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Transforming India : Powering Growth Through Innovation Driven Culture
Innovation can power growth and those that don't believe in it have proven this more than the statement itself. Brands have collapsed, industries have gotten washed out, businesses have been shut down and leaders have been replaced who never cared about it. Here's Mr Aditya sharing his insights on this dimension of growth. Read ON!
The world is changing at a rapid pace, tectonic shifts are happening in the field of technology and business. World is looking for progressive ideas and solutions every minute to bring changes to people's lives . Business models are evolving continuously wherein digital has become a business enabler. Manual Intervention & drudgery of manual tasks is getting eliminated and the operational processes are on the verge of a radical overhaul.
Due to leapfrogging of technologies and potential impact of AI & Automation in the coming years across all major sectors, the talent pool yet to enter the job market are staring at a huge challenge ahead of them to have the right set of skills to remain competitive and relevant in the ever changing world. The present set of professionals, especially the middle management ( with poor leadership, no knowledge or management skills) who have got used to working within water tight compartments and perform the same set of tasks day in and day out need to re-skill themselves to be an active contributor in the functioning of their company. Why are we not able to think beyond our responsibilities ? Why are we staring at such a crisis in the future ? Why are we not able to create or deliver solutions which will solve problems ? Why is no one talking about the best practices done at a global level ? Why we as a nation do not create a Google or Microsoft of the world ?
The answers from our education and corporate standpoint to the above questions are the following
Lack of Innovation based education and work culture
No focus or plan to cross-train employees with regard to other functions & skill sets
R & D is seen as a major cost for companies and affects the billing /budgets so given least priority
Shortage of good trainers and teachers as teaching as a profession is not lucrative
Sideline or Demoralise Someone who is trying to do something different
Focus and Priority only given to Business as usual tasks which requires no or little intelligence
Wasting Employees time by asking them to join
Meetings and Phone calls which are of no significance
Do not encourage students or professionals to challenge the status quo
No new suggestions or Ideas are promoted Overall an
Aversion has been developed towards Taking Risks
Objective of Education System is on Clearing Exams not on conceptual or experiential learning
Intelligence of Students are evaluated by Testing their Memory Power rather than Understanding ability
Failures are not encouragedFuelling Growth and Success through Outcome Based Learning and Knowledge Sharing
To change the mindset mentioned above , we must take drastic measures to enhance the role of creativity for developing new thought processes . The first major reform is to change the outdated education system of our country , which implies that the current examination and grading mechanism must be discarded with immediate effect. Conceptual learning must be encouraged wherein students must be given the freedom to learn and interpret in their own way rather than sticking to bookish knowledge . Incentives to be provided to students who are penning down their understanding of concepts in their own words, those who want to challenge the existing way of doing things and try out new experiments must be encouraged. Marks and grades should not be used as a tool to evaluate students , they must be given full authority to choose their preferred choice of profession based on their passion. Remember people who are crazy about changing the world are the ones who really do.
Make teaching an attractive profession, increase the salaries of professors and teachers to attract the best talent . Give them full opportunity to make the learning process more interactive rather than focusing on just clearing the exams. Have a Research & Talent department in every educational institute which provides a platform for all students to exhibit their talent, pursue their passion , try to create new solutions and keep making incremental changes. It is an effort and investment worth making even if we are able to get some ideas and solutions which can provide opportunities to many professionals in the future . Group based learning and knowledge sharing would really help in a long way . Subject called as Inspiration must be introduced so that students get inspired by the efforts of eminent scientists, thinkers and strategists . Inputs from the leading Subject Matter Experts must be taken from time to time and the curriculum must be evolved on a timely basis.
Exam system must be scrapped in favour of having an outcome based learning approach wherein the understanding ability and the thought process of the students are analysed to know the impact of each subject/topic in their minds. No one should be disheartened by failures as Thomas Edison had clearly said ''I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" and today we have electric bulbs /lights glowing brightly across all households.Role of the Nation to Power New Ideas
India as a country currently spends less than 1% of GDP in Research and Development which is far lesser than advanced countries like US and UK which spend close to 3-4% of GDP in Research. Entire perception and mindset about R&D must change, clearly more funds must be allocated for this purpose . In this digital economy it is extremely important that we move forward with a progressive mindset. In developed countries the best minds are put in Research and Development, Solutions, Strategy related Jobs . But in our country we see all these departments as a cost to the company and never encourage people to take up new initiatives and ask them to toe the line , work on day to day mundane operations. Providing incentives and tax rebates to companies who develop new solutions or ideas to enhance the quality of human life should be one of the objectives in the long run.Get the Latest & Recommended articles in your Inbox
Innovation Mantra for Companies and MNCs in India
All employees must be encouraged to take up new initiatives or research on any topic related to the services /products the firms offer . Most progressive and advanced companies of the world ask for ideas from their own workforce and implement them on a pilot mode to check the viability of having a sustainable solution in place to cater to the needs of the market. 30-40% of a day's time is dedicated for research and self based learning so that the workers feel energetic and can take up some projects to enhance the firm's capability in designing and developing better solutions /products for the end user. For this the companies in India need to come out of their present mindset which just focuses primarily on execution and there is no time spent on planning / strategy process.
Firms have to adopt this kind of a mindset , where failures are encouraged and rewarded & a lot of emphasis must be given on leveraging the in-house talent to build companies for the future. If any resource wants to contribute or explore new avenues for growth must be allowed to do so, leveraging the existing talent and tapping their potential to the fullest will do wonders not only for the company but also for the industry as a whole.
Motivated and an Energised Workforce is the need of the hour as today's inspiration is tomorrow's innovationFinal Thoughts
We as a nation are a strong, passionate and zealous set of individuals , each of us have loads of talent but we need platforms or systems wherein we can unleash our full potential . Fundamental changes and reforms in our educational system and corporate culture can do miracles for our nation . We can grow at a rapid pace and can definitely become a knowledge hub and global superpower in the years to come. If we do not take adequate measures to align ourselves with the paradigm shifts happening across the world , we would be just reduced as a digital colony or a back office for the firms in the developed countries.Live with a Passion, create a spark and ignite a desire to win
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Any facts, figures or references stated here are made by the author & don't reflect the endorsement of iU at all times unless otherwise drafted by official staff at iU. This article was first published here on 4th July 2019.
