“Biryani was not the problem. The problem was how to feed
people.”
Imagine a group of soldiers stationed far away from the city — perhaps at a remote camp or along a border.
They needed food that was:
- Nutritious
- Filling
- Easy
to prepare
- Easy
to transport
- Capable
of serving many people
- Less
likely to spill during transportation
But imagine how food might have been transported.
The old method
One vessel carried cooked rice.
Another carried gravy/curry.
Another carried meat or side dishes.
Another might carry accompaniments.
So one meal could require multiple vessels.
And that created multiple problems.
🚨 PROBLEM 1: TOO MANY
VESSELS
More vessels meant:
More weight → More space → More handling → More
transportation effort
The logistics became complicated.
And remember:
Every additional vessel is another item that has to be
carried, cleaned, stored and managed.
🚨 PROBLEM 2: SPILLAGE
Now imagine transporting liquid gravy over long distances.
The vehicle moves.
The vessels shake.
The lids aren't perfect.
The road isn't smooth.
Result?
Spillage.
And once gravy spills:
Less food reaches the soldiers.
🚨 PROBLEM 3: FOOD WASTAGE
Spillage means:
Food lost → Money/resources lost → People remain hungry
So the real problem wasn't:
“How do we make a tastier rice dish?”
The real problem was:
“How do we efficiently transport and serve a complete
meal to people in remote locations?”
That is a problem statement.
💡 Then comes the
Innovation
Someone could have asked:
“Why are we transporting rice and gravy separately?”
Why not combine them?
Instead of:
Rice + Gravy + Meat + Multiple Vessels
Create:
ONE COMPLETE MEAL IN ONE VESSEL
Rice absorbs the flavour and moisture from the cooking
process, while the ingredients become integrated into one dish.
And now look at what happened.
BEFORE
🍚 Rice
↓
🥘
Gravy
↓
🍗
Meat
↓
🥣
Side dishes
↓
🚚
Multiple vessels
↓
⚠️
More logistics
↓
⚠️
More handling
↓
⚠️
Greater possibility of spillage
AFTER
🍛 BIRYANI
Rice + Meat + Spices + Cooking liquid
↓
ONE COOKING SYSTEM
↓
ONE PRIMARY VESSEL
↓
ONE TRANSPORTABLE MEAL
↓
LESS HANDLING
↓
LESS LIQUID SPILLAGE DURING TRANSPORT
↓
SIMPLER LOGISTICS
And THAT is Innovation!
This is where you turn to the students and say:
“Did they invent rice?”
No.
“Did they invent meat?”
No.
“Did they invent spices?”
No.
“Did they invent cooking?”
No.
Then what did they innovate?
They changed the way existing ingredients were combined
and delivered to solve a real-world problem.
🎯 The Design Thinking
Connection start at 0:32
Now map the story onto Design Thinking.
1. EMPATHIZE
Understand the people.
Who?
Soldiers in remote locations.
What do they need?
A nutritious meal that can be transported efficiently.
2. DEFINE
Identify the real problem.
“How might we transport a complete meal to remote
locations with minimum vessels, handling and risk of spillage?”
That's a much better problem statement than:
“Let's invent a new rice dish.”
3. IDEATE
Possible ideas:
Idea A: Better containers
Idea B: Smaller vessels
Idea C: Stronger lids
Idea D: Transport ingredients separately
Idea E: Combine the ingredients into one complete
meal
This is where the breakthrough can happen.
4. PROTOTYPE
Don't immediately feed an army.
Try a small batch.
10 people → 20 people → 100 people
Check:
- Taste
- Quantity
- Transportation
- Shelf
stability
- Ease
of serving
- Wastage
- Cost
5. TEST
Take it to the real environment.
Transport it.
Open the vessel.
Serve it.
Ask:
Did we actually solve the original problem?
That's Design Thinking.
🚀 Now Give Students the
BIG Entrepreneurial Lesson
Tell them:
The innovation wasn't in the ingredient.
The innovation was in:
PROCESS + PRODUCT + LOGISTICS
And that's exactly what entrepreneurs do.
They look at:
“What is unnecessarily difficult?”
and ask:
“Can I redesign this?”
🥛 Then Connect It to Your
Milk Example
Now say:
“And this didn't stop with biryani.”
Look at milk.
Metal vessel
Problem: heavy, difficult logistics, limited
convenience.
