To Reinvent, First Learn to Create
Last week I delivered a keynote at a Young Scientist Award ceremony for engineering students near Chennai. The topic was:
“Not Everyone Can Be a Founder, But Everyone Can Be a Creator.”
This was a deliberate departure from my usual pitch.
When I conduct Design Thinking workshops or serve as a jury member for hackathons, I typically emphasize the business case: Can you scale this? What’s your revenue model? How will you acquire customers? I push participants to think like founders — because that’s what investors and incubators expect.
However, the organizers shared something that made me pause. Despite having an incubation centre, most students were not leveraging it. The reasons were predictable:
- They wanted to complete their degrees first
- Many were aiming for post-graduation
- Some wanted corporate experience before taking the entrepreneurial plunge
- Family expectations often prioritized stability over risk
This is the reality for millions of young Indians.
Not everyone can be — or wants to be — a founder. But does that mean they can’t create? Does that mean they can’t innovate? Does that mean they can’t contribute meaningfully to the world?
Absolutely not.
The Founder Obsession
We live in an era that glorifies founders. Every business magazine cover features a startup CEO. Every motivational video urges you to “quit your job and follow your passion.” Every college fest has a pitch competition expecting the next billion-dollar idea.
What we don’t talk about enough is what founding a company actually entails:
- Significant capital
- High tolerance for risk
- Years of runway before profitability
- Willingness to stake reputation — and often family savings — on uncertainty
In India, nearly 90% of startups fail within the first five years.
Many founders who succeed come from backgrounds with financial safety nets, access to strong networks, and the ability to absorb failure without devastating consequences.
Now consider: an engineering student from a middle-class family in Tiruchirappalli. A first-generation graduate whose parents took loans to fund education. A young professional supporting ageing parents while repaying an education loan.
Should they feel like failures because they are not launching startups? Of course not.
The Creator Alternative
This is where the creator mindset becomes liberating. A creator does not need venture capital. Does not need to quit their job. Does not need to risk everything on a single bet. A creator simply needs to produce original work or ideas — anywhere, anytime, alongside whatever else life demands.
| A Founder | A Creator |
|---|---|
| Starts a business | Produces something meaningful |
| Seeks to scale | Works with minimal resources |
| Takes significant financial risk | Operates with low risk |
| Needs substantial capital | Freedom to experiment |
| High-stakes consequences | No catastrophic failure |
| Measured by revenue & valuation | Measured by impact & fulfilment |
| One big bet | Multiple small experiments |
“Being a creator does not prevent becoming a founder later. In fact, many successful founders began as creators — building, experimenting, and learning until the right opportunity emerged.”
Why Creativity Matters for Reinvention
In every issue of this newsletter, I return to a central theme: reinvention — the ability to adapt, evolve, and remain relevant in a rapidly changing world.
Here’s what I’ve realized:
You cannot reinvent yourself unless you first learn to create.
Reinvention requires seeing new possibilities. Creativity enables that vision.
Reinvention requires trying new approaches. Creativity generates those approaches.
Reinvention requires differentiation. Creativity is the source of that differentiation.
Whether you are a student facing job interviews, a professional seeking career growth, or someone navigating AI-driven disruption — creativity is your competitive advantage.
Techniques for Enhancing Creativity
During my keynote, I shared several practical, actionable techniques — not abstract theory.
1. Creative Combo: Combining Existing Ideas
Most innovation is not about inventing something entirely new. It is about combining existing concepts in novel ways.
- Clocks + Bells = The alarm clock that transformed how humanity wakes up
- Suitcases + Wheels = Bernard Sadow (1970) and Robert Plath’s vertical handle we now take for granted
- Printer + Telephone = The fax machine
- Printing + Confectionery = Photo cakes
- Phone + Camera + Computer + GPS + Music Player = Your smartphone
My favourite example comes from Madurai. Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy was disturbed by a massive problem: millions were going blind due to cataracts — a condition that is entirely treatable. The surgery existed, but it was expensive, slow, and inaccessible.
