Skip to main content

Book review : Jugaad Innovation by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu & Simone Ahuja

Introduction

·         ISBN: 978-8-184-00205-8

·         Genre : Business

·         Price: Rs. 499/- ( This book has been received from the publisher for a review)

·         Pages: 317

·         Publishers: Random House India

Jugaad is something I could claim mastery on till the time I read this book. This book is a collection of all those wonderful Jugaad innovations that are beyond imagination yet have been created by people like us showcasing their sheer brilliance. The Jugaad technology as referred to by the authors in the book has the much needed WOW factor as you turn page after page.

Behind The book
Source: Google Images

Corporate leaders and entrepreneurs who want to succeed and grow not just in complex and resource-constrained markets like India but in markets all over will find this book more than a useful read. – Ratan Tata, Chariman, Tata Group

About the authors

Navi Radjou- Navi Radjou is an independent thought leader and strategy consultant based in Silicon Valley. He is an internationally recognized voice of business innovation and leadership. Navi is also a fellow at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, and a faculty member of the World Economic Forum.

Jaideep Prabhu - Dr. Jaideep Prabhu is Jawaharlal Nehru Professor of Indian Business and Enterprise and director of the Centre for India & Global Business at Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He has held positions at Imperial College London, Tilburg University (the Netherlands), and UCLA. Jaideep has a bachelor of technology degree from IIT Delhi and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California.

Simone Ahuja-Dr. Simone Ahuja is the founder of Blood Orange, a marketing and strategy consultancy with special expertise in emerging markets and innovation, and content production capabilities. Headquartered in Minneapolis, with teams in Mumbai, Blood Orange uses an agile, cost efficient content production process built on principles learned through extensive work in India, including jugaad.

To read more about them please click HERE

Me thinks

Ok Let me be honest, I hate nonfiction and I don’t know what made me select this book. Could be partially because of the praises that have been showered on it and partially because of the title- Now Jugaad is something we all know, yet want to know more and more about. So here I am, having finished reading the book all I can say a perfect masterpiece for all the wannabe-entrepreneurs!

As the tag line of the book says this book is a frugal and flexible approach to innovation. With a foreword by Ratan Tata and an introduction by Sam Pitroda this book does have a promising start. As you read through its chapters you will realize that they authors have done their homework very well in terms of the examples and explanations provided to the reader. There is so much of detailing behind every concept they talk about in very simple and lucid language and the whole presentation is so nicely organized that it makes a nice, engrossing read. Each every concept is backed by very strong real life examples which ensures the readers connect to the ideas easily.

To give you an example, in one chapter simplicity is associated with Facebook. Because as per Facebook, they choose this as they wanted the users to remember the conversations and not the website. Hence however many new options to may add for the user, the core website still remains the same. This was something incredible and it took me by surprise as I never noticed this. But then I guess this is what the Facebook team intended when they designed it like this. This book is full of such inspiring real like stories and concepts adopted by one and all starting from Fortune 500 companies to our local grocery shop owner.

As per the authors, the 6 core principles of Jugaad are:

·         Seek opportunity in adversity

·         Do more with less

·         Think and act flexibly

·         Keep it simple

·         Include the margin

·         Follow your heart

If one were to follow these core principles like thumb rule there is no scope of going wrong for anyone here. From the front cover page to the matter, to the presentation and language this book is perfection personified. In a long while have I read a book behind which the homework done by the authors is clearly visible much to the pleasure of the reader. I would recommend this book to college students (as this also outlines what is needed in an employee to ensure optimum output.), corporate head honchos, entrepreneurs (both who are and who want to be), business leaders and of course to all nonfiction lovers who enjoy reading innovative stuff.

Foodie Verdict
Source: Google Images
Baked  Macaroni - this book is like a dish of baked macaroni, cheesy, baked to perfection, yummy, melting in your mouth and leaving a nice soft cheesy after taste.


This book has been received from Random House for review

Popular posts from this blog

Movie Review: If by Tathagata Ghosh – A Tender Portrait of Love, Loss, and Possibility

If , a 26-minute short film by acclaimed Bengali filmmaker Tathagata Ghosh, is a sensitive, evocative piece of storytelling that lingers long after the credits roll. Set against the everyday rhythm of life in Kolkata, the film delicately unpacks the story of a lesbian couple torn apart by the weight of societal expectations and dares to imagine a different future, one where a mother's love might just change everything.  What struck me first was the film’s raw, grounded realism. The characters feel like people we know, middle-class families navigating a complex world with quiet resilience. The world of If is filled with silences, glances, and stills, rather than heavy dialogue. Ghosh masterfully uses these moments to speak volumes, allowing viewers to sit with discomfort, interpret the unspoken, and feel deeply.

Book Review: The Story of Eve: Selected Poems by Zehra Nigah

Few voices in Urdu poetry have carried the weight of history, resistance, and deep personal introspection quite like Zehra Nigah. One of the first women to break into the traditionally male-dominated world of Urdu poetry, Nigah’s work stands as a testament to the power of words to illuminate, question, and challenge. The Story of Eve: Selected Poems, translated by Rakshanda Jalil, brings together some of her most powerful nazms and ghazals, showcasing both her literary elegance and her unflinching gaze at the human condition, particularly through the lens of gender, social injustice, and political turmoil.

The Urban Gaze : Reimagining the Village in Contemporary Indian Cinema

Indian cinema has long been fascinated with the village. From the earthy, socialist realism of Do Bigha Zamin (1953) to the melodramatic lament of Mother India (1957), the village once stood as both heartland and hinterland — a space of moral clarity, rustic struggle, and often unyielding fate. But as the urban middle class began to dominate cinematic production and consumption, the depiction of the village increasingly came to reflect an urban gaze, that is, a perspective shaped by distance, nostalgia, condescension, or even outright fantasy.  In recent years, this urban gaze has taken on new shades, evident in the way mainstream and indie filmmakers alike have re-engaged with rural India. While some have tried to explore the village as a site of resistance, authenticity, or even horror, others continue to reproduce sanitized or exaggerated versions of village life that serve urban sensibilities more than rural realities.