An inconclusive discussion, but a fruitful insight

Hey there, thanks for reading this blog, you know what!
Reflecting about a recent trip to India, I was reminded about two encounters I have had with two different people, both academics belonging to two different traditions. Engaging them on the subject matter of innovation, I got two very interesting insights, one an engineer and a mathematician by training referred to innovation as a purposeful, single minded pursuit of a solution of a problem blighting the fulfillment of one’s goals, while the other with a sociological background referred to innovation as a systematic and methodological approach to problem solving. Now isn’t that funny, the engineer/mathematician refers to innovation in need-problem solving causality while the social scientist refers to innovation in terms of system. How come?
A few days later, in a different city in a different region of India, I was having a conversation with another academic, and the subject matter for our discussion was Indian IT companies and how they grow. The discussion turned to the topic of firms going bust, I heard the person say something rather startling, claiming that Indian IT firms do not go bust. This was indeed a remarkable claim for a student of economics, considering the notion of markets and its importance on firm behavior. But upon further reflection, I saw some wisdom in his claim. I pressed him to explain why I should take his conjecture seriously, but before he began his rebottle, I quickly realized where he was coming from and the meaning behind this conjecture. For I figured the following
Indian firms do not go bust because they are constantly looking to improvise. They improvise their business strategy, their employment strategies and their domain in which they operate. The improvising is more a consequence to survive than to make it big immediately, for they figure; I rationalized if they can survive in the Indian market for two years they have the potential to service the world market for IT services.
The challenge dear friends here is not to say that improvising is better than innovation, but to try and reflect what is going on from the two sets of different stories. True my discussions were with academics, so I was engaging with individuals whose perceptive skills are relevant to the issue. But they are not part of the real world we are trying to understand. That being a weakness it is but one among many weaknesses that academics generally suffer from, nevertheless the point here is not about their observations but how you and me understand their utterances.
Well this is how I understand it, Firms in India do improvise thus they do not go bust, this is the second story. The first story is about innovation is it systematic or step gap need based solution to a problem. To my mind, the need based solution to a problem can fall into the realm of improvising while the systematic approach to problem solving could fall into the realm of innovation. Do you agree? If not, what is your take on the two stories above and how would you interpret it? Do you see the emergence of some kind of definition here?

If there is a beginning, it is here

Gosh! You have finally made it here, isn’t that amazing; for all the millions of blogs that could have stopped you in your tracks. It is here you choose to spend some of your valuable time, for which I much appreciate, thanks.
Let this be a Journey for me, as much as it is for you. In the coming days, months, and perhaps years I will want to engage on a simple task. To explore the difference between improvising and innovation, are they different ideas, if so what is the difference in real terms, in practice for everyone. Are we all avid improvisers or amateur innovators, which is which? These are the issues that I would want to explore in my journeys in India and Denmark, with my friends, colleagues and among my students.
The pest few weeks has seen me trying to write a paper on Innovation, I often wondered why is innovation so special and what makes it interesting, why don’t firms and us, talk of improvising, as we engage with it at every stage in our lives, in our struggles, aspirations and our ambition. Why don’t we talk of improvising as a real skill rather than celebrate innovation that can change our lives?
Well, the story of this poor sole begins with a project called Knowledge Mapping of Indian ICT competencies. Yes, Yes, I am an academic, and my business is research and teaching. You see then, my interest in the notion of improvising and innovation. I improvise every day in the class room, but I am not sure if I really innovate, depends how we define innovation.

Coming back to the project; It is to map in real terms what is going on in India, in terms of ICT research and development. By mapping, yes I mean scientifically mapping. To do this we will engage with all those companies in India who have in the past innovated. Look here, I have not deliberately defined innovation, this is because I want you to carry your own ideas. This is not a class but a dialogue between you and me. So tell me what you think of innovation? Anyway the mapping of Indian ICT R&D potential will take two years to complete starting 2008.
O’ God, sorry to bore you, I will not tell you more stuff about this project, from now on it will be just me and the journey of confusion and question I have embarked upon. You know what, the ideas to blog was growing in my mind for some time now, until I red two of my students blogs. What a nice way to communicate and hey presto; here I am.

Coming back to the idea of improvise and innovation, which is which?
On the fun side of things, I travelled to India in April this year; see some photos below and a video. The fun part was that I saw people improvising at every stage, there is so much struggle and adversity in simply living and surviving that improvising becomes second nature, like breathing or feeling. It is so automatic, kind of second nature, that one does not think much about it, but innovation, yes innovation. Now that is a big deal. Why? Is it because we seldom innovate but often improvise, Or is it many series of improvising leads to an innovation or the other way round, which comes first. I wonder.
In the many posts to come I will share my experiences with you on this and hope we can reflect on the nature of innovation, how do we understand it, when we see it.
In the mean time here are some pictures from India for your viewing