How can we make India an Innovation Powerhouse?

“Do earthquakes have a name, just like hurricanes?” Meghana asked her science teacher.  The 8 year child was curious. The teacher got furious, “don’t ask silly questions.” The kid, shy at the rebuttal, was not sure, if she asked a wrong question.  The teacher asked Suketu, a student of the same class, “what are the states of matter.” “The five states of matter are solid, liquid, gas, plasma and Bose-Einstein condensate,” replied the child. Teacher got angry, “Matter has three states: solid, liquid and gas.” she shouts, “Be attentive, follow your textbooks.”

These are real-life stories from a premier school in Mumbai, which show the deep malice that plagues our education system, where we seldom inspire our kids to think outside the text books. Make no mistake. These are not isolated instances, but a reflection of how an insensitive attitude stifles scientific spirit in children.

The good news is the new kids on the block are empowered. Many of them have easy access to information on their tabs and personal laptops. Their learning is not confined to the text books. They trust their teachers, but would also like to validate what is being taught in the class. They want to speak their mind. The world is their classroom. The question is: are we doing our part to nurture a scientific spirit in our kids? Or, are we acting as impediment

Often, limited by our own understanding, we impose ignorance in the name of education. The result: a crippled mind, a product of rote education, which refuses to think. Take it to a higher plane, look at the scientific and technology ecosystem, and you realize how innovation - a vital pillar for human progress, is getting killed by bureaucracy, and politics. True, red tape kills innovation

Consider this. India ranked 66th in the Global Innovation Index 2013 among 142 nations, published by Cornell University, INSEAD, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a knowledge partner. Not a great distinction to have, for sure. Isn’t it embarrassing?

This is the same nation on which the great American scientist Albert Einstein once commented “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made."

Today, the real reason for concern is the falling standard of scientific research:  while India's contribution to the global output has increased, it still remains only at a modest level with no sign of a major upward swing in quantity or quality. How can we overcome this?

Perhaps, we should take a break from the monotonous rat race of the mundane life? Pause, and think. What could be the cause of our plastic approach to knowledge absorption and diffusion? How do we rid the science and technology of red-tapes? How can we add more value to the business, society and the planet? While the reasons might be many, one element which will find resonance in one and all is the ‘erosion of scientific temperament’ across discipline. Agree?

We take pride in being one the most intelligent of the living species. Yet, we have stopped challenging our grey cells much. We have stopped thinking afresh, thinking disruptively, confined to conformity.  Rightly said, a man flattened by conformity stays down for good. Knowledge is all about treading the path of unknown, exploring truth, and speaking fearlessly about conformity.

We must ‘think’ global. We must think beyond the paradigm of Jugaad. It’s time to take a multidisciplinary approach, transcend the horizon, and explore new answers to resolve our challenges in manufacturing, education, healthcare,  economics, agriculture, politics, and ‘natural resources’ such as water or energy. It’s time to develop new products, services, and business model.

And, behold, Information is the Next Natural Resource. We need to be cognizant of the ocean of data all around us. Key decisions about computing, manufacturing or marketing will no longer be decided by intuition but by predictive analytics using elements of the social media network such as cloud data, mobile information, and big data– converging together. Gleaning the right insights from this Big Data will decide the winners and the losers of the future, and pave way for sustainable development.

This necessitate that we keep our eyes and ears open, and nurture a scientific temperament. Scientific temper is a way of life - an individual and social process of thinking and acting - which include questioning, observing, testing, hypothesizing, analyzing, and communicating. We must catalyze innovation diffusion right at the bottom of the pyramid. And, this can begin at home, even amongst kids.

Our schools can serve as innovation hubs, if we equip our students with the ‘right information’ and encourage them to unshackle their thoughts. How about having lessons on IP right at the school level, and introducing a helpdesk to file a patent. Let each one, file one. Let there be no doubt. Incentivizing innovation will acts as a potent tool and can transform any nation into an economic superpower - creating more jobs, more wealth and improving the living standards for all.

