The BIG BANG Bazinga.

16th February was the date. I voted. End of story.

Yes.

Wow! the shortest blog post (by me) ever.

Wait. No there is more.

Why, why - please end this.

http://www.fanpop.com/spots/sheldon-cooper/images/24678220/title/sheldon-cooper-fanart
(Image from this link)

Ok. Time now for a Bazinga moment.

What if we (Indians) decide to change the face of our democracy.

We right now elect our representatives with one vote each. Each vote technically has the same power over the other. So put it simply a poor slum dweller has a equal say as a middle class flat owner or a rich man with 100+ properties. But are all three able to qualitatively access their representatives. Do they have the time, will and faith over their representatives. Is a feedback and an interactive system in place.

I personally (a post graduate) is sure that I with all my education and exposure is unfit to select the leaders of our country. How do I know how is not/less corrupt. How do I know that this person will not use next 5 years for personal gains. And how do I know that the promise this person is showing right now is a short term carrot to win this election.  These are the usual carrots.(better roads/ water/ transport / Rs.500/ Saree)

But with my education I have imagination.

Hence I put forth a solution to our democracy.

How to find a representative.

1. People vote and elect only a certain set of professional (occupation) related people in their area. For example people will get to elect 3 lawyers, 3 doctors, 3 journalists, 3 businessmen, 3 architects... etc.

An uneducated person can also be selected through this but he needs to be a professional - (businessman, artist, ...)

2. These elected representative will then choose the representative among themselves and those people will do the term as the people representative.

3. Those who do not wish to lead the area will be allowed to drop out but those who are willing and capable will be given due support with all administrative support. (IAS).

4. The remaining candidates who were not selected but elected by the people will be questionable to the people they represent and hence they will be asked to track, monitor and question the working of their selected peer.

5. Targets will be set for the terms of the elected candidates.

6. For reelection, these targets would need to be met.

7. No body will be allowed to be a professional Politician. They need to have an profession. The initial list of professionals will be made available to every voter.


  

Strategem Samosa - Cracking the code on innovation. Chiwda Lives.

Why do humans participate in human interaction in business. Because they have a give an take. They give their time and they take back value.

So how to create value.

• Understand the requirement and identify different ways of creating value.
• Understand the other person and find new ways of appealing to his/her senses. 
• Find Gaps between what the person already gets and deliver the missing.
• Giving back again the same old, same old but at a lower price.

As we saw in the last post  the process of Market Research can be time consuming and requires a lot of discipline.

So the basic simplified version of any research is to set a certain amount of rules and follow it through to get a solution to the problem.

If you refer to one of my earlier posts innovation station. What I missed out in that post was the fact that innovation station needs to be built, just like the Chiwda needs to be positioned as a product in a multiplex.

So to help understand this lets use Chiwda for some more time. (Chiwda is a metaphor, use your core product!)

So we have the objective. - To sell Chiwda.

To sell Chiwda in a Multiplex is an innovation as it has never been done before.  But its not a innovation when others do it as well.

So innovation has to be continuous and consistent. 

So the group selling Chiwda in the multiplex has to have a feedback group (external) which would be reporting them about the delivery, quantity and quality of Chiwda and the audience reaction to it. 

(this works out like VRP's - Value Rating points- for the product).

Also they need to be on a look out for other growth opportunities without diluting the main core. - A good quality Chiwda.

Also dont be myopic and say I am in Chiwda Sales - say I am in Lifestyle food sales.

So to create innovation station there are 2 methods.

1. Internal - Setting time for employees to ideate and take their suggestions. Acknowledge workable suggestions timely and reward them .

Groom the people who can ideate or have the raw material to ideate. Yes 100 ideas will be bad but 2 good ideas mean more profit.

Resources to start something new will always be scarce but I will let you know on a little secret, its not the resources or experince which make ideas work but its the execution and dedication. If you have a team which can do that for you, let them. They may fail. But mostly they wont. If a group of people with a fairly good idea tries honestly, they will do well.

2. External- Setting social media , traditional platforms where people can reach out to you with feedback or suggestions. If you can set up a system where the consumer can give you new ideas or help you promote your product, you can achieve a lot. (see Bazooka Bubblegum).

So set up an innovation Station.

Make mistakes. Have success. Test your waters.

Do comment on this post.

By Ninad Tatke. 

Soul Searching - What it takes to bring out the best in you.

Every person does soul searching sometime in his / her life. The question is then is something in particular that needs to be searched. What is it that we all crave and aspire and hence we spend our energy to acquire the same.

Agreed to the premise that each person is unique and has his or her own strengths and limitations, what if we actually come up with tangible methods of achieving success.

And if this can be done. Can we all live life powerfully and live life that we love.

So with no further ado and without entering the domain of self help groups/books.

Lets look at to do things-

Plan - planning out the things and prioritizing is a way which will keep you organized. It will also lead to mental readiness as planning will make sure you have already done the activity once - mentally

Be prepared to listen - Listening is important in communication and communication is almost always involved in any activity you do.

Ask for - Ask for opinions /help when needed. Don't hesitate.

Innovate - Every time you find yourself comfortable. Tell yourself that its time you should think something new. Keep thinking. Look for the scope of improvement. Look around and may be you might just get that big idea.

Watch out for simple things.

Understand the recipients /consumers and customize. Before a recipent craves for a certain set of idea, it might be futile to introduce it.

Be inquisitive.

Try out new paths /new ways

If you get the idea, work on it, develop it, test it and then if you wish (and you must if its a great idea) execute it.

Keep yourself grounded. You may know a lot. and achieve a lot but in the whole scheme of things, you are and will remain a small speck and hence its crucial to be modest.

Keep Focus: If you have a goal, Work on it. Build up stamina to get there. May have to prioritize.

If you don't have a clear goal, keep working with your best efforts with open mind at whatever you do. When you find something that excites you. Keep it. May be that can lead to a goal.

The thing is to be productive and positive and try and create a difference in what ever you do.

Clean your mind. Just like each person has to clean himself physically to feel fresh, a cleared mind with no past thoughts or starting fresh leads to good work. Its like building a house on a flat land instead of one with a lot of debris. Ways to clearing ones mind is watching/experience/performing something interesting and /or getting a external motivation, or getting help to see ones blind spot.

Lastly - remember that what you are and what you do are different things. Don't let a setback affect your core.

By Ninad Tatke