Enterprise flows from innovation

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: from one area to another, the ability to see things as multiple shades of gray and not just black and white, to understand nuances, to avoid making simplistic assumptions, to have a historical and socio-cultural context since these are very important requirements to be able to “see” and appreciate the possibilities of innovation around.

Without knowledge and awareness, our focus tends to be on the transactional, on the here and the now. Our focus will be on treating everything as an unnecessary cost without being able to distinguish investments from costs, assets from expenses. We cannot develop long-term thinking and strategies.

And without long term thinking, we will continue to muddle through and somehow manage to do things without getting the full benefit of the value creation. And this muddling through, in turn, will ensure that we will not be able to build businesses that can truly take advantage of the knowledge economy.

There’s an interesting Chinese proverb that goes like this:

“If you want one year of prosperity, grow grain. If you want 10 years of prosperity, grow trees. If you want 100 years of prosperity, grow people.”

We, in India, have certainly created a billion-plus people. Now we need to grow them to become insightful individuals who can develop and shape ideas and play important roles in the creation of innovative industries. Growing people requires an investment in knowledge and awareness creation.

Can each one of us in the entrepreneurial eco-system decide to start reading?

What do you think?

The author is a passionate advocate of entrepreneurship in India; He brings close to two decades of experience as an entrepreneur, corporate executive, venture investor, faculty member, advisor and mentor. He’s involved with Nasscom, TiE, IIM-Bangalore, and Insead Business School in driving entrepreneurship.