by Annette
18. November 2008
Many of you are familiar with my model for innovation, The Five Faces of Genius. I always love finding great examples of how these skills work in the minds’ of global innovators.
Anumpa Mittal is the Indian entrepreneur who created Shaadi.com. In India, the majority of marriages are arranged by parents. Mittal started Shaadi.com to link parents as well as singles for marriage over the Internet. In fact, Shaadi means ‘marriage’ in Hindi.
Mittal got this idea using the genius of his Observer skill. He paid attention to the details around him and collected them for an insight. Mittal met a pundit – a Hindi preist who acts as a matchmaker. The pundit was carrying a large bag full of personal resumes of potential matches. In India, they call these resumes biodata.
Mittal was curious and observed that the number of matches the pundit could create was dependent on the number of biodata he could carry in his bag. He believed that the matchmaking function could be better performed by software on the Internet. Shaadi.com is now the number one matchmaking site in Asia.
Paying attention to what makes our curiosity sing is part and parcel to innovation. When we take time to entertain our curiosity, we find ourselves creating ideas that can bring big value.
