When frugal doesn't cut

The idea of jugaad may be quintessentially Indian, but there's no cutting corners for quality

- MOHIT HIRA

SOMETIMES ONE COMES across a book that leaves you at the crossroads. LeanSpark: Frugal by Design, Global in Impact by Jaideep Prabhu, Mukesh Sud and Priyank Narayan is one of those. Read on, and you'll figure out why.

Let's start with the word jugaad—a much heard, oft abused refuge of a term. This book, however, aims to uplift the jugaad school of thinking into a scalable, ethical framework called LeanSpark. And it is bound to draw the attention of a range of professionals operating with limited budgets (and who isn't?) in both corporate and entrepreneurial setups.

The authors introduce LeanSpark as a modern innovation model rooted in frugality, adaptability, and ingenuity, evolving beyond the usual makeshift jugaad fixes. It defines four pillars: lean execution (starting small with essentials), purposeful simplicity (stripping to core value), adaptive scalability (growing flexibly), and systemic sustainability (ensuring long-term ethical impact). As they state, "LeanSpark is the intentional spark of innovation that emerges under constraints. It is about resourceful problem-solving that does not compromise on functionality, ethics or long-term impact."