Where less is more, and small is beautiful

We in India arenrsquot new to ingenious ways that help us communicate create and mdash to use that ubiquitous term mdash lsquoadjustrsquo according to whatever is available to us We give missed calls to a friend to let him or her know that wersquove reached the mutual destination and save Re 1 in the bargain And we can take that to the next level mdash as the opening chapter in the book Jugaad Innovation aptly suggests It discusses how Gujaratbased potter Mansukh Prajapati has designed Mitticool mdash a lsquofridgersquo he sells for Rs 2000 which is essentially a box of clay fitted with a glass door and a plastic faucet at the bottom Water from an upper chamber of the fridge seeps through the sidewalls cooling the lower food chamber through evaporation Mitticool uses no electricity is 100 per cent biodegradable and produces no waste Prajapati who now trains women in his village to manufacture Mitticool and a nonstick frying pan for Rs 100 has not even finished high school Coauthor Dr Simone Ahuja with Mahesh Patel chief innovation manager at GIAN discussing his low cost collapsible windmill solution for salt farmers in the Rann of Kutch Jugaad Innovation is written by Navi Radjou executive director of the Centre for India amp Global Business at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge Jaideep Prabhu the Centrersquos director and Dr Simone Ahuja a filmmaker and founder of USbased Blood Orange a marketing and strategy consultancy with special expertise in emerging markets and innovation The book throws open the doors of the culture of lsquojugaadrsquo in India mdash a term used to indicate an innovative frugal fix to solutions usually born of scarcity Contrary to structured solutions jugaad is about gumption and doing more with less sometimes nil visagravevis millions pumped into R and D for solutions ldquoMany western companies swear by the time and money they spend on innovating Jugaad on the other hand is about pushing the envelope because it is not easy for everyone to recover massive costsrdquo says Prabhu over the phone from the UK Unstructured solutions The book beams with enthusiasm at the chances of finding opportunities in adversity Fair enough mdash Indians especially rural entrepreneurs have found ingenious solutions where there seemed none Jugaad Innovation also explains the issues with the structured topdown approach mdash lack of flexibility elitism an inherently insular nature and of course the people it impacts But is jugaad the ultimate solution in spite of the negative connotation the term itself carries Prabhu chuckles and says he understands the concerns ldquoMany people use jugaad as an excuse to cut corners be shoddy mdash even unethical These are valid criticisms But the book tries to focus on the positives that come out of local grassroots innovation and the maximum value that can be extracted from frugalityrdquo Take for example a lsquojugaadrsquo product called Embrace a portable infant warmer which is a bag of phasechanging material mdash a waxlike material mdash which keeps premature babies warm for up to six hours at regular body temperatures and takes only 30 minutes of electricity to heat up The idea came from four entrepreneurs attending the Stanford Universityrsquos Entrepreneurial Design For Extreme Affordability Programme Embrace reduces infant mortality and costs Rs 10000 mdash nearly 1 per cent of the cost of incubators available in Western markets ldquoWill it be correct to say that Embrace can save every premature baby in developing countries No But itrsquos evident that it will save many because it isnrsquot technology for the heck of technology It caters to an unmet need and is trying really hard to reach outrdquo says Prabhu Jugaad he explains is not a lsquosolution to all other problemsrsquo he adds ldquoIt is one the elements you must have in your tool kit when the structured approach doesnrsquot make senserdquo Jugaad across borders Jugaad innovators as the book illustrates are united by ideas and creativity but not borders Apart from India countries like China Brazil and others in Africa too have gone just as wild with jugaad ldquoThere are differences in the cultures within jugaad too India we noticed uses jugaad to create service solutions and business models that involve communitiesrdquo says Prabhu Take Dr Mohan from Chennai for instance The diabetologist has assembled satelliteenabled vans that travel across rural parts of Chennai He has trained volunteers who drive the van through rural areas to check people for diabetes The trained volunteer operates the machines and Dr Mohan sitting in Chennai simply checks the patientsrsquo eyes to diagnose the disease ldquoDr Mohan has created a rural network and doesnrsquot even pay his volunteers who in turn donrsquot complain because he makes them employable for pharmaceutical companiesrdquo says Prabhu In China however jugaad is mostly about bringing excellence in the manufacturing sector because lowcost products are the countryrsquos strength Africa is another surprise altogether ldquoWe realised that the continent uses mobile phone technology in ingenious ways So most jugaad happens in services which use mobile phones such as payment for healthcare for instance Brazil is known for its hybrid technology mdash mechanics and cars mdash so they think in that directionrdquo says Prabhu Frugality is key The book also discusses how jugaad is no longer limited to developing countries Companies such as Pepsico and GE too do jugaad at their own level and often rely on lsquosimple frugalrsquo solutions for their milliondollar problems ldquoAfter the breakdown of the economy in recent times the west is waking up to the fact that frugality will have to seep into their culture too They are feeling the pressure on resources and the middle class is really struggling Even Japan is hurting and they realise that with zero growth in 20 years they may just have lost touch with their peoplerdquo explains Prabhu A USbased hospital for instance recently embraced an inexpensive jugaad product designed by students that lets doctors and nurses swipe their hands over a sort of sanitiser attached to their coats ldquoThis happened after hospitalinitiated infections began taking their toll on patients Doctors and nurses werenrsquot washing their hands as often as needed The government has now stepped in and is taking the product very seriouslyrdquo says Prabhu Importantly the book points out that scarcity is not the only subtext to jugaad Prabhu explains ldquoMany jugaad innovators are very good at identifying a need and then working hard to develop a frugal and inclusive solution that is effective However quite often the solution stays local or small scale The biggest social impact comes when this solution is taken to other markets or adopted by more consumers But achieving scale is not easy and may take time and partnerships with other organisations which isnrsquot easy eitherrdquo Letrsquos hope therersquos an equally plucky jugaad fix to that toou00a0u00a0