Learning from Emerging Markets

Strategy expert and author Navi Radjou shares the possibilites of Jugaad in this effective innovation keynote. Companies in North America use a very structured approach to innovation, spending billions of dollars in research and development, believing that money will buy innovation. However, as Navi Radjou points out, this standardization causes organizations to become risk adverse while stifling creativity. The approach also has three major weaknesses to innovation in that it is very expensive, rigid, and elitist, which is why Radjou finds the solution to these problems in Jugaad.

After studying innovation in emerging markets in places such as India, China and Brazil, Radjou found a faster and more effective way to spark creativity. Comparing the spirit of Jugaad with a jazz band, Radjou explains it is a very improvised and unstructured approach that is being used by many visionary CEOs in emerging markets.

The Hindu word Jugaad is translated by Radjou into the, "gusty art of improvising an effective solution using limited resources using a dash of ingeniuty." And, Navi Radjou explains how this do-it-yourself approach practiced by young millenials will help benefit businesses and change the world.