Direction: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words in the passage have been printed in bold to help you locate them when answering some of the questions.

Can the last fifteen years be called the most successful decade and a half in Indian history and will the next fifteen be equally successful? Consider a culture where independent thinking is not encouraged. Or take the example of traditional family run business with vast resistance to change or a whole nation who believes that breakthrough ideas can be generated abroad but never at home. Partly responsible is socialization from early years we are taught not to question our elders but at workplaces this creates a hurdle for new thinking. Being unable to change radically gives rise to a culture where even the smallest change is heralded as a breakthrough.

Indian corporate leaders have done well standing up to global giants as their companies have grown in size and market share. To be successful in international markets they need to be distinct- distinct products, processes, technologies, business models and organisations. The bottom line will be Innovation. Creativity workshops are organized to channel people to think differently. There are fantastic ideas being generated all the time but no industry breakthrough. Simply because of gravity-a regressive force exerted by a mindset.

Thinking has therefore to happen at three levels; Idea, frame and paradigm. From a narrow focus on either product or process innovation organizations need to look at innovating the whole ecosystem of the organization. Many a time waiting for a hundred percent solution before going to the market the organization forgets that it could end up waiting forever. Moreover sometimes organizations are too focused on today to see tomorrow. Since management mandates are short-term, sowing the seed for a revenue stream today and leaving its benefits to be reaped by a successor doesn’t appeal to today’s business leader. This is a serious hurdle to innovation. Establishing a function called innovation management or training employees through creativity workshops will have few benefits unless each frontline employee is empowered to share his innovative ideas with the management. What happens to this system when the person driving the change leaves the organization? The approach to innovation hence needs to be system driven rather than people driven. In thirty years India can be the largest world economy save China and the US. However as companies as companies grow there exists a resemblance in their products, services, promotions, processes and pricing and so on. There remains only one escape from this trap.

Which of the following is a cause for ‘gravity’?
A) Mindset
B) Socialization
C) Limited focus

Question - 1