Book #4 NANOVATION (Aug/Sept 2011) our Indian equivalent to NUTS!

The Freiberg’s next book, NANOVATION How a Little Car Can Teach the World to Think Big, details the leadership and innovation behind the Tata Motor’s NANO, a 1 Lakh ($2500) car that is democratizing the roads, much like Southwest Airlines has democratized the skies.

Don’t worry if your not a car nut, NANOVATION isn’t a book about cars, it’s a book on thinking big, acting bold, and accomplishing the impossible with limited everything. To bring these innovation and leadership message live to your next event, call 619-624-9691 or email Patti@freibegs.com to check availability.

NUTS…. Back in 1996 we wrote the international bestseller, NUTS! Southwest Airlines’ Crazy Recipe for Business and Personal Success as an in-depth behind the scenes look at one of the most successful and admired companies in the world. Back then; people were searching for meaning in their work, searching for ways to make work; more fun, and searching for ways to make a profit while making a difference. People and leaders were eager to learn and borrow from Southwest Airline’s success.

NANOVATION…. Interesting, it’s 2011, and that search seems to have intensified. Globally our clients are still asking, “how can we avoid burnout in a do-more-with-less environment? How can we; adapt quickly, embrace change as an opportunity instead of a liability, keep up with the mind boggling explosion of information, stay on top of technology, teach people to be more creative and motivate them to take personal ownership for the success of the business?” When you add in the current economic, financial and environmental concerns, the personal and business challenges we face today are even more daunting.

NUTS! rise as an international bestseller proved to us that people are hungry for success stories and interested in learning and borrowing from the unconventional leadership and culture behind Southwest Airlines. If you are one of these people and you became a fan of NUTS! we think you’ll benefit from NANOVATION as well.

NANOVATION is a story of how a little car is teaching the world to think big. The Nano, the world’s cheapest car (cheap in cost, not quality and global impact) is today’s example of how leadership, vision, perseverance and moral imperatives spurred an automotive revolution and created the unthinkable—an opportunity for over 14 million people to own a car (when they never dreamed that would be possible).

Coincidently the story of the Tata Motors Nano seems to mirror the Southwest Airlines’ story in so many incredible ways, check out the similarities.

Like Southwest Airlines, the Tata Motors Nano is also:

• A story of leadership, culture and incredible innovation. Ratan Tata is a leader with some very similar characteristics to Herb Kelleher: He, too, is an industry renegade, holding tight to a huge “impossible” dream; a thought leader with tremendous confidence yet striking humility; a major catalysts for driving the vision; entrepreneurial to the bone; trusting deeply in the intelligence and character of his people; a service over self-interest leader who teaches, gets involved, and models a contagious spirit of perseverance;

• The Nano has all the elements of a great business story. The people of Southwest Airlines changed the industry, the nation, and the world. The team behind the Nano are changing the automotive industry, they will change India as a nation and we believe they will change the world;

• Creating curiosity and learning. Anyone interested in innovation, culture, and leadership will want to know how the team at Tata Motors did it;

• Southwest Airlines is a company known for delivering on its promises; Tata Motors is a group of companies with more than a century of promises delivered. Ratan Tata is fond of saying, “A promise is a promise.” His vision was not to create an engineering achievement. It was to create a safe, affordable, and dignified form of transportation for families of 4 and 5 who, before the Nano, could only afford a motor scooter;

• A story of inspiration. Southwest Airlines inspired a movement. People in the airline industry and beyond have borrowed from Southwest’s unconventional approaches. As a result work environments globally have been transformed. Nanovation is not about promoting the Tata Motors companies, it is about inspiring a movement that can transform people, businesses, industries and even nations.

• A media magnet. Southwest Airlines has a history of attracting great world-wide media attention; The Nano has become an international media magnet as well;

• A product built around an egalitarian cause; Southwest was founded based upon a dream to democratize the skies. The Nano was founded based upon a dream to democratize the roads;

• A story filled with lessons of leadership, vision, perseverance, determination and an egalitarian work ethic. Yet Nano was designed within a country impoverished by class;

• A David and Goliath story. Tata Motors, the underdog in the industry fought to bring safety, value and status to millions against impossible odds;

• An achievement that many, many naysayers said couldn’t be done;

• Loved by the people. The Nano has created a cult like following. Like the mini, VW bug, and SWA customers, people want to be a part of the community the Nano is creating. There are over 6000 web communities dedicated to the Tata Motors Nano. Tatanano.com receives millions of hits a day and over 200,000 cars have been ordered already (deliveries started in July 2009);

• Created by a young, untainted, unmarred group who were not bogged down and stalled by conventional, old school industry rules. Instead this design team brought a fresh, whatever-it-takes, collaborative spirit to realizing the vision that inspired the Nano;

• A story of major setbacks. Many hardships threatened to derail the Nano; A state of the art production plant was shut down at near completion, launch dates were a moving target, yet the Chairman, the team, and eager buyers held on to the dream of the People’s Car and democratizing the roads;

Nanovation is a Tata Motor’s authorized story, it details the automotive innovation of the Nano—one of the biggest innovation stories in the business world today and the fuel behind the Nano effect.

The more we learned of Tata Motors and the vision, leadership and legendary culture behind the design of the world’s cheapest car, the more we are convinced it’s a story anyone can learn and borrow from. It’s a story we’re excited to share and we hope it offers courage and perseverance so you too will dare to try and accomplish what others might deem impossible! ©Freibergs.com

Email Patti@freibegs.com to become a part of our NANOVATION launch community. More to come.

The Indian version of NANOVATION was released in Southeast Asia (December 2010) Nanovation scheduled to release in the U.S. 2011 Q2