Is the future leaning towards disruptive innovation?

Incremental thinking, the strategy of seeing and defining a clear path of the steps required to get from point A to point B in a linear manner, building upon each step from the one before it, cannot create a future-ready organization in today’s world. There isn’t anything wrong with this way of thinking. Chances are high that it helped you get to where you are today. However, real success is going to come from making the shift and starting to think more ‘Exponentially.’

This doesn’t mean looking for the ‘new’ shiny object that everyone is currently trying out, but rather it’s about how to stand out from the crowd.  “New” by itself can be debated endlessly, but what Mr. Ratan Tata has to say about innovation gives a working understanding. “An innovator would do something for which you would say, why didn’t I think of that”.

It’s not about how to beat out your competition, but how to make them irrelevant. The essence of disruption is being able to ruthlessly identify current weaknesses, envisage destruction of the current business model and make a vertical leap in growth.

And at the heart of it is a simple idea – Disruptive Innovation.

As a part of The Economic Times Luminary Leadership Series hosted in association with HSBC on this pertinent issue, Bhaskar Pramanik, Former Chairman, Microsoft India conversed with Kiran Karnik, Former Chairman of NASSCOM and were joined by Kalpana B, CEO and Chief Thinker at Grant Thornton.

The evening witnessed the launch of the 2nd edition of Economic Times India Leadership Council’s Coffee Table Book – The Innovation Code. The book forms a valuable addition to the treasure trove of wisdom at the India Leadership Council and was unveiled by Sandeep Batra, Managing Director, Head of Wealth and Personal Banking India, HSBC.

It is timely that this book has been published as it encapsulates how the council members of India Inc. are determined to succeed, exploring new industries and opportunities, and constantly innovating while being anchored deeply in integrity, accountability, and sustainability – the marriage of efficiency with ethics.

The spotlight for this evening was the discussion between the ‘Real Disruptors – the Unicorns of India’. Vineet Rao, Founder and CEO, DealShare engaged in an eminent conversation with Prateek Shukla, Founder of Masai School.

Vineet, after having a successful career with various startups like Trilogy Software, went on to work for Microsoft and worked there for over a decade. He then set up India’s fastest-growing e-tailer, offering national as well as indigenous daily needs products to consumers, called DealShare. Vineet spends most of his time understanding customer problems, building a low-cost and highly efficient supply chain solution, and social and gamification-led low-cost demand generation.

With DealShare, a tech-enabled e-retail startup that launched by Vineet in September 2018, customers can buy together, save money, and have fun while saving on high-quality goods. It targets customers who are still getting used to the Internet for commerce and for whom big e-commerce players are not an ideal option. Harvard reviewed this interesting model, and their case study makes for an interesting read.

Prateek is the co-founder of Masai School, an intensive coding institute that runs on the principles of the Maasai Mara Tribe. The ex-CEO of Grabhouse was struck by the education problem in the country during his work with Teach For India in 2011. Post the acquisition of Grabhouse, and a stint in business strategy he worked on the education solution. The result was Masai School which combines the skilling and survival techniques of the Maasai Tribe and the talent of Nrupul Dev and Yogesh Bhat, who he founded the firm with in 2019. The company has been rapidly growing since. He is an IIT Kanpur alum, class of 2012 and a TEDx speaker.

Check out the link to hear a snippet of their conversation.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ET Edge Insights, its management, or its members

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