Today, I was conducting a Design Thinking Workshop for one of the top law firms in Mumbai. In Design Thinking, we identify 5 frictional forces that need awareness for effective problem solving – DCAFE – Doubt, Conflict, Anger, Fear and Ego.
We define Conflict as
A. Difference of Opinion
B. Difference of Perspective
C. Difference of Expectations
We also understand that for any creativity, we need all the above three ingredients in a team.
Thus, creativity and conflict are two sides of the same coin.
Then why should we call it Dispute Management Practice, when it accentuates a ‘win-lose’ mindset in both parties.
Why can’t we call it ‘Creative Solutioning for Managing Differences’?
Today is a significant day as we celebrate the National Panchayati Raj Day to commemorate the historic Constitution Act (73rd Amendment) passed in 1992 which came into existence a year later on April 24, 1993. The launch of the e-GramSwaraj portal and app today makes this a doubly important day. The portal shows us the vastness of India’s local governance framework.
We have over 2.66 lakh Gram Panchayats across the length and breadth of our country. This is where ‘the rubber hits the road’ and this is where, as Gandhiji said, India lives. On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we at #MissionSamriddhi launched the India Panchayat Forum (IPF) at Gandhi Ashram, Sewagram in Wardha. I felt that the 73rd Amendment that provided a Constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institution is yet to realise its full potential.
On this significant day, let us work with them and help them achieve effective local governance, and become examples to the world.
#ruralindia #IndiaPanchayatForum
Article: Published on April 24, 2020 National Panchayati Raj Day
Today is a significant day as we celebrate the National Panchayati Raj Day to commemorate the historic Constitution Act (73rd Amendment) passed in 1992 which came into existence a year later on April 24, 1993. The launch of the e-GramSwaraj portal and app today makes this a doubly important day. The portal shows us the vastness of India’s local governance framework.
We have over 2.66 lakh Gram Panchayats across the length and breadth of our country. This is where ‘the rubber hits the road’ and this is where, as Gandhiji said, India lives. On the occasion of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, we at #MissionSamriddhi launched the India Panchayat Forum (IPF) at Gandhi Ashram, Sewagram in Wardha. I felt that the 73rd Amendment that provided a Constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj Institution is yet to realise its full potential. The need for the India Panchayat Forum stems from this gap and is envisioned to promote the Gandhian vision of Panchayat Raj. This upholds the constitutional values, social justice and the highest standards of governance with a special focus on Antyodaya.
In our federal structure, our Gram Panchayats are the unsung heroes. Devolution of power to local government continues to be a contentious issue, but the launch of this portal ensures transparency, and thereby a level playing field. Each Panchayat has different challenges, and most do come up with innovative solutions.
On this significant day, let us work with them and help them achieve effective local governance, and become examples to the world.
Today is a great day as Tamil Nadu celebrates Tamil New Year, Kerala celebrates Vishu and Punjab celebrates Baisakhi. The day is also celebrated as Pana Sankranti in Odisha, Pohela Boishakh in West Bengal and Bihu in Assam. Some of these States also celebrate the harvest festival today.
When we think of festivals and celebrations, the thought of food cannot be far behind. However, in this time of national lockdown due to the global pandemic, food sources have become scarce. While for many people, this period allows them to spend quality time with their families, it has also increased the efforts of women who ‘work for home’ and ‘who work from home’, and thus juggle their time between the kitchen and the laptop.
I am reminded of a wonderful Design analogy that I have shared in my Design Thinking workshops. In the current context, this analogy seems appropriate to be shared with you again.
Let’s start with a question Can we utilize constraints for a positive outcome? I believe we definitely can! Design Thinking advocates see constraints as friends when leveraged effectively.
Much of South Indian food is based on flour-based batter that ferments pretty soon due to the temperature. However, South Indians have come up with a unique process of using batter across extended periods just by changing the design of food around this.
Make friends with fermentation!
Let me expand this further.
What are the possible design objectives of the food chain? It should have (a) Nutrition (b) Variety in taste (c) Ease of cooking (d) Easy to digest and (e) Minimum wastage.
A deeper look at South Indian food Let’s examine some food varieties such as dosa, idli, utthapam, different varieties of rice and gravies such as sambhar, in the light of the above parameters. There are insightful observations that revolve around interesting innovations and design elements.
The Dosa batter has the right mix of proteins and carbohydrates with pre-mixed portions of 1/3 dal and 2/3 rice as input/ingredients and this gives the essential nutrition
In Sambhar, one can mix any kind of vegetable from potato, tomato, pumpkin to okra along with spices. These items not only impart taste to the food but also provide essential nutritional value.
Variety is the spice of life, right? The same dosa batter can later be used to create other items, such as idli, utthapam, paniyaram and so on, based on the fermentation level – and as the days go by.
Simplicity is component based cooking. For example, when you cook rice, you can make multiple varieties of flavoured rice, such as curd rice, tamarind rice, sambhar rice, coconut rice, lemon rice, etc. The major part of cooking is done once in the morning and for each serving of a meal, very little work is left to be completed.