↓
Glass bottle
Improvement: better containment and reusable
packaging.
But...
New problem: heavy + breakable.
↓
Plastic pouch
Improvement: lightweight + lower packaging cost +
easier transportation.
But...
New challenges: handling, waste, refrigeration
requirements.
↓
Aseptic/Tetra Pak carton
New problem statement:
“Can milk be packaged so that appropriate products have a
much longer shelf life, are easy to transport and are protected from
environmental exposure?”
↓
New solution
Aseptic carton packaging
The lesson:
Innovation doesn't stop when you solve one problem.
Because:
Every solution creates new problems.
And those new problems create the next generation of
entrepreneurs.
🔥 Give Them This Powerful
Framework
Put this on the screen:
THE INNOVATION CHAIN
Problem
↓
Pain Point
↓
Observation
↓
Question
↓
New Idea
↓
Prototype
↓
Testing
↓
Improvement
↓
Value
↓
Business
Then say:
“Don't start with the business. Start with the pain.”
🎓 Bring It Back to Their
College Life
Now ask the students:
“What is the biryani problem in your college?”
They will probably laugh.
Then clarify:
I don't mean food!
I mean:
What is something that is unnecessarily difficult?
For example:
Long canteen queues
Problem:
Students spend 20 minutes waiting.
Possible innovation:
Pre-order + digital token + pickup counter
Internship search
Problem:
Students don't know where to find genuine internships.
Possible innovation:
Verified internship marketplace + college skill profile +
matching system
Placement preparation
Problem:
Students attend training but don't know what skills
employers actually require.
Possible innovation:
Job-description → skill-gap analysis → personalized
learning pathway
College notes
Problem:
Students search through WhatsApp groups for PDFs.
Possible innovation:
Centralized searchable academic repository
Hostel complaints
Problem:
Complaints are made verbally and forgotten.
Possible innovation:
Ticket-based maintenance system with status tracking
💰 And Now
Entrepreneurship Enters
Tell them:
“Solving a problem is innovation. Solving it repeatedly,
sustainably and profitably is entrepreneurship.”
For example:
Problem
Students waste 20 minutes in the canteen.
Innovation
Pre-order system.
Entrepreneurship
Build it for:
1 college → 5 colleges → 50 colleges → 500 colleges
Now ask:
Who pays?
- College?
- Canteen?
- Students?
- Food
vendors?
That's when the student moves from:
INNOVATOR → ENTREPRENEUR
🎤 Your Closing Story
I would finish your 30-minute session with this:
“Imagine someone had looked at the soldiers carrying
several vessels of food and said, ‘This is how food has always been
transported.’ Nothing would have changed.”
“But someone asked a different question: Why are we
carrying everything separately?”
“That question creates innovation.”
“The same thing happened again and again — with
packaging, transportation, communication, banking, education and technology.”
“The world doesn't always need someone to invent
something completely new.”
“Sometimes the world needs someone who looks at something
everyone accepts and asks…”
‘WHY ARE WE DOING IT THIS WAY?’
That question is the beginning of innovation.
And when you turn that innovation into value for other
people, you begin entrepreneurship.
Final slide
DON'T LOOK FOR AN IDEA.
LOOK FOR A PROBLEM.
Observe. Question. Solve. Test. Improve. Scale.
“The entrepreneur sees what everyone else has become
comfortable ignoring.”
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
“Don’t Start With a Product. Start With a Problem.”
30-Minute Interactive Session
Core message
Innovation is not about creating something completely
new.
It is about seeing an existing problem differently and creating a better
solution.
1. Opening Hook – The Biryani Story 🍛
| 3 minutes
Start by asking:
“Why does biryani taste different when you eat it at a
restaurant, at a wedding, from a parcel, or after two hours?”
Then tell them:
Imagine someone says:
“I want to start a biryani business.”
The first question should NOT be:
❌ What biryani should I sell?
Instead ask:
“What problem am I solving?”
Now imagine four different customers.
|
Customer |
Real Problem |
Possible Innovation |
|
College student |
Affordable, tasty lunch |
₹50–₹80 student meal |
|
Office employee |
No time to wait |
Pre-order + scheduled pickup |
|
Family |
Want biryani at home |
Family pack |
|
Traveller |
Wants biryani without spilling |
Leak-proof travel packaging |
|
Fitness-conscious customer |
Wants controlled quantity |
Portion-controlled biryani |
|
Vegetarian customer |
Wants biryani experience |
Vegetable/mushroom/paneer variants |
|
Event organiser |
Need 500+ meals consistently |
Bulk production + standardized recipe |
The lesson:
The product is biryani.
