Perception Is Not Reality - About Sanjay Dalal

I would like to share with you a bit more about me, Sanjay Dalal, and give you some real facts...

1. I am a simple & happy family man, father of two growing children in Irvine, and husband to my wife since 1993 (technically 1992 since we got married in the court). We all moved to Irvine in 2007 from Fremont, CA. I love Turtle Rock, Irvine, where we live. I love my children & wife, relatives, my community, my friends and God. I love peace, happiness and well being for all... For more on my story, go to my website: http://www.sanjaydalal.com

2. I am a software entrepreneur, deeply passionate about collaboration software for social networks. I spend more than 10 hours a day thinking, planning, marketing & growing my latest software launch... oGoing. What's going on? http://www.ogoing.com
Further, I only know about computer software and some computer hardware. I do not have any working or professional knowledge of anything else besides computer software, and that too, mainly collaboration software and services. I do like to teach my children different technologies & always ask them to be curious about the latest cool things including cultures & traditions of their friends & families... just like any parent would do.

3. I launched India Business Network last year (2009) to help grow awareness of Indian professionals & businesses, and also in turn, learn about social networking, and the platform on which India Business Network hosts (Ning). Today, India Business Network has about 4,000 global members. India Business Network is a registered non-profit organization. Go to: http://www.indiabiznet.com to learn more...

4. I have failed many times over as an entrepreneur, including my latest failure... Innovation Index Group that managed Innovation Index Fund in 2008. Innovation Index Fund is closed, and is only supporting remaining 4 investors (May 2010 update - my father is not an investor anymore). All 4 investors are U.S. based, and are all friends based in Orange County & Los Angeles Area (who I have met a few times, and know them on a first name basis). There are no foreign investors, no foreign interest, no partners from any foreign countries / cities such as Dubai, Middle East, Africa, Europe in Innovation Index Fund. I am always learning from the failures such as Innovation Index Group... it only prepares me better for my next startup. Case in point: oGoing :: What's oGoing on? (tm) http://www.ogoing.com

5. Show me the money... First, I was successful in Silicon Valley at two startups that allowed me to be an entrepreneur (from the money I made in Silicon Valley). But I also lost money in the stock market (like everybody else, but probably more than I would like). I make money by selling Business Innovation eBook, Apple Innovation Strategy, Innovation Bootcamp, Internet & Social Media marketing, web & mobile application consulting, and investing in stocks (I enjoy it). This keeps me occupied and very busy all day...

6. I love ABAOC (Asian Business Association of Orange County), and am quite grateful & proud to be a board member. I take this job seriously, and would do everything to make ABAOC shine... this is my commitment to the board. I also love TiE Southern California, Irvine Chamber of Commerce and Dean's Leadership Circle, Paul Merage School of Business, University of California.

7. I am looking for partners for oGoing - Enterprise Social Network... if you or someone you know would like to get on the ground floor of a hot new startup that will potentially be a $100 million plus business in five to ten years, this is your chance. Just ask me for a business plan or executive summary, and I would be happy to share it with you... email me: ceo at innovationmain dot com

I love community development & community service... hence, I am active with my daughter's Turtle Rock School PTA & School Site Council, Rotary Club of Newport-Irvine, and take time to volunteer & promote / donate to charities... I was a basketball coach three times for my son's teams, and an art master for my daughter's class.

In 2005, I found out I had Osteoporosis in my lumbar spine. I have been fighting it since, and have made good progress. I am doing much better now... I started a non-profit in 2007 to raise awareness of this: http://www.osteofoundation.org (you can also read my story there)

Hoping this would clear up any perceptions you may have about me... or not ;-)

Now, let's do some business!!

Sincere regards,
Sanjay Dalal, Entrepreneur
Social Media. Internet. Innovation.

www.SanjayDalal.com

direct: 949-288-6880 (Receptionist: 7 am to 5 pm, M-F)

p.s.: I don't spam w. text, email, voicemail

Innovation Quotes

Innovation Quotes by Sanjay Dalal, Chief Innovator, http://www.innovationmain.com/

"Innovation happens when everything else fails."

"Passion is the seed of innovation."

"Creativity is the engine that drives innovation."

"Ideas is the fuel that jump starts innovation."

"Passion, creativity & ideas - together, they make innovation happen."

"Creativity begins with asking questions... Innovation happens when you find answers"

"Fail first. Innovate next."

"Innovation and success go hand in hand."

"Innovation is the long, winding road up the mountain of success."

"When everyone's an innovator, it's time to innovate."

"Failure is the first step towards innovation."

