Innovation is difficult to define - it perhaps even defies definition. We may be better off not even trying to. Can innovation be taught? Short answer, no. Can wisdom be bought? DITTO.

Courses in innovation are being created without any focus on the human being. Today’s innovation bandwagon focuses on philosophy, methodology, tools and what not. I ask a simple question. “Do you not need something more than education and training to be a musician”. Basically, can anybody become a musician or does s/he have to be one in the first place? If I simply teach musical notation after which you practice strumming for 6 hours a day, can you become a guitarist OR do you have to be a musician before I brush you up?

Are there some intrinsic traits or talents or experiences that are prerequisites for innovation?

Think about it!!!

Everyone and their mothers have laid a claim on innovation. People are writing books, setting up schools, designing methods, building tools, conducting seminars – basically riding the wave of innovation that has caught the fancy of an ever unsure business world. Some of them are calling innovation the ‘growth driver of the future’. Great phrase, sounds nice but someone must tell me what that really means to what I’m doing today. It looks to me that the first worlds have once again put the cart before the horse. Institutions and individuals alike have been trying to wrest the innovation initiative from the rest of the world. A senior manager who works for a multinational came back from an innovation seminar in Dubai and commented, “Interesting stuff but the irony is that every consultant is talking about India but has no insights or experience or is at best very superficial. I think it is a tremendous opportunity for someone to step in and raise the game”.

While he’s talking about it from his own perspective, the issue seems to be endemic. It is not only the India context that’s missing, it is about not putting forth a context at all.  Is there a need for a context? Definitely so.

First of all, innovation is less about philosophies and tools and more about making all the connections needed to create value concepts. Second, value concepts can have no value if you seek to place them outside their contexts. Third, the end-user’s experience is the only way to measure the effectiveness of innovation. Finally, no one specialisation is good enough to effect the user experience. It is all about internalising the wisdom of centuries and then going about externalising them in the contexts of time and space. India (I won't apologize for this streak of patriotism) is perhaps the only civilisation that has all the resources needed for innovation to happen sustainably. Including human beings! Remember, our IT professionals are called resources by our overseas customers.

India is a plural noun. Our pluralism shows through in the wealth and diversity of our traditions, crafts, science, literature, art and now, technology; it provides all the ingredients that any one society needs to lead the innovation charge ahead of the rest of the world. Yet we still look westwards for ‘innovation domain expertise’ and their so-called gurus willingly oblige us by making our pockets lighter.