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| Makeshift hand wash station shows Indian Jugaad in practice. |
If you can't throw money at a problem, what does one do? Simple. You do what you can with what you've got where you are at.
It is known by many names, this creative use of the resources that one has on hand. Jerry rigging, tinkering, and life hacking, are all DIY, and all happen where resourcefulness reigns over gross wealth.
In India it is called Jugaad, which is defined as "finding innovative solutions to problems arising out of very limited resources."
There is a rule-bending component, too, that will appeal to those who don't wish to be constrained when problem solving.
The six principles of Jugaad are:
1. Seek opportunity in adversity (resilience)
2. Do more with less (frugality)
3.Think and act flexibly (flexibility)
4. Keep it simple (simplicity)
5. Include the marginalized (empathy)
6. Follow your heart (passion)
As we move into a lower energy future marked by more people and fewer resources, a philosophy of frugal innovation will be necessary. Besides, just throwing money at a problem rarely produces satisfactory outcomes.
Jugaad shows thinking appropriate for our times, or any time, really. The principles on which it is based are always in style.
It emphasizes doing what you can with what you've got where you are at, rather than buying wastefully over-engineered products from somewhere else with features that are not needed and will not be used.
It is interesting to note that for some time now American corporations have been hiring Jugaad consultants to help them become more creative and learn to problem solve with limited resources and money.
You can see where they think the world is going, and they want to be prepared. We should be prepared, too.
The principles, and the mission, of doing what you can with what you've got, can help.
I love that the Indians actually have a word for this wonderful attitude. Lately Jagaad has been a bit of a theme in our house too. We are learning to ask, 'how can we solve this without throwing money at it?' I mentioned that an old tee shirt bra was no longer any good and K said, don't throw it out, maybe you can make it into knee pads for the garden! Hmmm, not such a good look but I'm not sure I really care!
ReplyDeleteMadeleine
Love the visual I'm getting of the thought of bra-knee-pads, Madeleine! Thanks for the laugh! Have never seen the term Jugaad before, thanks for bringing it to my attention, Gregg. We do a lot of reuse of things around here - jars to store other food items, old t-shirts as rags, newspaper for starter pots for seeds (we don't get the newspaper but still get a lot of junk mail ads in newspaper form). Hope everyone is doing well. - Mary
DeleteThat is funny, and it is definitely Jagaad.
DeleteDo what you can, with what you've got, where you're at.
I live in a ground level (basement) apartment. My apartment is next to the boiler room (the building was erected in 1916) and the large boiler pipes run the full length of the apartment about two feet from my outside wall and hang just under ten inches from my ceiling. They have been wrapped with insulation that pretty much blends in with the "apartment eggshell" paint. This winter just past I bought some off-white cord, wrapped it around the pipe at one wall, ran it along the pipe on the side facing the outside wall and windows then looped and tied it along the wall on the other side of the room. Clothesline. The line runs along the pipe on the side you don't see from the living area and the end knots are tied on that side as well. No one has ever noticed they are there unless I have laundry hanging on them. Gives me thirty-one feet of clothesline and saves on laundry change. Mela
ReplyDeleteThat is innovation for you! A clothes line is on my wish list. You have motivated me to see what I can come up with.
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