According to various estimates, around 1.5 million engineering graduates emerge from India each year—significantly more than many Western countries, including the U.S. Yet, India is still struggling to make a lasting global impact when it comes to innovative products or services.
And this isn’t limited to the tech sector. It’s even more apparent in inherently creative industries like film, animation, and architecture.
Having worked in the film and commercial industries across five countries, including India, I’ve seen this issue up close. The difference isn’t talent—we have that in abundance. The difference lies in culture and mindset.
Entrepreneurship Is Growing, But Innovation Still Lags
Yes, India has seen a steady rise in entrepreneurship over the years. But innovation—true, game-changing innovation—is still rare.
At the root of this are two key issues:
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Our education system, which often discourages curiosity and exploration.
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Our cultural values, which reward obedience over questioning.
We build our values on fixed dogmas, but the world around us is rapidly evolving—interconnected, transparent, and open. In such a world, lacking a creative culture leads to mediocrity. Only businesses that offer authentic solutions will survive.
Innovation today isn’t just about great ideas—it’s about redefining economic value and shifting consumer mindsets. Companies like Apple have understood this for decades and built their core culture around it.
We have the talent, the infrastructure, and the potential. What we need is an environment that nurtures creativity.
Hierarchy: The Silent Killer of Creativity
One of the biggest blockers of creativity in India is the rigid hierarchy in workplaces.
Drawing from our cultural values, people are often afraid to speak up to someone above them. This suppresses the creative flow of ideas and encourages people to play it safe. Over time, this results in mediocrity, and our ability to compete at global standards weakens.
Creativity thrives on open communication and psychological safety. When team members feel safe, ideas flow. When they feel judged or silenced, innovation stops.
Leadership plays a critical role here. It’s not about control, but about creating space—loosening the reins, not tightening them.
At Pixar Animation Studios, for instance, Ed Catmull, President of Pixar, shares:
“Within Pixar, members of any department can approach anyone in another department to solve problems, without having to go through ‘proper’ channels. Managers understand they don't always have to be the first to know about something going on in their realm, and that it's okay to walk into a meeting and be surprised.”
Our Fear of Failure Holds Us Back
Another cultural roadblock to creativity in India is our attitude towards failure.
We stigmatize failure. We hide it. We rarely analyze it. And as a result, we don’t learn from it.
But failure is essential to innovation. Every breakthrough idea is the result of multiple failures and iterations.
We need to build a culture where failure is treated as a step forward—not a dead end. A place where people are trusted to experiment, take risks, and recover when things don’t work.
As William L. McKnight, former President and Chairman of 3M, once said:
“Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative. And it's essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow.”
Creativity Can’t Be Controlled—But It Can Be Encouraged
If we want to push innovation beyond the usual boundaries of functionality and design, we need to let go of control.
Yes, that sounds risky. But great teams are often unpredictable by nature.
You can’t force creativity. You can only provoke it—by creating the right environment.
That means encouraging:
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Radical thinking
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Freedom of speech
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Cross-functional collaboration
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Constructive criticism
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Playfulness and fun
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Risk-taking (with support)
Companies like Google famously allow employees to spend 20% of their time on personal innovation projects. 3M did it before them, with their “15% rule” and even an “Innovator Award” for employees who created profitable ideas during that free time.
In India, Tata Group’s Innovista program is a great example of homegrown innovation culture. According to Sunil Sinha, Chief of Group Quality at Tata Sons:
“Tata Innovista has become a great indicator of the success of the innovation drive in the Tata group — and of the inherent capabilities of its people. The trends observed in the 2013 edition signify a growing culture of innovation in the group with elements of technology-orientation, cross-pollination, and risk-taking ability.”
It’s About People, Not Just Outcomes
Creative work culture isn’t about short-term goals or fast results. It’s about the process and people.
If companies build strong, well-functioning teams and give them a creative platform, the products and services will follow naturally.
As Tony Hsieh, the late CEO of Zappos and author of Delivering Happiness, put it:
“It’s not me saying to our employees, this is where our culture is. It’s more about giving employees permission and encouraging them to just be themselves.”
A truly creative workspace is about making the day-to-day experience fulfilling. It should value:
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Employee well-being
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Shared ownership
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Mutual respect
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Love for the work itself
In Conclusion
I believe all humans are inherently creative. But in India, due to cultural and social conditioning, that creativity often needs to be reawakened.
We need to create spaces—schools, offices, studios—where curiosity is encouraged, risk is supported, and diverse voices are heard.
Let me end with one final quote from Ed Catmull:
“The phrase is important in the community, but it just doesn't have any effect on the behavior.”
It’s not enough to say we value creativity—we have to live it.
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