Creativity and Innovation characterize the dawn of civilization and their importance has only increased with the passage of time. A Random Walk in the World of Creativity and Innovation is an inspired work that takes a close look at the traits shared by creative and innovative persons irrespective of their walks of life. Deftly delving into a surprisingly wide variety of topics poetry, humour, puzzles, tricky questions and even magic tricks not to mention science and industry, the author brings up pearls of novelty and serendipity.
This book is neither an instruction manual nor a teaching-aid. But all readers will enjoy a refreshingly unusual point of view, appreciate the ability to think creatively and perceive things from an uncommon angle of thought.
I have been keeping this task under wraps for quite some time knowing fully well that I have to write a thought-provoking preface to a book. That too, a book on creativity and innovation written by as creative an individual as my good friend, Hem Shanker Ray. Momentous task indeed, but now, it can not wait any longer. The book is under print! So, I began to think. Where should I begin? How do I relate the story of the world of innovations in a manner that would befit this book? After considerable deliberation, I came to the conclusion that the best way would be to start with the basics.
Let me first introduce the concept of innovation, as I see it. Innovation is not something new; in fact, very early in the development of human civilization, Charles Darwin had observed "It is not the strongest of the species nor the most intelligent ones that would survive, but the ones most responsive to change". Innovation and change are like Bedi and Prasanna - interlinked in so far as they are in the same field, yet different from each other. Between change and innovation, what is the inter-relationship? Which one comes first - does change result in innovation, or does innovation trigger change? This is difficult to ascertain. It is the proverbial chicken and egg story. Who was the better bowler - Bedi or Prasanna? Perhaps the best solution to this vexing question would be to circumvent the basic issue and take the stand - Bedi was the best left-arm spinner while Prasanna was the best right-arm spinner Indian cricket has seen! Suffice it to say that change and innovation are like Siamese twins - linked from birth.
I have known Prof. Hem Shanker Ray for over fifteen years now. He was one of the first CSIR Directors I happened to meet when I joined CSIR as a Director myself. Over the years I have got to know him well and I am happy to write this foreword for another offbeat book from him.
The words 'Random Walk' may suggest that the book rambles through myriad topics. However, as I read through the manuscript I realized that although he does walk through a variety of topics, he never loses his focus! This is typical of the thought process that characterizes creators and innovators. His random walk is akin to the 'tinkering' of experimenters who explore many possibilities in search of their goals. The creative person not only looks at many things and in many directions; he is able to connect apparently dissimilar things too. I agree with the basic postulate of the author that creative and innovative persons, irrespective of the walks of life, share common traits.
The author does touch upon a surprisingly wide variety of topics poetry, humour, puzzles, tricky questions and even magic tricks besides delving into science and industry. Everywhere he searches for novelty and serendipity. Obviously, this book is neither an instruction manual nor a teaching-aid. The basic aim is to make the reader think creatively and perceive things from an uncommon point of view.
I appreciate the author's efforts to see things from an Indian perspective, stressing the need for creativity and innovation for Indian's resurgence in the twenty first century. I also appreciate the clear distinction he makes between inventions and innovations and the emphasis he puts on the importance of 'quality' in the Industry. As is well known, many inventions of our laboratories are like 'Sleeping Princesses' waiting for the kiss from the Prince of Industry to wake up. Unless the inventions connect with entrepreneurs they will remain dormant forever.
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