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Think big like Rajni
GE innovation consultant Govindarajan believes innovation may have more^to do with thinking big than technology
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in the recent past, Govindarajan was quick to pick Nano from Tata Motors as the first choice followed by iPod from Apple. "Innovation is too often mistaken with technology. To me, innovation may have absolutely nothing to do with technology," he explained.
According to him, though iPod and Nano are innovations but they have no new technology. "What is iPod? It is a hand-held hard drive. Similarly, Nano. Actually, the technology embedded in that car is less interesting than other aspects they have innovat-. ed like the distribution model, making it in modular design and putting it in
kits," he explained.
"Therefore, you can innovate without having to innovate any new technologies."
Govindarajan firmly believes that if innovation is technology driven, then India can never win because the entire research and development budget of
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India is very dismal. But that does not mean India-cannot innovate. "Look at our innovations like FTC's e-Choupal, Indian IT services sector's global delivery (outsourcing) model and die revolution in our telecom sector."
Govindarajan suggests that we create a culture where it is alright for people to say no and disagree with their bosses. "Our strong respect for hierarchy and our obsequious behaviour in the presence of our bosses create a mindset that prevents us from thinking big and thinking different." He is convinced that it is changing but he is unsure whether it is changing fast enough.
A serious movie "buff; Govindarajan will catch a show of Rajnikanth's latest release Kuselan with his mother in Chennai before going back to the US. "I really enjoyed his last movie Sivaji," he signs off with a smile.
rejijohn@mydigitalfc.com
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Mumbai
FOR Vgay Govindarajan, professor of international business at the luck School of Business at Dartmout, US, and chief innovation consultant at General Electric, innovation means "thinking big, very much like the Rajnikanth movies," where everything is presented in XXL size.
¦Govindarajan, regarded as one of the world's leading experts on strategy and innovation, cited three reasons why Indian companies rank low when it comes to innovation and creative strategies. "First, we don't have a risk taking culture; we want to play it safe.We-punish people for taking risks. Second, ,we don't encourage enough ideas to come from the bottom; we try to dictate strategy from the top. And finally, we are too short-term oriented. Our mental acts of rewards and incentives are too short-term in nature.
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"Innovation is about thinking different and thinking big. The question is can we think big and think different,"
Govindarajan said.
Picking a slice from his own life, Govindarajan demonstrated the power of thinking big. Very early on in his life in a remote village in Tamil Nadu, he nurtured the desire to do his MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS). VG, as he is fondly called, not only received his MBA with distinction from HBS but also got his doctorate and was awarded the Robert Browne prize for the best thesis proposal.
When asked to list some of the coolest innovations
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