I just spent an amazing week in Hyderabad, India at the Entrepreneurs Organisation University. It was my first big EO event and I can see why so many people attend them every year.

The EO University takes place over a few days and is jam-packed with learning, experiences and story sharing with amazing entrepreneurs from all over the world.

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The theme of the conference was Jugaad — the Indian way of doing business. It’s not a unique idea but India has embraced it in a whole new way.

Jugaad is a mindset that reframes scarcity as abundance. It’s also a spiritual concept — that God has provided us with everything we need.

The crux of the idea is this: When you’re presented with a problem do you feel like you need things? Or, you have things?

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Reframing our approach.

In an agile environment, we’re always striving to continuously deliver value and learn/improve from every sprint. With the overarching goal of making people awesome.

However, it’s still easy to feel that there’s not enough time, not enough developers, not enough money, not enough information…not enough, not enough, not enough.

Jugaad reframes this: I have enough time. I have enough people. I have enough resources to be creative and innovative.

Of course, just saying you have enough doesn’t change what you actually have. It doesn’t magically give you more hours in the day or super powers. But having this mindset does change how you approach problem solving and positions you to be innovative.

What I love about software is that anything is possible. When something feels impossible, it’s just because you’ve never done it before. At EndGame we have a principle that says: follow patterns 80% of the time and pioneer 20% of the time. I like to compare this to rock climbing.

The only way is up.

Imagine you’re a rock climber. You’ve got the best gear and your practice has made you strong. Your experience enables you to see paths in the rock face that others can’t see. And you know what moves are needed.

But you’re taking on a rock face you’ve never climbed before.

It’s 100m straight up and you can’t see the entire path from the ground. You can’t just repeat what you did last time. But your experience and tools provide you with the patterns you need to succeed.

Sometimes it feels impossible but you keep climbing. And you’re not alone. You have a team that you’re connected to by rope. You’ll accomplish the climb together and if somebody falls — the team will catch them.

This is the Jugaad mindset when you’re facing a new problem. Especially one that feels impossible to solve with the resources available. It’s what we do in software all the time. We use patterns based on our experience, knowledge, teamwork and tools — to do things we’ve never done before.

When faced with an impossible situation, Indians say: “Let’s do some Jugaad”.

Jugaad in everyday life.

Recently, I was talking to my wife about a difficult situation. She replied ‘but you’re an entrepreneur — this is what you signed up for.’

And she’s right. Sometimes, we just need a reminder that solving hard problems is what we’re committed to. And it’s what we love doing. Finding that breakthrough, whether it’s small or big, is my definition of fun.

Next time you’re faced with a problem, instead of feeling like you don’t have enough (or expecting someone else will solve the problem for you) try some Jugaad.

Start by writing down your problem. Then use the ‘5 whys’ to understand it better. ‘5 Whys’ is a simple but powerful technique that helps us better understand any problem. Ask ‘Why?’ — then write down some answers. For each answer, ask ‘Why?’ again etc.

Solving problems creatively.

When it comes to problem solving, being constrained by time and money can also be very empowering.

We experienced this in India when we were asked to solve the problem of infant death due to hyperthermia — with a $100 budget. The creativity and resourcefulness demonstrated was amazing. Especially considering none of us were healthcare experts.

‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ Albert Einstein

All we have to do is solve one problem at a time and stay enthusiastic. If you want a shot at achieving great exploits, you’re going to face some difficult issues. Having a mindset that says ‘I have enough’ goes a long way to solving the problem and enjoying life in the process.

Hyderabad Highlights.

I had an amazing eight nights in India. The highlight was being invited into homes of EO members from Hyderabad and Delhi — who welcomed us like family.

I also enjoyed Hyderabad’s horrific traffic! Not only was it constantly chaotic but it also allowed me the opportunity to meet people on the bus and compare notes while we were driven 10km in 90 mins.

Throw in a visit to the Taj Mahal and a rickshaw ride and it was an experience of a lifetime!

A massive thank you goes out to the organisers and the Hyderabad Chapter for hosting us.

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