Q&A: Utssav Gupta, Author of 'Rebound'

Utssav Gupta is an architect by education and is the CEO and partner at Creators Architects. He is an Innovation Catalyst and the co-founder of the research think tank Black Swan Lab, where he focuses on distinct industry problems and on finding an alternative approach to conventional models through innovation. His ideas and strategic approaches have created breakthroughs for many entrepreneurs by saving them money, opening up new niches and creating opportunities for them. His book, Rebound: How to Bounce Back and Disrupt Your Market with Strategic Innovation, illustrates his personal experience and his company’s path to success. Additionally, it demonstrates how to de-noise modern systems and conventional approaches.

I chat with Utssav about his book Rebound, how the book came to be, book recommendations, and much more.

Hello, Utssav! Tell us a bit about yourself!

I am a second-generation architect and a third-generation entrepreneur, and am the partner and CEO at Creators Architects. I have studied Architecture from Delhi and London, and have been an entrepreneur since. I believe in synthesizing intellectual thinking and advanced technology, which are two pillars of conscious innovation and sustainability of any business model. Along with working on developing architectural strategies in my core profession, I have also been working on using advanced technology and cross-disciplinary integration to create new paradigms. I think that my curiosity, innate passion, and pursuit of new typology have served as the primary impetus for my work.

Which authors and books were your early formative influences?

Although books are a person’s best friend, they were not mine. Since my childhood, books have petrified me. My parents and high school teachers were concerned about me as I used to flee from them and was terrible at reading. It was only during my post graduation studies that I developed a sustained interest in research books – those were the ones that piqued my interest and I coveted to read them to conquer my quest for finding solutions to a problem or for research. Most of these books were not prescribed by the curriculum. Besides, I transformed to be a quest-oriented reader, and then books became my constant companions. I think that only few books have transformative power, as some books are technical in nature and others are managerial in nature. Among the books that had a profound effect on me were Carmine Gallo’s The Storyteller’s Secret, Rolf Dobelli’s The Art of Thinking Clearly, John Medina’s Brain Rules, and Shad Helmstetter’s The Power of Neuroplasticity. Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens; Value Proposition Design written by Alexander Ostelwalder, Yves Pigneur, Greg Bernarda, and Alan Smith; and Tim Brown’s Change By Design are some books that still interest me.

How would you describe your book Rebound: How to Bounce Back and Disrupt Your Market with Strategic Innovation in one word?

In one word, ‘Awakening’!

I would also like to explain this. In my opinion, the book Rebound is nothing less than an awakening. It is not something that will obliterate your awareness of what is transpiring. The concepts in the book are a demonstration of my personal experience and my company's journey towards success. It is practically engrossed in de-noising the noise generated by modern systems and conventional approaches. It exemplifies ‘how one can invade sustainability at the current moment’. That phenomenon is dismantled in the book, and hence I call it an awakening. It enlightens and illuminates the reader’s mind and their blind spot. As a result, this book will aid all entrepreneurs in gaining an understanding of their blind spots and then apply new approaches to innovating.

Now tell us a little more about the book! What can readers expect?

The book Rebound encapsulates what every organization has gone through or is currently experiencing. Frequently, organizations seek growth when they feel expelled. They approach the problem in a particular way, as I explain in the book. For an unconventional theory, and a distinctive way of looking at the same problem, the only tool is innovation. When we use this term, it elicits a flood of emotions, given the state of the technology world in which we live. There has been a certain paradigm created by the tech world that represents to the average Joe that innovation is only possible if you have a cool looking product, otherwise the product will not be considered innovative. In this book, I have discussed how one can innovate without a product, and innovate in other ways. This has been done by utilizing numerous examples of how businesses have innovated at various stages of their lifecycles, and in various facets including marketing, business models, and other non-traditional forms of innovation. This is what makes this book unique.

I believe this book demonstrates a very different view of what innovation can be and what it can mean for business, and it will help in the development of new ideas in a person's mind when he pays attention to a problem he was previously exhausted by. This book will demonstrate a different problem-solving reality, and thus will become one of the essential collectibles for any entrepreneur willing to view business differently. It acts as a catalyst for the thinking that reveals the other side.

Without giving too much away, this book will demonstrate what innovation can accomplish when applied correctly, what it means to innovate, regardless of the size of the organization or the product, what is the other side of the story and situation, and how you can eliminate competition.

I’ve also explicated the journey of Creators Architects, and how we turned things around by utilizing innovations as a platform for delivering the projects. We exhibited how the concept of innovation can produce marvels while also being functional.

'Rebound', published by Notion Press

What was the moment when the idea of the book first came to be?

While randomly discussing with a friend my ideas of business design, innovation, and how I apply those concepts to my work arena. He instantly suggested documenting them. I assumed that he was referring to simple blogs or white papers, but what then immediately transpired to me was that he was referring to a short book – a book that would facilitate other entrepreneurs of a similar domain and those who are in a different discipline but embarking on a similar journey. His words and thoughts were from a social standpoint. This was approximately two years ago, and one of my coaches proposed the same thing, and said that I should document my ideas in a book. At that time, I believed that I was not a writer and lacked the specific skills to write a book.

Initially, I began by compiling my sketchy ideas into defined paragraphs on Evernote. The mix and match of various considerations and thoughts were emerging into a book of disruptive innovation. That is the nature of life; it is unpredictable, and sometimes things turn out differently. Slowly, it began to take a proper shape, and surprisingly, I began to enjoy adding more information. My late nights were spent ideating on how to make the subject matter more exciting for the audience. To explain it to the readers more simply, I began digging for real-world examples. The idea for the book never came to me in a flash; it grew into a book as a result of the contributions and inspiration of various people in my life.