At the social and enterprise level we must collaborate to free the management of science and technology from the thickets of bureaucracy. All our problems could be settled easily if we were only willing to think.  The trouble is we often resort to all sorts of excuses in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work. The danger is progress stops once an individual, enterprise or nation loses its spirit of pioneering. To accelerate our success, we must double our failure rate, and tirelessly experiment in pursuit of the truth.

As a scientific ecosystem, the government, industry, academia, and public private partnership must come together to invest much more in people, institutions and infrastructure, and harvest the benefits of inclusive innovation to achieve dramatic economic growth.

This is high time we join hands to infuse an open, collaborative approach into the ecosystem and find answers to the unknown. Questioning is the only precursor to spark this. 

Let Innovation thrive!!!

The Blogger is Kiran Kumar Yellupula. The views expressed here are purely personal. Please share your feedback at mediavalue@yahoo.com

 

Mice, Men & Robots

If you are NOT young, and happening, then this is not for you. If you don’t rate yourself as Gen-Y, then stop reading this. If you think mice don’t have the DNA to think, then this is not for you, either.

Feeling thirsty? Open a can of Coke… You are not just quenching your thirst, but your subconscious is unsuspectingly gulping calories of intentional brand promise of ‘opening happiness’.

Consciously, one would never associate a soft drink company to the claim of refreshing the world, inspiring moments of optimism and happiness, and creating value to make a difference. Yet, we fall prey, and drink, often unknowingly, getting hooked on to a product or service – the temptation is irresistible.

The reason: beneath the surface structure of text or content, lies deeply embedded the hidden subliminal message/s that acts as a cue to directly connect with people across cultures, religion, and geos.

The positive association that Coca-Cola alludes to is the universal desire of the human race for a lasting happiness. At the core of this lies learning by association, and igniting a habit formation, by offering messages that satiates the intuitive needs.

Remember, how B F Skinner, the great psychologist, succeeded in ‘conditioning mice’ to press a bar in response to the presence of a light by providing reinforce like food. This tells us how one’s behavior could be changed by the use of reinforcement given after the desired response.

Science has progressed a lot since then, but the principle of conditioning increasingly holds a great promise in motivating people, instilling positive buying behavior. This is important as new forms of technologies are invading the minds of consumers, each moment, creating new paradigms.

At first, computers could count. Today, they are programmed to follow “if this, then that.” Next they will need to discover and learn on their own, not just as a search engine, but proactively. The Internet of Things is evolving from information portals to interactive social and mobile channels to creating influence - shaping attitudes and behaviors.

Self-learning robots can track human psyche to mine and tailor ‘delicious chunks of information’ that can bait you into eating more seductive data that satisfies your inner needs.

What is special about this is perhaps even you yourself are not aware of these special needs that you crave for, yet the cognitive machines do, better than you. Powered by natural language capabilities and rich text analytics, mimicking how people think, they are going to transform the perception industry sooner than one could think of.

Studies reveal that subliminal messaging activates specific regions of the brain despite participants being unaware. Operating at a level below an individual's threshold for conscious perception, subliminal messages get well entrenched into the brain, and trigger a positive response when you see a cue. This has a domino effect.

Certainly, the confluence of big data, social, mobility and analytics, gives unprecedented opportunities for Chief Marketer to think beyond the obvious, manage and manufacture consent. The data harvested from social channels can show useful insights into a person’s personal life; their family members, their likes, their shopping habits, cell phone activity, loyalty cards.

So, next time you ‘like’ something on Facebook or purchase online, just remember, you are being watched. You are being monitored, and managed outside your conscious awareness.

Robots are on their way. Make no mistake - the subliminal marketing is here to stay. There will be divergence of opinions, but the idea is perhaps more significant than the reality.

The Blogger is Kiran Kumar Yellupula. The views expressed here are purely personal. Please share your feedback at mediavalue@yahoo.com

The Magic of Audience Activated Persuasion (AAP)

This is a perfect saga of stimulating people’s underlying aspirations, imaginations and dreams – and riding the success wave, even during tough times...