"Innovators have one undying quality - they never give up."

"Creativity and innovation drive new business."

"All innovators have one thing in common - they have all failed at least once."

"An idea is only an idea until you convert it into something meaningful. That's when innovation starts."

"More processes, less innnovation."

"More operations, less innovation."

"More management, less innovation."

"More entrepreneurs, more innovation."

"If you don't innovate, you may survive today, but will die tomorrow."

"Killer innovations are made by killer innovators with killer instinct."

"If your last innovation did not hit the home run, think about your first innovation that did. You have the answers."

"Don't get disrupted by innovators who are nimble, hungry & focused, and are out to kill you by waging price wars."

"The future is bright for innovators."

"Innovators don't have all the answers, but they have a better compass."

"An innovator cannot be both a manager and a leader at the same time."

"Innovate. Market. Out-Innovate. Out-Market. Succeed."

"If you are not hungry enough, you are not innovating."

"A good innovation becomes a great innovation with marketing."

"Innovation must focus on customer use rather than customer need."

"Customer use is the starting point for innovation, not customer need."

"It's an innovator's fallacy to design an innovation solely with customer needs."

"Customers don't have all the answers, however have all the questions."

"It's not the quantity of innovations, it's the quality of innovation that defines success."

"An innovator is an observer, creator and doer at the same time."

Download my Creativity and Innovation eBook. 212-page collection of over 55 best practices, case studies, and insights on the current state of Creativity and Innovation in Business at Top Innovators including Apple, Google, Netflix, 3M, Frito Lay, Johnson & Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, Toyota, GE, BMW, Deloitte, Southwest, Nike, IBM, Dell and more. "Your report from the eBook and definitive guide was the primary reference that we used." Used by over 500 leading organizations including HP, Pepsi, EDS, J&J, Nokia...Learn more
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About Sanjay Dalal

Sanjay Dalal is an innovator and entrepreneur. Sanjay is the author/editor of the Definitive Guide and Faculty eBook on Creativity And Innovation In Business, used by over 550 corporations and organizations around the world including HP, Pepsi, Hallmark, Cleveland Clinic, EDS, Ericsson, Best Buy, University of California, Irvine, Indian Institute of Sciences, LG Electronics, Nokia, and many more. Sanjay is the chief innovator of InnovationMain.com , chief marketer of Semdia and founder of India Business Network. Sanjay is the author of over 200 articles in the last two years on the real-time state of innovation in business at his blog on Creativity And Innovation Driving Business. Sanjay's affiliations & memberships include the Irvine Chamber of Commerce, Dean's Leadership Circle of The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, Web 2.0 adviser for Cal State Fullerton, Secretary of School Site Council at Turtle Rock Elementary School, Treasurer of Turtle Rock PTA, Technology Advisory Committee, Fremont School District, Asian Business Association of Orange County, Rotary Club of Newport-Irvine. Sanjay is an engineering scholar graduate from The University of Texas at Austin, attended graduate school at Arizona State University, and completed executive certification from Cornell University.

Follow Sanjay Dalal's updates on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/chiefinnovator

Failures and Stumbles driving Innovation

"Failure is our most important product." R W Johnson, Jr., Former CEO, Johnson & Johnson, 1954

"Our company has, indeed, stumbled onto some of its new products. But never forget that you can only stumble if you're moving." Richard P. Carlton, Former CEO, 3M Corporation, 1950

Great wisdom shared by two great business leaders.

"Purposeful Accidents"

Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras, authors of the bestseller "Built to Last", discuss the role of Creativity and Innovation that drives some of the successful habits of Visionary companies. They observe that "some of their (visionary companies) best moves were not by detailed strategic planning, but rather by experimentation, trial and error, opportunism, and--quite literally--accident." But they were no ordinary accidents. Rather "purposeful accidents" according to the authors.

Selected references:
Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business
Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
The Innovation Index
Top 50 innovative companies in the world

Opportunistic or Planned Innovations

The authors give several examples of visionary companies including Johnson & Johnson's accidental move into Consumer Products with discovery of "Johnson's Toilet and Baby Powder" and "Band-Aid", Marriot's opportunistic step into Airport Services from providing meals in the airports to inside the airplanes, American Express's unintended evolution into Financial and Travel Services with the introduction of "American Express Travelers Cheque" and then Tourism and Travel, HP's unplanned move into computer business (when it designed its first small computer simply to add power to its line of instruments products) and more. These innovations were neither aberrations, nor they represented random luck--the authors discovered there was more to these innovations than what appeared on the surface--something bigger at work.

