From fundi to jugaad: Indian innovation

Working in Kenya last year, I became aware of the significant role of the fundi in African engineering. Rather like Scotty on the Enterprise, the fundi's role is to improvise and to squeeze performance from materials or mechanical processes whose original function may be long past, yet with imagination, skill and dexterity can be modified for current needs.

A Swahili word, it is also used in South Africa to mean an expert, umfindisi in Nguni and meaning a teacher.

So I was interested to read in Business Week http://bit.ly/6qEw1M of an Indian concept of inexpensive invention that is finding favour in American boardrooms. Navi Radjou from Cambridge University's Centre for India & Global Business, uses a Hindi slang word, jugaad (pronounced "joo-gaardh"), to describe "an improvisational style of innovation that's driven by scarce resources and attention to a customer's immediate needs, not their lifestyle wants."

Held up as a new management fad that resonates with our times, jugaad nevertheless has potential pitfalls if quality and durability are sacrificed in pursuit of a quick fix - particularly in the context of the built environment. The process of innovation need not be complex, but for real value to be added it must generate products that are robust and enduring to be truly sustainable.

"More speed Scotty", but less haste...

Innovation in Tough Times

Most companies identify innovation as a strategic priority, but many struggle to execute because of the organisational barriers and outdated paradigms that exist.

In tough times it can seem even harder, with the focus on cutting cost just to survive. But innovation and efficiency are not mutually exclusive - thinking creatively in tough times can control costs.

We set up this design led consultancy in February 2009 to promote innovation in the built environment. Nearly a year on, I’m pleased to say that we seem to have found an appetite among developers, architects and builders for better ways to deliver smarter buildings.

We looked away from our historic market and had a lot of fun working in Kenya last year, supporting a start up off-site manufacturing (OSM) business and developing a building system to supply East Africa. This experience has led to further work developing OSM for emerging markets.

It’s also been encouraging to see interest from closer to home, with UK developers keen to distinguish their product from the competition and deliver it more quickly into the market, as more favourable economic conditions prevail.

Looking forward, design problems in 2010 will continue to become more complex as the social, economic and environmental conditions converge to demand higher performing buildings. We will continue to champion off-site manufacturing and on-site assembly, so that more people may enjoy the benefits of sustainable living.

Incidentally, it was great to see Nick Whitehouse recognised in the New Years Honours List for services to the building industry - well deserved Nick, congratulations!

My good mate Ash has been badgering me to share some of this, so now we are...