Thanks to Anil Sharma for his suggestion that I find out more about Eric Ries's The Lean Startup. In these couple of videos, below, lies great learning – for ALL kinds of projects that face uncertainty. (This also includes climate "science" and its predictions. And virtually every human endeavour excluding perhaps the job of a bank teller in State Bank of India (until India collapses due to socialism)).

Key definition: A startup is a human institution creating a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. In that sense, India Policy Institute is a startup, FTI is a startup, Freedom Party of India is a startup, Citizens' Government is a startup. Govrank is a startup. All these organisations can do with a reality check.

You can rapidly skip large parts of the second one now:

Key take home messages:

- Innovation involves FOCUSING on success, and validating your assumptions about the CUSTOMER as soon as possible. ["Ferocious customer-centric rapid iteration"] ["lean startups focus on validating their riskiest assumptions first"] ["Lean startups are driven by a compelling vision, and they are rigorous about testing each element of this vision against reality."] ["getting out from behind you computer and talking to real people"]

- Innovation involves PIVOTING (or rapidly switching AWAY) from a path that is not yielding great customer uptake ["pivot away from the elements of the vision that are delusional']

- Innovation does NOT mean asking customers what they want, but checking how they behave, what they DO. It is scientific and experimental. It does NOT rely on what people say. 

- Organisations should build platforms (sandboxes) for projects that start and remain SMALL while they do a reality check. Good learnings from such small projects must be rewarded.

In brief, this is about rapid hypothesis testing, learning about customers, and a disciplined approach to product development.

Lean Startup principles

Here's a link to the principles.

Related posts:

1. Some further thoughts on cost benefit analysis
2. Pakistanis doing the “RSS special”. Can we all please grow up?
3. Stop following Hazare or Ramdev like SHEEP. Become leaders. Become MPs. Change India
4. Solid facts and cost-benefit analysis would be more helpful
5. JP, member of FTI (and of Lok Satta), shows how farmers and consumers benefit from liberty
6. “FTI must copy the ideas initiated by the Tea Party”
7. Youtube as the new frontier in the battle of ideas
8. Without changing their Keynesian ideas, there is NO way that Europe and USA can recover
9. A brilliant video summary of various classical liberal ideas
10. All that is good in India today comes from classical liberal ideas