Innovation is the buzzword of the 21st century,
as not just corporations and governments but every individual is seeking that
one great life-transforming idea that would set apart his/her life from the
rest of the world and rocket him/her to the top. Quite naturally
‘innovation-advice’ is literally flooding the market. So why would you want to
read more of the same? Because, in the simplest of terms, this is probably the
most meticulously written, most lucidly explained and most insightful book on
changing the orbit of your universe that you would have come across.
Orbit Shifting
Innovation by Rajiv Narang and Devika Devaiah breaks down the process as
well as the mindset of creating an orbit-shift into the tiniest bits, so that
you can observe and explore each one with perfect clarity. The book is divided
into four sections, beginning with a record of the most extraordinary
life-changing ideas in different industries, countries and areas of life. While
you would certainly expect companies’ innovative products or services to be
there for sure, what sets this list apart is the inclusion of public-welfare
initiatives by social enterprises and government employees. Whether it is the
life-straw water purifier, which purifies water even as you drink it, developed
by Swiss firm Vestergaard Frandsen , the community policing model applied in
Tiruchirapally by JK Tripathi, the transformation of Surat from a plague-ridden
city into India’s second cleanest city by SR Rao, or the construction of the Qinghai
Tibet railway, the examples set the tone, driving home the point that a
transformative change can originate in any section of society or any part of
the globe. The stories themselves unfold bit by bit over the course of the
book, engrossing you with the sheer miraculous power of human will.
Devaiah and Narang, the latter the founder and the former
the Director of Erehwon, a 20-year old pioneering Innovation firm, discuss some
very interesting concepts, such as the idea of identifying and moving beyond
mental-model boundaries—the lens from which we view the world. To be able to
transcend these, you may have to literally invert your world-view—as they show
you with a map that portrays the Southern Hemisphere on the top! Then there is
confronting ‘gravity’—the force that pulls people down—which can be in the form
of organisation, industry, culture or country gravity, but is most powerful in
the form of mindsets that are averse to change, thought processes that say ‘it
can only be done if it’s been done before.’
The last section sums up very neatly the difference between
‘orbit-shifters’ and ‘settlers’: both exhibit romanticism as well as realism;
the difference lying in where they apply each. The orbit-shifters are dreamers
in their vision: they imagine something hitherto unheard of, but are rooted in
reality about the obstacles in implementation. The settler, on the other hand,
choses a ‘doable’ target while rom
anticising the execution—and fails to
complete even the doable.
The book’s format is more of a corporate guidebook,
sprinkled with special tips for CEOs to foster innovation in their enterprise.
From advice to idea-generators on handling top management, to guidelines for
the top brass on how not to
promote ideas that are merely ‘more of the same’ , this book is a must read for
people dreaming of making it big in the corporate world. However, its appeal is far greater than that:
the pages speak to every individual
who nurtures a dream—be it changing his own life, or changing the course of the
universe.
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