Now that's what I call as Innovation!!!

Innovation seems to be a grossly overrated term. Innovation, in my humble opinion, really means figuring out a way to commercialize something which is new. It need not be new all the time, it could be the combination of existing services, products and technologies which could give rise to an innovation. Say for example, people visiting Facebook and people visiting twitter have got different intentions. 

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People visit Facebook to connect with friends (most of the time, private)  whereas people visit twitter to share their opinion on a public platform (which any one can view) within 140 characters. Facebook and Twitter being the most popular social networking engines, here comes the giant Google with their new service 'Google+'. Google+ is claiming to be technically new but it's actually the amalgamation of Facebook, Twitter, Skype and various other popular social networks.

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I would definitely call it as an innovation, because people need not visit different social networks when they've got everything at one place (They can use it according to their need). Though Google+ is finding difficulty in making users an addict for their social network, unlike Facebook and Twitter. And Google, slowly making Google+ mandatory for all the Google Account users (Gmail, Orkut, Maps, Docs etc), it is for sure going to be the next big thing. Did Google invent something new? The answer is a big 'NO'. As I said earlier, the innovation need not be something new, it could be the combination of existing technologies, services & products. 

For many, the word innovation brings to mind some technological break-throughs like refrigerator, electricity, light, telephone and so on.  Though innovation can be ground-breaking, it is often the improvements added to existing methods and technologies. The changes could be small, but sum of many small changes over a period of time can entirely transform the way, an individual or company does business. As Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham rightly said 'If you have a solution for a problem, you can do business out of that. Never run behind the bloody money. Success and money comes automatically after several failures as your first step'. Have a look at this video to see, how Mr. Muruganantham has converted a small idea into a business, which employs 7,000 rural women as of now and has got the potential of getting deployed over 100 countries across the world.  

If you are unable to watch the video, you can watch it on YouTube ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u1iWhljEbTE )

How amazing was that speech? Didn't it inspire you? It definitely did, for me. Isn't it ground breaking? Did it require a huge investment? Was it all about technology? No. All it required was, few criticisms around from the family and society circle, several failures and undying attitude of Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham. 

Few quick facts about the Sanitary Napkins in our country:

• Around 3/5 of the primary school girls (From Class 6 - High School) are not able to afford a sanitary napkin. The Ministry of Education also gives us a shocking fact, that a girl who cannot afford a sanitary napkin, misses near about 5 days of school in a month, during her menstruation. This would lead to the absenteeism of over 50 days in a year.

Imagine if it is the case in one country, what about the entire world? Another quick fact about our country is that, the sanitary napkin usage is less than 5%. Most of the women in rural and sub urban India are managing their menstruation cycle using Rag cloth, Husk, Plant leaves, saw dust and sometimes even ashes. 

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The Tampons (Sanitary Pads) contain two harmful things - Rayon and Dioxin. The chemical dioxin is used in the bleaching process, to make the tampons pure white in color. For both male and female, the chemical dioxin can be dangerous in breaking down the immune system. The best alternative for women who can't afford branded sanitary pads is the cotton. That's how Mr. Muruganantham has got this idea and started manufacturing sanitary napkins made up of pure cotton. 

How shocking is that? I went speechless after looking at these shocking facts given by Mr. Murugantham at the TEDxGateway Event (Dec 2012 - Mumbai). 

If you guys know of any rural areas - where women are unaware of the facts regarding tampons (sanitary napkins) and lack adequate facilities to avail it, you can get in touch with Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham (Jayashree Industries - muruganantham_in@yahoo.com) He will not only help with the production of tampons, but also create employment opportunities for rural women. 

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Any successful business now, was started once with the identification of a problem and a solution for that problem. Be it Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple or IBM, it was all started in a small warehouse by a bright set of dynamic youngsters who had a vision. More than that, they believed in themselves and their idea. 

Mr. Muruganantham also shared an interesting input that really triggered me to do something - Switch of all the lights, sit inside a room, calm your nerves and just think for 5 minutes on what should you do in your life. I just sat back and tried it. I just cannot tell the number of ideas that came into my mind on how to shape up my career. Every day, we go to our office, stick to our desk and work till late night. That's when I realized, 5 calm minutes with yourself can give you such great ideas you've never thought of, during the whole day sitting behind a desk and in front of a laptop. 

Innovation - Where does it actually comes from?

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In my humble opinion, Innovation stems from transforming the knowledge into something valuable. If we can build an idea, that could make difference to situations or people, it is bound to be innovative. Innovation is all about simplicity and feelings. Some of the greatest innovations in the world, began with a simple idea. 

Innovation is not just about stepping into the shoes of your customer but creeping into the minds of your customer. Innovation is all about touching lives. Mr. Muruganantham has touched thousands of lives. What about you and me? If not like him, at least let's help in spreading the word across the globe . As they said, powerful ideas of today are definitely the true investments for a better tomorrow.