Darwin and the Evolutionary Progress

The authors label this type of progress by visionary companies as "evolutionary progress". Because evolutionary progress is unplanned progress, beginning with "small incremental steps or mutations, often in the form of quickly seizing unexpected opportunities that eventually grow into major--and often unanticipated--strategic shifts." Authors believe this is comparable to Darwin's theory of Evolution--species evolving by a process of undirected variation and natural selection--the survival of the fittest. Of course the difference with visionary companies being that there is a plan in place that stimulates these experiments and variations, and ultimately creates the meaningful inventions.

Johnson and Johnson - Failures to Innovations

Johnson & Johnson, one of the visionary companies in the book, has never in its 107-year history, posted a loss. It has had many failed ventures such as a foray into Kola stimulants, colored casts for children, heart valves, kidney dialysis, and ibuprofen pain relievers - the list is quite big. The failures result at J & J from the fact that the company emphasizes placing bets on many potential opportunities--most opportunities possibly fail, but the ones that do succeed, they succeed big. The bets, or the experimentation, are an essential price to pay for successful Innovation and Long-term growth. At General Electric, Jack Welch the then CEO, called this "planful opportunism"--directing a business by setting only a few clear, overarching goals and letting the people seize any opportunities they saw to further these goals.

3M - Accidents to Innovation Machine

What about 3M, quite possibly the most innovative company of our times that even CEOs of other visionary companies admire? 3M is best known for its household brands such as Post-It note, Masking tape, Scotch tape, and many more. 3M initially failed in its mining business, and eventually stumbled onto most of the successful innovations that we know 3M for, including Post-It, Masking and Scotch tape. According to the authors, "Although the invention of the Post-it note might have been somewhat accidental, the creation of the 3M environment that allowed it was anything but an accident." 3M institutionalized such mechanisms to drive Innovation as the "15 percent rule" - technical people spend up to 15 percent of their time on projects of their own choosing or initiative, "25 percent rule" - each division should produce 25 percent of annual sales from new products and services introduced in the previous five years, "Golden Step" award - given to those creating successful new business ventures originated within 3M. More mechanisms were created to stimulate internal entrepreneurship, test new ideas, create unplanned experimentation, share new ideas, develop new innovation, cross-fertilize technology, ideas and innovation, stimulate innovation via customer problems, speed product development and market introduction cycles, provide profit sharing, and promote "a small company within a big company feel" by creating small autonomous business units and product divisions - in early 1990 3M had over sixty thousand products and over forty separate product divisions.

Norton - Lessons Learned

The authors argue that whereas 3M created the mechanisms and management practices to encourage individual initiatives and experimentation, Norton was the exact opposite. 3M took the approach of "try a lot of stuff and keep what works", whereas Norton was centralized, bureaucratic and stagnant. Not only that, the authors discovered that Norton had explicit policies discouraging entrepreneurship; there were no incentives for creativity and towards looking outside for new opportunities beyond the traditional products and businesses. Norton emphasized too much planning from the top down, and made it a way of life. Norton eventually tried to innovate and expand with acquisitions, but it was too little, too late. Norton, a company that at one time was ten times the size of 3M, ceased to exist (was acquired on its way down in the nineties).

Five takeaways stimulating Innovation

The authors summarize their findings from 3M and provide five takeaways to drive Innovation at any business:

1. "Give it a try--and quick!" - Essentially echoing on having a process to try out a lot of stuff, and keeping what really works. The key here is to do something. Keep on trying something new.

2. "Accept that mistakes will be made." - Learn from the mistakes quickly, and move on. Failures are part and parcel of what creates new innovation. Don't repeat the same mistakes.

3. "Take small steps." - Experiment, but on a small scale. When something looks promising, go all out and seize the opportunity. This way one can do plenty of inexpensive experiments that create a funnel of would-be innovations.

4. "Give people the room they need." - Without entrepreneurship, there is no experiment. Without experiment there is no success or failure. People need some time and room to experiment.

5. "Mechanisms - build that ticking clock!" - How do you harness creativity and build innovation? It cannot happen simply by chance. Companies need to create practices and tangible mechanisms to experiment, try out new ideas and innovate.

Selected references:
Leading eBook on Creativity and Innovation in Business
Creativity and Innovation Best Practices
Creativity and Innovation Case Studies
The Innovation Index
Top 50 innovative companies in the world

If you enjoyed reading this Creativity and Innovation best practice, I recommend the complete list of Creativity Innovation Best Practices.

Acknowledgements:

Jim Collins and Jerry I. Porras - Built to Last - Successful Habits of Visionary Companies