Ever wondered: What is the secret behind the meteoric success of the AAP (Aam Aadmi Party (English: Common Man Party; abbreviated as AAP: English- YOU) that recently swept Delhi polls? How can a newly formed Indian political party secure around 30 percent voteshare in just a year? What helped the new kid on the block brand YOU (AAP), being christened as the king for a utopian model of democracy, amongst the media, masses and the extended ecosystem?

Wear your semiotic lenses and look at analytically.  What do you see beneath the threads of “common attire”? 

The 'nomenclature’ - AAP (YOU) - itself alludes to the common man, and reflected the direct emotional connect which runs through all the merchandising. The ‘identity’ of a “broom” is aligned to the core messaging of cleaning the political system, hitherto, unheard of. The ‘differentiation’ was too strong, a rustic Gandhi Cap, symbolic of the ‘freedom movement’ of Indian-Independence era instrumental in boosting the credibility quotient. Using the right mix of opinion leaders, and influencers, optimally, also worked successfully to influence the common man.

The narrative and rhetoric used by the volunteers, lawyers, social workers and social activists, was simply native, drawn from popular culture, indicative of the social sentiment of the times, and direct to the core. The slogan, it’s all about Satyamev Jayate (English: Truth Alone Prevails) infused an aura of authenticity. The motto: to eradicate corruption, at least seemingly so was a perfect example of the power of projected value, even though deferred to the eternity.

It was all about owning the symbolism that connotes honesty, transparency, and perfect governance. And, the aggressive approach to ‘own the symbolism’ didn’t stop there, an open, collaborative, and inclusive approach, laced with a promise of people’s empowerment, and solving all their basic problems prevailing in the society, kindled the hope in millions. It was a promise of transparency, reduced bills for electricity and water, better citizen centric services, getting rid of red-tape, and listening to the problems of people. The leaders using public transport to meet and greet the people directly and walked the talk.

If this is not a perfect concoction for a Live Brand, what else can be?

The promise, though far-fetched, was sufficient to provide the immediate emotional connect to target the inherent goodness in people at large, the unsuspecting audience. Aggressive digital outreach in Twitter and Facebook added the viral quotient and caught the imagination of the Gen Y. Blending the physical movement and social channels heightened the effect, and the popularity swelled. The outcome is evident, an unconventional, yet the perfect B School approach crafted a hypnotic spell.

To augment the realism into the movement social scientists cum party workers used custom made studies that predicted poll outcomes and there was little to suspect the claims, since it only presented slices of life of the party’s popularity.

So, what is there for the Chief Marketers to learn from this? Well, this is a perfect saga of stimulating people’s underlying aspirations, imaginations and dreams – and riding the success wave, even during tough times.

This is what we call the Audience Activated Persuasion (AAP) that is a potent strategy to win the hearts and minds of a billion. At the core of this lies a perfect recipe of the right nomenclature, right identity, right positioning, and right differentiation – an instance, of a living the brand to the core.

The mantra for the leaders, political, or enterprise, must then be to increase the engagement with audience, listen to them, and understand them as individuals. This is age of Gen Y. This is all about finding new ways including digital to forge a direct connect and opening up to audience influence, and crafting designer experience based on user preferences and sentiments that makes individuals trust your brand, hypnotically.

The good news is more and more leaders and Chief Executive Officers across the world want their audience ecosystem to have a growing influence on how their companies operate.  And they want that influence to extend well beyond helping choose new product offerings – all the way to assisting in the development of corporate strategy, a people strategy, and an engagement model that works.

In search of innovation and transparency, these forward-looking leaders plan to substantially extend collaboration beyond their company’s borders with their audience ecosystem. These leaders are creating a blueprint for shaping the future through the Audience-Activated Persuasion (AAP) that can sweep the heart and minds of the people.

Are YOU ready to create a Living Brand?