Easy on digestion: Pre-fermentation of proteins and carbohydrates help in easy digestion. The job is already half done even before it enters the mouth!
Almost zero wastage: The dosa batter can be used for multiple days till it is exhausted. Boiled left over rice can be used for multiple recipes including recipes for the next morning. One can even just add a single okra into Sambhar without it getting wasted.
The chances of so many design elements coming together cannot be a part of the evolution of food chain. Initial thinkers, who simplified many elements in human lives, must have applied their thinking in simplifying the food chain.
Food is essential to sustain life. In the current scenario, where food is scarce, leveraging batter-based foods like idly, dosa and utthapam helps in cutting down on boredom by bringing variety and helps the women at home.
Have you relished any food or heard about any cuisine that has an interesting design aspect to it? I would like to hear your thoughts
And people stayed home and read books and listened and rested and exercised and made art and played and learned new ways of being and stopped and listened deeper someone meditated someone prayed someone danced someone met their shadow and people began to think differently and people healed and in the absence of people who lived in ignorant ways, dangerous, meaningless and heartless, even the earth began to heal and when the danger ended and people found each other grieved for the dead people and they made new choices and dreamed of new visions and created new ways of life and healed the earth completely just as they were healed themselves.
Kathleen O’Meara, pen name Grace Ramsay, was an Irish-French Catholic writer and biographer during the late Victorian era.
This poem appeared in her second novel ‘Iza’s Story’, which was about the struggle of Polish patriots against Russian, Austrian and German occupation. The book compares the Polish-Russian situation to the Irish-British situation and praises the revolt of a small nation against a great neighbour.
1. Must think about perpetuity… Many a times, we don’t think from that perspective. 2. Any initiative should be self-propelled by the community, perhaps after an initial catalysing effort. 3. For it to be self-propelled, the initiative should have an overarching purity of purpose that is inclusive. 4. So, it is very essential to identify those forces that propel the initiative. There are 3 forces that drive human beings: a. Economic returns b. Social contribution/Recognition c. Spiritual/Compassion. 5. This ‘purity of purpose’ is what is of a higher nature because it addresses a greater problem that affects the majority. 6. Finally, such a perpetual initiative and self-propelling are embraced by all because its impact strikingly touches everyone – beneficiary and contributor alike.
Our purpose gets clearer and more relevant every day.
Just three years ago, armed with compassion and a massive transformative purpose, Mission Samriddhi set out to learn and understand the patterns, gaps and opportunities for holistic community development in rural India.
That was Mission Samriddhi 1.0. We are happy to say that we are now ready for Mission Samriddhi 2.0 where we are looking to scale.
Welcome to Mission Samriddhi’s Summit 8 on ‘Design for Scale’
Article: Published on January 29, 2020 Our purpose gets clearer and more relevant every day.
Just three years ago, armed with compassion and a massive transformative purpose, Mission Samriddhi set out to learn and understand the patterns, gaps and opportunities for holistic community development in rural India.
That was Mission Samriddhi 1.0. We are happy to say that we are now ready for Mission Samriddhi 2.0 where we are looking to scale.
Welcome to Mission Samriddhi’s Summit 8 on ‘Design for Scale’ with 4 distinctive sessions.
We kick off with an Expert Workshop where stakeholders from the government, social impact organisations and individuals will deliberate and work out a potential roadmap for each of the following tracks: India Panchayat Forum, Cluster Development Programme, Livelihood and Agri allied, Integrated Education, Healthcare, SHG and Rural Entrepreneurship.
The outcome of Expert Workshops will be discussed in Panel Sessions along with Expert Speakers.
A Sarpanch Roundtable with inspiring leaders from around the country will be part of the event to celebrate The PoleStar Awards honouring winners in the social impact space.
The need for networking time indicated in Summit 7 is being met with a Power Breakfast Session.
Some of the experts who will be part of these sessions are stalwarts in rural transformation in the region. Shri. Sunil Kumar, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Panchayat Raj, Government of India Shri S. M. Vijayanand, IAS, Former Chief Secretary, Govt of Kerala, Chairman Sixth State Finance Commission, Kerala Dr W. R. Reddy, IAS, Director General, National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Mr. Siddharth Tripathi, IFS, Commissioner, MGNREGA, Government of Jharkhand Mr. Bala Murugan D., IAS, CEO of BRLPS Jeevika,Government of Bihar Mr. Tausif Ahmed Quraishi, Senior Manager, Ultra-poor Graduation Programme, BRAC, Bangladesh
We look forward to each of the sessions with positivity in the hope that we will build a more prosperous India together!
छत ने कहा – ऊंचा सोंचो पंखे ने कहा – दिमाग ठंडा रक्खो घड़ी ने कहा – समय की कदर करो कैलेंडर ने कहा – वक्त के साथ चलो पर्स ने कहा – भविष्य के लिए बचाओ शीशे ने कहा – अपने आप को देखो दीवार ने कहा – दूसरों का बोझ बांटो खिड़की ने कहा – अपने देखने का दायरा बढ़ाओ फर्श ने कहा – जमीन से जुड़ कर रहो
The above thoughts are not mine, thus I didn’t translate it. I just contextualised it to Design Thinking.
