of India and by day or night (with the heritage lighting) is a treat to photograph or just sit back and gaze at. The Club also offers the option of sailing from October to May and if you have only a weekend you can spend it well in and around the Club.

The Clubs in UK, define the ultimate Club ambiance. The Lansdowne Club offers a walking tour and boasts a slice of history. My preferred drink being gin, the bartender was happy to introduce me to what he termed 'a good sipping gin' - Berkley Square. The Sloane Club has many friendly faces at the bar but a decidedly formal ambiance in the dining hall. However, when Tuna tartare and the likes are on the menu, you don't mind concentrating on the serious task of eating. The weekend breakfasts at these clubs are sumptuous and true blue English - a healthy start to a touristy day in London.

Over the years what stays with you is the friendliness about a Club. Our singular experience was at the Carlton Club, London. A walking distance from the Houses of Parliament, located on St James Street, this is an unabashed Conservatives Club. It is an evening watering hole for the work weary. The couple of days that we stayed there, every drink was on the house. Friendly members were immensely keen on a conversation and a good drink was that essential facilitator. 

Of course, each of us have our own way of enjoying a holiday. If you are one for serious tourism (the kind that checks out on Google and covers every recommended sightseeing spot and eatery) this is not for you. Clubs require a laid-back approach and some degree of flexibility in your itinerary. Some members might also be a tad intrusive and you have to be comfortable with and ready to make new friends. Also, defined by rules, regulations and a closed membership process, each Club develops a character and ambiance of its own. So when you check in, stay open to being surprised.

A to Z Work Travelogue : A Bengali in Bangladesh

If there is one thing I have fallen sucker to, it is understated road travel distance and time by colleagues. There was one horrific Bombay - Baroda sector, when the NH was under construction. All night travel, quick change of clothes and straight into a tense discussion with an Auto major - but that is an altogether separate tale. A close second to that, is my road travel from Dhaka to Chittagaong. 

I landed in Dhaka, with all the required data to discuss business (or should I say the significant lack of it). Our distributor, had been exchanging mails with me, from Canada and assured me that he had a very competent manager to handle his business back home. My first visit, I didn't quite know where to begin. We chalked out a quick visit plan and I was convinced that Chittagong was the place to do business. Seemed logical that second hand Japanese vehicles were imported and refurbished in this port town, requiring new batteries. I was advised an early start, so that we could return the same day.

The next morning we started at 6 am. Our estimated time of arrival in Chittagong was 11am. Time has blurred most details of the drive, other than that the highway was under construction and the vehicle (luckily) was a comfortable Landcruiser. Stiff and exhausted we arrived at this major battery wholesalers well past 3 pm. Over the years I have shared a meal at many a dealer's residence but that afternoon the simple chicken curry, rather thick rotis and a couple of slices of onion, at this dealer outlet, is a taste that has stayed with me. The Chatgaiyya Chicken jhol, striking red in colour with a predominant flavour of roasted and ground cilantro seeds and garlic is a speciality of Chittagong and may be checked out on bengalicuisine.net or bongcook.com.

Our distributor would invariably take me for dinner to Sandeep Kapoor's Khana Khazana, probably given his own preference and a reluctance to try out the smaller eateries serving some very tasty rice and fish preparations.

Delicious mashed fish & prawns fired with bitter gourd

After two visits, I had to overcome my shyness and asked to be treated to some of the famous Bangladeshi cuisine.  He excused himself politely from this lunch. I went with his manager to a place run by ladies.The rice helpings were on the house. The fish preparations for the day were displayed in a glass covered rack. I recall having a variety of fish, mashed like a 'bhurta' , fried, fish-head curry and at least two other types of preparations in a gravy. Of these the Taki Macher Bhorta or a mash of spotted snake-head fish is another taste I have carried over the years

More than memories, I have carried back from my visits Dhakai sarees in exquisite hues. A lesser known Rajshai weave cotton saree also makes for a very smart office wear.

The crockery is another thing to check out (though available now in Kolkata) and I did manage to pick up some very good Pierre Cardin branded export grade plates.

Finally, a flash bandh had me holed up at the Dhaka Club on one visit and thereafter dampened my enthusiasm for further visits. A new distributor in place, business moved on, at a steady pace and I was left with these memories.