And when there were challenges, what made you pursue the project of writing this book?

I was quite oblivious to the existence of the book. In my mind, I perceived it to be impossible due to its complexity and hyper-specificity to a particular domain. Initially, it was like a task to execute, and later, I developed my interest and organically enjoyed compiling the book. My mains supported me and expressed their interest in my conversations, and their ideas also enriched my commitment to complete the book. I’m glad I pursued it, as this book additionally aids in the personal advancement of understanding this philosophy and how it needs to be simplified and presented in multiple domains. Subsequently, the goal was to make it more relatable to the audience and entrepreneurs. I pushed myself to think long and hard about what would pique my audience’s interest and make the book a captivating read. That push was thrilling and delightful. I was eager to make a statement to the readers while they read the book. Such an endeavour had never been ventured by me before, and it allowed me to finish the book all the way to the end.

In the book, you expound about how to combine fluid creativity with analytical rigour in a simple, complete, three-stage process for successfully disrupting any market. Can you tell us in brief about this three-stage process?

People’s perceptions of innovations are shaped by a variety of frameworks. The most frequently used framework for innovation is that it is a form of design; it can only be applied to the product or technological design, and the outcome of the innovation has to be aesthetically appealing. Therefore, if something does not look fashionable, people assume it is not innovative. This one paradigm about innovation is a paradigm for the common man, and is generated by the media and modern technology companies.

The business coach paradigm is all about the rigour involved. They would identify a problem and attempt to fit it into a predetermined framework, which is why the majority of missions fail. There is statistical evidence that even though CEOs and CXOs understand why innovation is critically important for their business, only a small percentage of people are truly satisfied with the outcome of their innovation. The majority of people are unsatisfied. They are not only displeased but have also incurred significant financial losses through innovation. They have lost out on opportunities and their attempts at innovation have failed miserably. As a result, the general trend has been to examine what the company is doing and how it is doing that to improve its position, but ultimately they return to the point where they began – ‘dealing with the competitions’.

This is where the three-stage process comes into play. We discuss the diagnostics of what the actual problem is; we do not discuss the surface level issues; rather, we discuss the deeper issues, and there is a framework for that as well. We populated various data points from various business spheres, including the personal goals of the founders or persons in charge of the business and the CXOs, which are just as important as the company goals, and once you understand the true nature of the problem, things become much easier from there.

Consider this, as Henry Ford stated, “If you ask the people what they want, they will say they want faster horse carts rather than automobiles.” Thus, this can be interpreted in two ways. One is cynical; you don't ask people what they want; instead, you imagine and give them what you imagined, hoping that it works in some way. Another way of looking at this is that if you ask people what they want, they will not know until they see it. This indicates that they are aware of the requirements; they are storing them in their subconscious mind, waiting for an analytic and rigorous interpretation of what the desired outcome is for innovation. This is the diagnostic stage, and this is critical. If this is done correctly, the remaining portion of the two makes sense. If the first piece is incorrect, then the remaining two pieces are meaningless.

My three-stage process begins with diagnosis, then strategic goal prioritization/ roadmap development, and finally innovation. However, ultimately, it is about how you combine innovation and diagnostics, as well as how well you understand the problem in the first place and the conventional solutions offered initially. When this process is followed, we arrive at a completely new typology, which is nothing short of modern invention. Something unique and novel, and you cannot imagine it any other way. That is proof because it demonstrates agreement with the establishment's subconscious nature and with business professionals. When the three-stage process is followed precisely and technically, it results in those inventive forms that completely upend the status quo.

What is the message that you want readers to take away from this book?

I hope readers take comfort in the fact that they are not to blame for attempting everything possible to make their business succeed. I’ve strived to highlight the information for them and to reassure them that there is a way. I’m just hoping they find my book, believe in themselves, channel themselves for a change, and attempt this in a manner that allows them to obtain proof of concepts before scaling up and applying to the business. The only message to readers would be that if you’ve exhausted all other possibilities, give this a shot and determine whether the miracles appeal to you. If anything does not work, my email and contact information is included in the book; please contact me and we can arrange to meet for discussions.

How have you been coping with the current pandemic and what will be the new normal for you post it?

The pandemic has unquestionably been referred to as a black swan event. Even if one looks at the history of mankind's black swan events, those were the times that resulted in the most discoveries, inventions, and lifestyle changes. What occurred during those events permanently altered humanity and businesses for good. We do not need to cope with the pandemic; we need to change our approach towards it. We need to embrace it, adapt, and change in a way that allows us to understand what the pandemic has to offer us. Discover plans on how we can make changes to our business and pursue new lines of action. I agree everything is collapsing around us, but if you believe in life which is working for us rather than against us, you will discover new things you never imagined. Thus, for us, at our company, the pandemic has been something to comprehend and reflect upon. When the lockdown happened in March 2020, I wondered where this would lead. This last year has been a significant transition in our business and priorities. It provided us with an opportunity to reflect on and apply our knowledge, and yield to create something new from it. I’m ecstatic about the current chapter of my life and am eager to learn new things. I have no regrets; the significant part of this theory is that regardless of what happens, you will continue to learn and experience, which is never a waste.

Lastly, are you currently reading anything and do you have any book recommendations for our readers?

For book recommendations, I would encourage readers to follow their curiosity and enthusiasm for the book or its concept, as selecting a book that entices their interest can have many benefits and also help them develop personally. There are some incredible books, such as How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates and Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, in which there are some notably intriguing concepts and variables to master. Readers should approach books with the goal of absorbing knowledge and applying it to their businesses and products, as when viewed through the lens of application, it would give them numerous insights.

The book ‘Rebound’ is available online and at your nearest bookstore.

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