The English translation Roof said – Think high The fan said – Keep your mind cool The clock said – Appreciate the value of time The calendar said – Adapt with time Purse said – Save for the future Mirror said – Reflect on yourself Wall said – Distribute the burden of others Window said – Increase your vision Door said – Leave negativity outside Floor said – Stay connected to the ground.
Today, Business Standard published my article on “Potential of Design Thinking” highlighting Design Thinking approach to stretch the vision of startups beyond the current reality to a desired state of 10X growth.
Traditionally, startups in India were limited to local geography-driven, short-term vision of ‘produce local’ and ‘sell local’. Recent trends in globalisation and liberalisation have provided greater opportunities to explore markets beyond the country and this warrants a wider thinking — a complete shift in the way we approach problem solving.
The success of this journey for startups will hover around the focus on “who is my customer”, “what does my customer wants” and not “what can I offer”.
Today, we met Noble Laureate Mohd Yunus, the father of Micro Finance and Self Help groups. He started this initiative in 1976 just after Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Started Grameen Bank formally in 1983 and the rest is history.
He believes in creating social business vs charity. He says charity has one life cycle while social business has unlimited. Now this concept is very active in Germany, France, Africa and Japan. Many German corporations have joint ventures with Grameen Bank for social businesses.
He has published a new book – “A World of Three Zeros: Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, Zero Carbon.” We were lucky to get this copy after spending over an hour with him.
Article: Published on November 26, 2019 Applying Design Thinking for rural healthcare
I am a practitioner of Design Thinking and have been conducting open workshops for over a decade. We apply Design Thinking for designing the world’s best banking software at Intellect Design Arena.
In one of the design workshops, someone asked a question, “How can we apply Design Thinking practices in solving complex rural development problems?” In another workshop, I received a similar question, “How do you solve the tertiary healthcare problem of rural India?”
Yes, it’s all about the ‘right questions’ which are more important in Design Thinking parlance. We need to understand the persona of the customer first. Understanding his emotional map is equally important. We need to understand the Desirability, Feasibility and Viability triangle for designing the right experience for the customer.
We observed that most of the specialist hospitals are in urban cities and not closer to rural customers. The hospital’s rural service teams bring patients to these hospitals for appropriate treatment. It’s an efficient model because of 2 reasons: A. Viability of hospital infrastructure against high capital expenses in rural settings. B. Lack of availability of specialist doctors in rural spaces.
But from a customer’s perspective, the urban setting is intimidating and built on the crutches of ‘someone else’s help’. It takes a lot of effort and time to enter the city hospital, just navigating the roads of the urban city on its own is a ‘project’ for the family of the patient besides the other expenses they have to incur.
With this insight we decided to setup a not for profit, charitable ADK Jain Eye Hospital at Khekra, a village in the Baghpat district near the community. Designed with a capacity to serve more than two hundred thousand patients and twenty thousand surgeries a year, this facility spans across 50,000 sqft. Dr Manju Jain Verma, MD, PhD and Ophthalmic Surgeon from Sydney, Australia personally designed all the services at world class level. Dr Ruma Gupta, MD and Ophthalmic Surgeon has dedicated her services to run this hospital.
It was a humbling experience for me at the opening ceremony of the ADK Jain Eye Hospital yesterday by Shri. Atul Garg, Hon’ble Minister for Health Services for the State of UP and Shri. Satyapal Singh, Member of Parliament, Baghpat district in the presence of hundreds of participants from the local community. In just 8 weeks of the alpha launch of the operation theatre, the hospital has performed Cataract surgeries for over 600 patients and OPD for 10,000 needy.
I must appreciate through this message the power of the team who believed in this lateral vision and helped in completing the hospital from land acquisition to building completion to interior design to equipping with a world class operation theatre in just 21 months. Pramod Balakrishnan designed the 5 floor which has the ‘Non-hospital’ building concept interconnected with light, visual and green spaces. The community’s amphitheatre in front of the hospital invites patients and they participate in treatment with well-trained local community staff and expert doctors.
I must acknowledge a few who have participated in this mission of creating a world class hospital near a rural community – Dr Manju J Verma, Dr Ruma Gupta, Prabhjyot Singh Sambhy, Pramod Balakrishnan, Dr Amod Kumar, Manju Jain, Dr Sudarshan Gupta, Dr Vivek Gupta, Dr Aravind, Arun Arora, Yogesh Andlay, Adish Jain, Vinod Jain, Dr Uma Gupta, Rajesh Jain, Maruthi Machani, Umesh Gupta from Ish Putra, Navin Gupta, Dr P K Gupta, Dr Shalini Agarwal, Dr Vikas Anand, Dr Deepak Dhama, Sangita and many, many more.
Hello, my name is Arun Jain. I am a design thinker living in Chennai, India. This is my blog, where I post my thoughts, technology trends and tips about the fintech world and many more.
