Ep 44 w/ Anjan Bhowmick - What does it take to be an innovator with a strategy?

Attitude Makeover

Welcome on board the ecosystem of innovation starting now with our Innovation Series! Helping us dive right in is Anjan Bhowmick, Executive Director of Talent & Organisation Development, Reinsurance Group of America.

Innovation starts with you and your mindset. Anjan as an advocate for completely considering the self and absorbing positive inspiration from the same takes us through the basics of approaches to innovation as a USP for organisations. We talk about relevant subsets and systems that make for enabling environments to push capabilities forward with strides of innovation.

A keyword that Anjan elaborates on and uses to contextualise innovation with strategy and tactical strength is ‘continuous improvement’ - converging information, increasing and involving cognitive intelligence and creating something that adds value.

Further, we talk about leadership dynamics and patterns to make transformative innovation conducive, the pace of disruptive change, making empathy operational and the appetite for learning as a factor of need. He brings in ample personal anecdotes and experience interweaving them with theories and knowledge towards mindsets and beliefs.

There is meaningful advice and recommendations on aspects like dealing with blurred roles to changing the “I can’t change my mindset” belief. Tune into the episode now!

0:00 Introduction

2:52 Who is Anjan?

When the professional self is separated from the personal self, who does one become? Anjan explores this question through his lens

8:30 Who are we really?

Introspection is what leads us to become more conscious of our strengths

10:48 Architecture behind landscape of innovation

There is the ambiguity that surrounds innovation but what’s more important is to figure out the need to state and mould intelligence while developing a prototype. We explore this in the Indian context

15:38 Startups Vs Legacies: How do they build strategies?

From going back and riding up the game plan, the ecosystems in small and big firms are completely different

19:20 When leaders take the lead

No game plan comes without its set of obstacles, whether you’re a small or an established firm. Leaders have their own dynamics to cross these hurdles

27:01 The big picture

Innovation is all about experimentation, trial and error, and resilience because it is a continuous journey

30:05 A team perspective

How does a leader sift through demands of talent?

32:43 Building capacities in sync with vision

Organizational development is one of the salient features that help build new capabilities and HR is the backbone of it all

38:06 Navigation of a fixed mindset

From contributions of HR to ESG reports, Anjan talks about what happens in this process

40:27 Detaching from leader persona

Anjan talks about how an individual navigates through leadership and its changes

44:58 Extrapolating individual inquiries

Roles are never set in stone because there is always a fine line between different roles

50:16 Internalizing individual perspective

It does not matter what your role is. As an individual, you are subjected to multi-task and a shift in mindset can be useful

52:36 Exploring roles

Exploring roles through interaction and communication than a document brings more room for clarity

55:16 The creator’s persona

Looking through the lens of a creator and how their mind works through a mix of storytelling and exploration

57:41 Embarking on a creator’s journey

Drifting away from the traditional, there are several factors that can contribute to this transition – from working in the traditional arena to being an innovator

1:03:30 The purposeful plunge

Taking the plunge is more than just being willing to take risks; it’s evaluating the sustainability factor

1:07:38 Building the larger goal

From reflecting through an organization’s angle, introspecting from an individual perspective and building a prototype, Anjan talks about how one can navigate through the process.

1:15:18 Stepping out of comfort zones

The discussion revolves around pushing past one’s comfort zones and one’s mental limitations

1:18:55 Devil’s in the details

Inquisition is the first step and opens even the tiniest of doors that you would not have regarded otherwise

1:22:32 Anjan’s takeaways

Anjan talks about the key takeaways from the conversation from the role leaders will play in the next few years and managing dynamics through reflection and the growing amount of questions we seem to have

1:26:16 Art of asking questions

Questioning is not just seeking an answer, it’s also a tool for reflection

1:27:59 Meaning of attitude makeover

Anjan talks about how attitude makeover is synonymous with transformation for him

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