The innovation is solving a specific customer's problem.
2. Design Thinking Through Biryani | 5 minutes
Draw this on the board:
EMPATHIZE → DEFINE → IDEATE → PROTOTYPE → TEST
Then tell the students:
Step 1 – EMPATHIZE 👩🎓
Suppose you observe college students.
You discover:
“Students don't necessarily hate the food available around
college. Their problem is that they have only 30 minutes for lunch.”
That's different.
The problem isn't:
“Students need better biryani.”
It could be:
“Students need a tasty, affordable meal that they can
obtain quickly within their limited break time.”
Step 2 – DEFINE
Convert the observation into a problem statement:
How might we provide students with an affordable and
tasty meal that can be purchased and consumed within 30 minutes?
This is a How Might We (HMW) question.
Step 3 – IDEATE 💡
Students brainstorm:
- Pre-order
through WhatsApp
- QR-code
ordering
- 10-minute
pickup counter
- Subscription
lunch
- Student
combo
- Digital
token system
- Pre-packed
portions
- Delivery
to classroom/block
Now innovation starts happening.
Step 4 – PROTOTYPE
Don't build a restaurant!
Start with:
20 biryani packets → 20 students → one day.
Measure:
- Waiting
time
- Price
acceptance
- Taste
- Quantity
- Packaging
- Repeat
purchase
Step 5 – TEST
Ask:
“Would you buy this again tomorrow?”
If 15 say yes → improve.
If 5 say yes → investigate why.
If nobody buys → don't be emotionally attached to your
idea.
Go back to the problem.
3. The Milk Story – Innovation Is Often an Evolution | 5
minutes
This is an excellent story for students because it
demonstrates that innovation often happens step-by-step.
Tell them:
Imagine how milk packaging evolved.
Stage 1 – Metal vessel
Problem:
Milk had to be transported and consumed quickly.
Challenges:
- Heavy
- Difficult
to transport
- Cleaning
required
- Limited
convenience
- Short
practical storage period
Then came...
Stage 2 – Glass bottles
The problem changed.
Glass bottles offered:
- Better
containment
- Reusable
packaging
- Easier
portioning
- More
convenient distribution
But new problems appeared:
- Heavy
- Breakable
- Transport
cost
- Collection
and cleaning
Then...
Stage 3 – Plastic pouches
Now innovators asked:
“Can we make milk packaging cheaper, lighter and easier
to transport?”
Plastic pouches addressed several problems:
- Lightweight
- Low
packaging cost
- Easy
transportation
- Convenient
distribution
- Disposable
packaging
But new challenges emerged:
- Limited
protection from damage
- Difficult
handling after opening
- Dependence
on refrigeration
- Plastic
waste concerns
Then...
Stage 4 – Tetra Pak / aseptic cartons
Now the problem became bigger:
“Can we make milk safer, easier to transport and capable
of staying usable for much longer without conventional refrigeration before
opening?”
Aseptic carton packaging addressed multiple requirements:
- Longer
shelf life for appropriate products
- Lightweight
- Easy
transportation
- Stackability
- Protection
from light and air
- Convenient
storage
- Better
distribution over long distances
The big lesson:
The milk didn't change dramatically.
The problem surrounding the milk changed.
And innovators kept asking:
“What is inconvenient about the current solution?”
4. Connect It to Everyday Products | 5 minutes
Give them these examples.
🥤 Water Bottle
Initially:
Glass bottle
Problem → heavy + breakable
↓
Plastic bottle
Problem solved → lightweight + inexpensive
↓
Reusable bottles
New problem identified → plastic waste
↓
Steel / insulated bottles
New value → reuse + temperature retention
Innovation lesson:
Every solution creates new opportunities for the next
innovation.
5. From Problem → Innovation: Real-World Examples
Example 1 – UPI
Old problem:
“I don't have cash.”
Then:
“I don't have exact change.”
Then:
“I don't want to carry cash.”
Digital payment systems addressed these friction points.
Innovation isn't simply digital technology.
It is:
Technology + customer problem + convenience.
Example 2 – Swiggy / Zomato-type food delivery
The problem wasn't:
“People don't have restaurants.”
