[{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/en\/article\/modal\/5934\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n 3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EAltruism as innovation in practice \u2013 Bunker Roy\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EInnovation\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWe hear a great deal about innovation and the need for more of it in business and enterprise. I continually turn my thoughts towards what I have witnessed in my life, which is that nothing and no one is more innovative than a poor man or woman. Necessity and desperation often breed innovation. A woman who has seven children, but one kilo of rice for the week ahead, will somehow manage for it to keep her family going. There is little that separates the concepts of resourcefulness and innovation. When one has more than enough to eat, one ceases to think as hard of how to make one\u2019s meagre foodstuffs go further or how to waste less.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESo managing this concept in the framework of a thriving economy and business are certainly a point of dialogue in today\u2019s world. How to teach bankers who have never known what it is not to be able to eat lunch because of a lack of funds in one\u2019s pocket \u2026 that caring for other\u2019s assets and money is something that requires a constant and tenacious need for innovation and resourcefulness, is indeed a challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPromoting a different vision of enterprise\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn its purist form, enterprise is productivity. All human beings strive to be productive and valued in a collective society. The rural village model is the perfect place to witness the power of the individual to drive a common quality of life augmentation. Thinking for the community but acting individually. In this context I use the word \u2018community\u2019 to describe our larger human community.\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022tw-text-center tw-text-blue tw-font-bold tw-text-2xl lg:tw-w-1\/2 tw-border-2 tw-border-blue tw-p-12 tw-my-8 lg:tw-m-12 lg:tw--ml-16 tw-float-left\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cspan class=\u0022tw-text-5xl tw-rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n \u003Cp class=\u0022tw-font-serif tw-italic\u0022\u003E\u2018Captains of industry must look within their organisations to nurture and grow a more pervasive culture of innovation, where ideas profit not only the company but also profit the consumer and employee.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\n \u003Cfooter\u003E\n \u003Ccite class=\u0022tw-not-italic tw-font-normal tw-text-sm tw-text-black\u0022\u003EBunker Roy, founder and director of Barefoot College, India\u003C\/cite\u003E\n \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis idea of communal thinking is merely a mindfulness about the other beings to whom we are connected in our human experience. It is critical to imbuing enterprise with a \u2018right thinking\u2019 that focuses on the betterment of many, versus fewer, people. The ability to turn one\u2019s resourcefulness of thinking to a higher level of excellence is about unleashing \u2018goodness\u2019. It\u2019s a drive to carry a collective good to scale.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShould we not demand so much more of our decision-making, that it becomes unconsciously conscious and mindful? Is there not greater dignity in using one\u2019s full talents and power altruistically for the good of our human community?\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDealing with success\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn any endeavour, the challenge has always been dealing with success. More things fail in the face of success than in the face of difficulty. Barefoot College has demonstrated that semi-literate rural women can solar-electrify remote villages and look after solar units more competently than paper-qualified solar engineers.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn so doing, it has turned established perceptions upside down, and debunked the basic assumption that formal education is required for development work. Those most hostile to the \u2018Barefoot approach\u2019 are people who have invested a great deal in acquiring an education through the official system and then applying that misguided \u2018expertise\u2019. The very idea of semi-literate women being able to manage and control initiatives at the village level undermines those hard-earned credentials and credibility and even threatens the existence of their jobs. Indeed, one result of the Barefoot approach in India, where it is most widely replicated, has been the replacement of cost-intensive initiatives and jobs by low-cost and intensive initiatives, providing gainful employment within the villages.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECaptains of industry must look within their organisations to nurture and grow a more pervasive culture of innovation, where ideas that profit not only the company but also the consumer and employee begin to take hold. Three dimensional thinking must prevail, moving in a direction of betterment for the larger community and not simply the individual. Those most hostile to this type of demand for excellence that is both economic, but also human, will no doubt threaten those least likely to change and grow.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELearning from failure\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA further major idea is being equipped to learn from failures. Taking risks, trying new ideas, failing and trying again, is a process that is respected in Barefoot College because we recognize that we should learn as much from failure as from success. But the formal education system has no room for failure. In that system, failure is considered a matter for shame and regret. We are living through one of the greatest opportunities to learn from economic failure in the last 100 years.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/innovation-union\/ic2014\/index_en.cfm?pg=home\u0022\u003E\u003Cspan class=\u0022img_legend\u0022 style=\u0022float: right;\u0022\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022The EU\u0027s Innovation Convention 2014 is taking place in Brussels on 10-11 March.\u0022 height=\u0022211\u0022 src=\u0022\/research-and-innovation\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/Innovation%20Convention%202014%20poster.jpg\u0022 title=\u0022The EU\u0027s Innovation Convention 2014 is taking place in Brussels on 10-11 March.\u0022 width=\u0022150\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022tw-italic tw-mb-4\u0022\u003EThe EU\u0027s Innovation Convention 2014 is taking place in Brussels on 10-11 March.\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EYou do your best work when you are insecure. When your back is up against a wall and you have nowhere to run and no one to turn to, you have no choice but to face the consequences. When a crisis arises and could possibly lead to violence, urban professionals normally do not have the staying power. Because they have somewhere to run to, they are not prepared to see the crisis through.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIf we think of every enterprise as a community, instead of a disconnected place where people come to perform a function yet have no emotional or vested connection, an altruistic culture will develop naturally. This will infuse the organisation with far greater skills, abilities and productivity than it previously possessed. This will lead to not only better financial success, but a sense of shared impact and common good. If it is then able to leverage outside itself this spirit of \u2018giving\u2019 and commitment to community, it follows that it can become an important player and catalyst for real change and impact.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThis exact revolution and inward thinking within the world of business and commercial corporations is necessary. Ideas about self-reliance, listening to ideas of those below and beside in the corporate structure, valuing each individual\u2019s contribution, and reinforcing a sense of \u2018community\u2019 confidence that positive solutions are within our grasp to craft. This could free the commercial sector from years of malaise and stagnancy. It will inspire innovation and begin to reinstall hope and action. By looking backwards at pioneers who understood that \u2018communities\u2019 were led by individuals. In individuals who took and championed a \u2018community state of being\u2019, that superseded the \u2018individual\u2019, we find true innovation driven by an understanding of the \u2018essential\u2019 versus the superfluous.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E*\u003C\/em\u003E\u003Cem\u003EExtracts of this article were previously published in the winter 2013 edition of Racing Toward Diversity magazine.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cem\u003EHave a look at the full\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/ec.europa.eu\/research\/innovation-union\/pdf\/ic2014\/Innovation_Convention_Programme_2014.pdf#view=fit\u0026amp;pagemode=none\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Eprogramme\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;for details.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022moreinfoblock\u0022\u003E\n \u003Ch3\u003EBunker Roy\u003C\/h3\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EBunker Roy is a social activist and teacher. He is the founder and director of Barefoot College in Rajasthan, India, a non-governmental organisation offering practical training to poor and rural communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn 2010, Roy was selected as one of \u003Cem\u003ETIME Magazine\u0027\u003C\/em\u003Es 100 most influential figures for his work within rural communities.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe method taught by Barefoot College, which gives people skills such as solar engineering, has been adopted in over 50 of the world\u2019s least developed countries.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-yz0vft3-fwfqwgzl-fmc8iksbxwd-0xiglgzvwoglq0\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-Yz0VfT3_FwfqwGzl-fMC8ikSbXWd_0XIgLGzvWOglq0\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]