Influx

Today in the West, it’s perceived wisdom that innovation comes from the application of advanced technology.

Over, in India, an enlightened few are discovering and exposing the innovation that exists at a grassroots low-tech level, where people are forced to improvise and develop practical solutions to help them out in the tough circumstances of daily life.

India’s Honey Bee network is a remarkable organization founded by Anil Gupta, a professor at the Indian Institute for Management (the world’s toughest business school), is working to preserve the knowledge found in India’s extensive network of rural villages.

A couple of times a year, for the last 8 years, the organization has undertaken a walk for knowledge or Shodhyatra

Participants take several days to walk 80 miles or so, staying in villages, meeting in villages, hearing stories and finding innovation a long the journey.

Some of the Honey Bee’s discoveries include:

A bicycle that runs over water as well as road

A low-cost milking machine

A false bamboo tooth that’s strong enough to bite into chicken

A simple driving system for disabled drivers

A pulley stopper for water wells

A pedal-operated washing machine

A windmill-operated power generator

A pomegranate peeling and deseeding machine.

Honey Bee shows that not all innovation has to be pushed from on high by outsiders, these communities often have their own innovators, who, with limited resources, and zero modern technology, come up with solutions to real village problems.

The future of the developing world may depend on as much on the sharing, exposure and development of these highly practical local ideas, as much as it will, access to low cost computers and cell phones.

The efforts of Honey Bee also teaches us that although it’s often tempting to look to advanced technology and the Internet, to provide all the innovative solutions, sometimes, it’s worth taking a step back and asking what you could achieve with limited resources?

It might be something that would make the product or service better, simpler or easier.

Often, this thought process might lead to the realization that you need to have a better more informed understanding of how people really use your brand in their lives (good research), since this should allow you to spot those simple low-cost, low-tech opportunities that lurk within current experiences.

If you discover that you don’t know enough, then it might be time to undertake your own Shodhyatra.