The problem was:
“I want food from a restaurant, but I don't want to
travel, wait, or coordinate the pickup myself.”
Innovation connected:
Restaurant + customer + delivery + digital ordering +
payment + tracking.
Example 3 – Ola/Uber-type mobility
The problem wasn't:
“There are no cars.”
There were already millions of cars.
The problem included:
- Finding
a vehicle
- Knowing
availability
- Negotiating
- Waiting
- Payment
uncertainty
- Lack
of tracking
Technology reorganized the existing resources around the
customer's problem.
6. A Powerful Example for Women Students – Sanitary
Products | 3 minutes
Ask:
“What is the problem with a sanitary pad?”
Don't immediately accept:
“It is a hygiene product.”
Ask deeper questions.
Potential problem statements could involve:
- Affordability
- Availability
- Disposal
- Leakage
- Comfort
- Access
in rural areas
- School/college
availability
- Sustainability
- Privacy
when purchasing
- Disposal
infrastructure
Now students can think about:
Could we innovate the product?
OR
Could we innovate the packaging?
OR
Could we innovate the distribution?
OR
Could we innovate the business model?
OR
Could we innovate the awareness system?
That's entrepreneurship.
7. Another Powerful Story – The Auto/Taxi Problem | 2
minutes
Ask:
“Did ride-hailing companies invent cars?”
No.
“Did they invent roads?”
No.
“Did they invent passengers?”
No.
They changed the connection between existing resources.
Driver + vehicle + passenger + location + payment +
technology
became one integrated service.
Entrepreneurial lesson:
You don't always need to invent a new technology.
Sometimes you need to connect existing technologies, people and resources in a
new way.
8. The Innovation Formula | 2 minutes
Put this on the screen:
OBSERVE → IDENTIFY → QUESTION → CREATE → TEST → IMPROVE
Or even simpler:
Problem → Insight → Idea → Prototype → Feedback →
Solution
Then tell them:
“Don't fall in love with your idea. Fall in love with
solving the customer's problem.”
9. 2-Minute Student Challenge 🚀
Ask every student to look around the college.
Give them 60 seconds.
Ask them to identify ONE problem.
Examples:
- Canteen
queue
- Parking
- Drinking
water
- Library
- Transport
- Hostel
- Attendance
- Assignments
- Notes
- Finding
classrooms
- College
events
- Lost
items
- Waste
management
- Menstrual
hygiene
- Internship
opportunities
- Placement
preparation
- Communication
with administration
Then give them this template:
MY INNOVATION CANVAS
1. Who has the problem?
2. What exactly is the problem?
3. Why does the problem exist?
4. What is the current solution?
5. What is wrong with the current solution?
6. How might we improve it?
7. Can I create a simple prototype?
8. Who will pay for the solution?
10. Entrepreneurship – The Missing Question 💰
Now introduce the difference:
Innovation asks:
“Can we solve this problem better?”
Entrepreneurship asks:
“Can we create a sustainable business around solving this
problem?”
For example:
Problem
College students need affordable healthy food.
Innovation
Pre-ordered healthy meal subscription.
Entrepreneurship
100 students × ₹80 × 22 days
= ₹1,76,000 monthly revenue
Then students need to investigate:
- Food
cost
- Packaging
- Staff
- Rent
- Delivery
- Technology
- Marketing
- Wastage
- Profit
margin
Now an idea becomes a business model.
Closing Story – The Biryani Lesson 🍛
End with this story:
“Imagine two people selling biryani.”
Person A says:
“I make the best biryani.”
Person B says:
“I understand my customer's problem.”
Person B discovers:
Students have only 30 minutes.
So she designs:
Pre-order → Digital payment → Pre-packed meal → Dedicated
pickup → 5-minute collection
She didn't invent biryani.
She didn't invent rice.
She didn't invent chicken.
She didn't invent the food container.
She simply understood the problem better.
And that's where innovation began.
Final Message to Students
Put this on the final slide:
DON'T ASK:
“What business can I start?”
ASK:
“What problem can I solve?”
Observe → Empathize → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test
→ Improve → Monetize
“The next big entrepreneur may not be the person with the
biggest idea.
It may be the person who notices the smallest problem that everyone else has
ignored.”
One-line takeaway
“Innovation begins when curiosity meets a real problem;
entrepreneurship begins when that solution creates value for someone willing to
pay for it.”
No comments:
Post a Comment