Continuing along the theme on how to do more with less, is a book called The Frugal Innovator by Charles Leadbeater published by Palgrave Macmillan, London UK, 2014. In the ideal world there is lots of money; in the real world we have finite resources. Frugal innovation tries to provide better solutions for more people by using fewer resources by doing things completely differently. If you never dared to dream the impossible dream or were not afraid to ask for something seemingly impossible this book is for you. While resources are very important, it is never about the amount of resources but doing with what you have and adapting.

There are 8 rules of thumb for frugal innovators:

Get real – work in the real world to solve real problems in the world. Move from the lab to the real world quickly.

Design – but do not overdesign – there is a difference between a wonderful looking product and being able to use it easily. ideally consumers want both, the ability to use it will overrule the shiny, new product.

Stay close – understanding the lives of the consumers, how they will adapt a product and what else they need to complement it are vital. Often times the success is the what else they need to complement it or the easy part is the product. For example, in Mexico a cement company sells large quantities to big companies; the frugal part is selling small packets for small homeowners to do it themselves. To make that work, the cement companies works with architects and financing companies so people can do what they wish to do.

Borrow – rapid, real world learning encourages innovators to borrow from existing proven approaches rather than inventing from scratch. Frugal innovators reuse and recycle because it is a more efficient and effective way to learn. Learn to look sideways – what exists that we can use? what simple ideas were discard for more complex ones?

Linking to dividend paying stocks, your company does research and development, how much is linked to frugal innovations and how much is linked to increasing the budget?

There are more questions than answers, till the next time – to raising questions.