What’s jugaad

Jugaad is a way of thought process,  that  attaches importance to, “How to approach a problem”. This way of approach paves way to lateral thinking. In other words Jugaad is finding a solution from the problem itself using resources and technology within one’s reach.

Jugaad is a Punjabi term. Its literal meaning is an arrangement that meets the requirement. On the basis of the meaning of Jugaad another new term ‘Jugaadoo’ has come into existence. Jugaadoo means, a person who applies jugaad formula to solve the problem.

A person who converts the mechanical energy of a cycle wheel to sharpen the knives and scissors is a Jugaadoo. The idea is Jugaad. Jugaad doesn’t need an intensive research or an extensive Research and development. What all it needs is, a person or a group of persons to make the things work. This quality is known as, ‘Jugaad mindset.’A person who makes a dish antenna from a cycle rim, a scooter used to draw water from a well for irrigation purposes are examples of Jugaad. 

Jugaad attains more importance especially when individuals or institutions face the challenges of resource shortages. It should not be mistaken as a ‘Compromise with Quality’ or a shortcut to achieve results in the developing countries.

Now, even in well developed countries, the Jugaad concept has been accepted and welcomed with open arms.

In the present scenario of economic turbulence and uncertainties, frugal innovative ways have become more necessary. 

The old adage, ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’ has taken a new form; ‘Scarcity is the mother of invention.’

Based on the inherent human nature.

It’s during a crisis only a human looks around desperately for an alternative to meet the crisis. Remember how a cat becomes more ferocious than a tiger when it’s driven to the wall?

Simplicity is the crux of Jugaad.

‘Identifying the problem’ is the chief factor around which the entire process of Jugaad revolves. , followed by implementing a method which involves neither costly machinery and gadgets nor conventional procedures. The only thing that is taken in to consideration is ‘ to make the existing things  to work using the existing resources, which are generally meager. Jugaad is more of a survival tactic than innovation.

Jugaad, now a cynosure of all eyes.

Now, the Jugaad movement, due to its frugal ways of innovation, caught the imagination of the corporate world, the world over. It has become the ‘Topic’ in the seminars and conferences. Even the trade journals started covering the topic ‘Jugaad’, while hailing it  in glowing terms. 

Jugaad is not just restricted to machines and gadgets. It can be applied to any sphere of activities in our day to day life. Many of us must have done many Jugaads without knowing that we are doing them. A good example is, to screw or unscrew a small screw, in the absence of a screw driver, we use our own finger nail. That is jugaad. But we do not know that we are using Jugaad. We can quote many such examples.

Jugaad is not new to India, to that matter, ot's npt new to any nation or any ragion. India was at it since time immemorial. Jugaad has become such a deep rooted affair and activity, that we never knew, one day it’s going to be appreciated and hailed as a frugal and cost-effective wonder.

Jugaad works on five principles .

A hawk’s eye.

A creative writer sees, what a commoner fails to see in a very common thing. People see the sky every day. People see snow white clouds also sailing along the sky. But another person sees  quick changing shapes of a galloping horse, a laughing child, an about to take off an aero plane.  If a simple non – descriptive  object can open flood gates for an intelligent  and observant person, the same non – descriptive object is nothing for some.

 Solutions and problems under the same roof.

The knowledge that problem never comes alone and that it comes along with a solution is the key to the success of Jugaad. The solution may not be present in its entirety in the problem. It may be in the form of a clue, that if closely and keenly observed will certainly leads to an amazing outcome. See this example.

A photo of a broken earthen pot, with the caption, “Broken refrigerator of a common man”, appeared in a news paper after the Gujarat earthquake. Many seen and read the photo and the news. But the same photo caption stirred the imagination of a man. The broken pot which was compared with the refrigerator made him think about making a cheap refrigerator for common man. 

The man was neither an intellectual nor a highly placed person in the society. After an year of struggle and hard work that man created a cheap refrigerator. He has not stopped with that. He extended his idea further and created earthen Water filters ,earthen frying pans, dining sets, pressure cookers and many more. He christened his jugaad as ‘Mitti cool.

In order to reduce the power bills in his hatchery, a farmer found a jugaad that reduced his power bills drastically. He knew fuel can be produced from cow dung and garbage. In a similar way why can’t he produce fuel from the poultry waste? He also knew that somewhere in the problem, the solution is hidden. With perseverance, the farmer found the solution.

More with less.

A doctor, who was a child specialist had frequent problems with the incubators in his small clinic. The frequent problems caused lot of expenditure towards the repairs of the incubators. Additionally  led to a few child deaths. Consequently his practice suffered.  With the help of an electrician and a carpenter, he created a wooden box equipped with a 100 volt bulb. A Desi incubator was ready. He expended only Rs. 15000. This a Jugaad. 

Similarly a thought for another Jugaad came into existence. This Jugaad is expected to  cure Fluorosis, an ailment caused due to excess intake of Fluorine compounds with Basil ( Tulsi ) leaves. Now the trials are on. If this Jugaad becomes successful, Fluorosis, which is quite an expensive treatment can be cured with a pittance. 

Simplicity, the hall mark of Jugaad.

Einstein is of the firm opinion that a simple innovation is much more difficult than s complex innovation.  One need to be courageous to create simple innovation.  To put it simple, Jugaad is a Gandhian technology.

A consumer complained to the supplier that his washing machine was not functioning properly. The supplier sent a technician to attend to the complaint. While the technician was checking the washing machine, he found a deposit of mud in the washing machine. The technician wondered how mud entered a washing machine. He asked the consumer. The technician learned from the consumer, that he was using the washing machine for washing the mud on the potatoes farmed in his potato farm. The technician filled the information in his report the cause for the malfunctioning of thr washung machine and handed over the report  to the supplier . Seeing the report an idea flashed across the mind of the supplier.  in a few days, the washing machine manufacturing company manufactured machines capable of cleaning the mud on the potatoes.

This is jugaad.

Hear the heart.

Jugaad formula lays stress on the concept, “ Hear your Heart. “ It advocates to hear keenly what the heart says and follow it.The moment your heart sends signals, think of giving a shape to the idea transmitted through the signals. In one of such signals sent by the heart of a person, found a clue .An idea flashed through the mind of  the person who went on to manufacture cell phones for the blind.

The Jugadoo did not conduct market surveys. Did not think about profits and losses. What all he has done is, simply followed his heart.

 Seeing the novelty in the project many prestigious corporations came forward voluntarily and invested huge amounts in the project.

In the present scenario of economic turbulence and uncertainties, frugal methods of achieving the targets within the limited resources for both individuals and institutions alone will work.