Being innovative

Creativity can be defined as “The use of imagination or original ideas to create something different or being inventive.” It is not doing different things, it is doing things differently. There were, there are and there will be artists, but there will only be one MF Husain. He was creativity personified.

In the modern world, the competition is severe and cut throat. One needs to be creative all the time, even in marketing themselves or the company or the product. Reputed organisations get thousands of resumes a single day. Except a select few, many are rejected as they fail to attract the interviewer. One has to consciously be creative to make the first cut, being noticed and set aside for further process.

Knowing that many people are applying for a coveted job, an applicant for a post in a famous advertising agency sent a potato as his curriculum vitae saying, "I want to be a potato in your organisation". He was called to the interview and was asked to explain his outrageous statement.

The candidate replied, "Sir, the potato is the most versatile vegetable, it can be used in any dish, it can be used to enrich other dishes and it gives lots of energy. So like a potato you will find me very versatile and I would fit into any department and make that department more productive.” Needless to say he got the job.

A bright freshly minted IIM topper who incidentally was a topper at IIT too had prepared very thoroughly for his final interview at his holy grail– HLL (now Hindustan Unilever Limited). He has all his certificates ready, his suit was immaculate and his shoes were shining. He was raring to go.

As he entered the room the candidate trips and falls flat on his face. As he fell he thought “Oh my god here goes my chance of getting into HLL.” The graduate got up, dusted himself and said, “Thank god I fell in a good company!” The horrified interviewers were greatly relieved at his ready wit. It goes without saying that the graduate got his dream assignment at HLL.

In the Madras Presidency as it was then called, only the Governor of the province could drive a carriage drawn by five horses. A rich local businessman committed an ultimate faux pas; he was caught driving a carriage drawn by five horses. He was hauled to the court.

The rich man was not upset at all. He appointed a smart lawyer and told him “I can pay the hefty fine but that would mean admitting that I have committed a crime. I will pay you five times the penalty amount as fee but you have to prove that I was not guilty”. The smart lawyer assured the businessman that he would do his best.

Finally the day of the reckoning arrived. The smart lawyer told the judge “Your honor! I agree driving the carriage drawn by five horses by anyone other than the governor is a crime. Let us examine the photograph of the carriage. This photograph was taken on the day of the crime.”

The lawyer dramatically points to the photograph and says, “Your honor this is a horse, this too is a horse; this one too is a horse, but your honor this is a mare (a female horse). This means the carriage was drawn by four horses and a mare. In which case, my client did not commit any crime. I request you to dismiss the case.” The judge had no choice but to do so.