One of the most innovative things we did was the corporate culture we brought about and of which we are so very proud.
Innovation, obviously, is not only about product or, worse, a better mouse-trap! It concerns everything that we do: not just the final outcome, but also the processes we employ, whether in manufacturing or selling or buying or dealing with people or managing money or communicating with the external world.
Innovation cannot be ordered from up above: it is ultimately a cultural issue, the result of a psychologically and physically enabling environment. And that environment needs to be as welcoming of success as forgiving of failure: fear is the destroyer of creativity. Moreover, the objective of innovation is not just corporate profit or sales. It should extend to the benefit of all stakeholders. And not just stakeholders, but beyond. Do our innovations benefit society? More importantly, do our innovations go beyond satisfying the needs of our present society and extend to future generations as well? For instance, do our innovations take into consideration the growing (and menacing) shortage of a whole range of things that previous generations have taken for granted such as fossil fuel based energy, water, clean air, raw materials, land, vegetation?
Which leads me to two questions. The first is a basic question: what is the difference between improvement or doing things differently and innovation? The next is an over-riding question: what are the criteria by which we judge innovation? You may want to attempt answers!
Xerxes Desai
May 2011