World Economic Forum: Anand Mahindra pitches for culture of innovation

DAVOS: Indian business honcho Anand Mahindra, who for long kept a degree in film making as his 'deep, dark' secret, is now keen on a diverse mix of talent including film makers and designers to encourage the culture of innovation at his group.

Anand Mahindra, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra, was sharing his thoughts in a session on innovation at the ongoing World Economic Forum ( WEF) annual meeting here.

Saying that he has a film making degree as the "deepest, darkest secret", Mahindra delved into the positive impact of being innovative.

"My undergraduate degree is in film making. For a long time, it was my deepest, darkest secret. I didn't want anybody to know unless I get thrown out of my company.

"Today, I am looking for film maker and designer and people from humanities. That is how I am going to create a culture of innovation," Mahindra said while participating in a session on 'Leading Through Adversity'.

Mahindra also noted that in the recent years, the phenomena of frugal innovation or "something called jugaad" has come to the fore.

According to him, the Western world at times gets confused about the kind of products that can click in emerging markets such as India and China.

"People from India and China are not going to be able to meet aspirations by looking into jugaad. We have to be able to be pioneering in innovation...," he said, emphasising that pioneering innovation would be more sustainable.

Besides auto, the USD 16 billion M&M group also has presence in the media and entertainment space among other lines on business.