His inspiration came from an unlikely source: McDonald’s.
By studying McDonald’s assembly-line efficiency — standardization, workflow optimization, high volume, low cost — he applied those principles to cataract surgery.
The result: cost of intraocular lenses dropped from $100 to $3. Over 50 million people have had their sight restored.
2. Bio-Mimicry: Learning from Nature
Nature has been solving problems for billions of years.
Eiji Nakatsu, an engineer at JR West (Shinkansen), faced a serious problem. When bullet trains exited tunnels at high speed, they created thunderous booms due to pressure changes.
Nakatsu was also an avid birdwatcher.
He noticed how kingfishers dive from air into water with barely a splash. The secret lay in the beak’s shape, which minimized resistance.
By redesigning the train’s nose to mimic the kingfisher’s beak:
- The tunnel boom problem was eliminated
- The train became quieter
- It became 10% faster
- It consumed 15% less electricity
3. Cross-Leveraging: Borrowing from Other Domains
NASA faced a challenge: solar panels are ideal in space but bulky to transport.
The solution came from origami.
Japanese astrophysicist Koryo Miura developed a folding pattern that allowed large sheets to be compacted efficiently and deployed with a single pull. NASA engineer Brian Trease, who had learned origami as a high-school exchange student, recognised its potential.
Working with origami expert Robert Lang, the team developed folding solar arrays that expand dramatically after launch. The James Webb Space Telescope uses similar folding principles.
4. Mental Calisthenics: Exercising the Creativity Muscle
Creativity is not a fixed trait — it is a skill.
A simple exercise I use in workshops: take an everyday object — a brick, paperclip, or pen — and list as many alternative uses as possible.
The objective is not practicality. The objective is to break functional fixedness.
Five minutes a day is enough to stretch the creative muscle.
The Creator Who Untangled Chennai’s Traffic
Suresh Menon — Filmmaker, Not Traffic Engineer
If you’ve driven on Chennai’s OMR, you know the nightmare. During metro construction, six lanes became four — sometimes two. A 15-minute drive could stretch beyond an hour.
Suresh Menon, a filmmaker — not a traffic engineer — did something different. He observed traffic patterns, studied bottlenecks, analyzed junction behaviour, and proposed solutions:
- Free-flow U-turns
- Signal timing changes
- Junction redesigns
He documented his ideas, shared them publicly, and worked with authorities. Many of his suggestions are now implemented across Chennai.
No startup. No funding. No resignation. Just creation with impact.
The Active Hobby Connection
As I concluded my keynote, I asked students to examine their hobbies. There is a crucial difference between passive and active hobbies.
Passive Hobbies (Consumption)
- Watching TV
- Scrolling social media
- Reading without applying
- Listening passively
Active Hobbies (Creation)
- Birdwatching (Shinkansen)
- Origami (NASA solar panels)
- Process observation (Aravind)
- Analytical curiosity (traffic)
Every innovation we discussed emerged from active engagement. Your hobby today could solve tomorrow’s problem — if you create with it.
My Own Journey: From Consumer to Creator
At 63, after four decades in petroleum refining and IT, I could have chosen passive retirement. Instead, I chose to create.
In the past year alone, I have built seven AI applications — without traditional coding: IsaiPro, Presto, KarnatikBuzz, ChemPulse, ChemBuddy, and more.
My YouTube channel, this newsletter, and my books all emerged from the same decision: to create rather than consume.
The Reinvention Imperative
AI is reshaping every industry. Skills are expiring faster than ever. Reinvention is no longer optional.
But reinvention does not begin with a business plan or funding. It begins with creativity.
What Will You Create This Week?
It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be something.
Because the path to reinvention always begins with a single act of creation.
Not everyone can be a founder. But everyone — absolutely everyone — can be a creator.
Originally published in the Reinvention in the AI Era newsletter on LinkedIn.
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