Dr. Bala Ramadurai | Professor, Executive Coach & Consultant in Innovation, Design Thinking, Intrapreneurship & Technology Forecasting

My Books

I have written a few books on various topics.

My Podcasts

I have recorded a few podcasts on topics that I am very happy to talk about.

Welcome to the Books and Stuff Podcast Series. Krishna likes to read books, but Bala doesn’t. Bala likes to write, but Krishna doesn’t. They both love to talk! So, Bala and Krishna decided to talk about what Krishna reads. And thus the idea of recording their chatter was born. The two friends will discuss books they love. This series of podcasts is for busy people. People who’d love to learn about a book without having to read one. And maybe the podcast will inspire them to get their hands on a book that interests them.
These are the podcasts of the Podcast Enterprise. Parvathi Ramkumar and Bala Ramadurai discuss their favourite TV show of all times: Star Trek: The Original Series. They dissect the episodes in terms of story structure, character profiles and various other interesting tidbits. Live long and prosper!

Design Thinking

The learners get under the skin of the user/customer and solve problems for them. The approach is based on an age old theory (more than 2000 years old) postulated by Lord Buddha. The learners learn thinking tools from the design world, the TRIZ/ARIZ world, Indian arts, metaphors and the patent database. Finally, they utilize some tools from six thinking hats and Mr. David Snowden. They learn the course interactively through silence, videos, stories, inane jokes and interesting assignments.

Creativity and Innovation

This workshop module uses the ARIZ/TRIZ thinking methodology (You could say that this course is an offspring of the design thinking course). The learners bring in problems that they have been working on and I guide them to use ARIZ/TRIZ in detail. The learner brings in problems that they have already understood and are fairly certain about the problem to solve using the concepts in the course.

Executive Coaching

“How does one execute a large innovation project within my company? Do I get personally involved or delegate? Am I listening or telling? I am doing my best, what more can I do?” If these are questions that keep coming to your head (and you happen to be the head of a company or department), you have reached the right place. One on one coaching can work wonders in clearing out the fog around some of the issues you may be facing in your workplace.

Technology Forecasting

If design thinking is for the NOW, technology forecasting is design thinking for the future. The learner uses a methodology called FORMAT - http://handbook.format-project.eu, a result of a European Union funded (~$3 million) project. The learner hones their skill to think of a future timeframe of more than 10 years. They will consider the potential of the current technology, but also the alternatives and how strong or weak is their technology of interest in comparison to the alternatives. Imagination, intuition, analytics and data crunching go hand in hand in this course. The predictions from the forecasting exercise are not as important as the questions of forecast posed (first stage of the FORMAT methodology).

Intrapreneurship - A workout

Intrapreneurship is a conundrum of sorts, since it is making an entrepreneur out of an employee taking the risks of an entrepreneur with the friendly resources of a company. How did Mindtree achieve this in 2008-9? I introduce the participants to the company profile. I excite them with the remarkable history of a very different kind of company. How and why did they launch 550? Why is 550 a very different sort of program? How did the program bring out innovation and the creative entrepreneurial spirit of the company? The learners assume the role of innovation managers of companies of their choice to design and present an intrapreneurship program.

Client Speak

I have worked with many clients and I always like to hear that they come out from the collaboration happy and satisfied. Have a look at what the clients said about my work.

Your TRIZ class was engaging in the way you connected with us. It helped broaden the way we approached problems.
Nari Narendrnath
Director, MTS, AppliedMaterials
In addition to knowledge and experience in design thinking, problem solving, and technology forecasting, Dr. Bala’s teaching approach was a shift from traditional pedagogy to perfect blend of giving conceptual background, hands on experience, and team learning. This suits as a learning approach for andragogy (adult learning).
Tenzin Rabgay
MBA (I&E), SIBM, Pune
We reached out to Bala pretty much last minute to help us facilitate a one day innovation workshop with one of our teams. Bala, made sure he first introduced the team to the nuances of ideation and innovation, introducing them to a framework that the team can follow holistically developing an Idea into a presentable prototype. During the facilitation of the workshop, he brought in the required energy and systematically guiding the teams to arrive at a presentable form that we could share with our stakeholders. The team thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and left rejuvenated to take up their ideas and develop them further, giving us an edge with our customers. Thank you Bala.
Vishal Bhalerao
Principal Consultant, ThoughtWorks
The students simply loved your session and so did I. They were asking me to look at how we could have some more sessions in the course from you :). They also mentioned that it was like they had just experienced the tip of the iceberg.
Supriya Chouthoy
Professor, Marketing, ICFAI Business School
My sincere thanks to Bala sir and his team for providing a very enriching learning experience for Design thinking course. Through out the journey it was very smooth and comfortable, spaced out with scope for recapturing and practice. The approach was very humble and effective in such a way that learner like me ( at the age of 50) also can take it with confident. The way in which the exam was conducted, in such a pandemic situation, was also very safe and smooth. I am glad to be one of the toppers, having got 94%, and for which I am grateful to Bala sir and his lively team! This course has given me the confidence to do many more courses and continue my learning experience.
Ms. Jayanthi Ramesh
Author and Freelance Trainer, Cambridge International
I am Adwait Mahajan, currently pursuing my Masters in Engineering Design at The Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA. I completed my undergrad in Mechanical Engineering at Pune University in 2023. I am a great fan of you sir! I had taken and successfully completed your Design Thinking - A Prime course during 2022. A few months ago, I finished your book ‘Karmic Design Thinking’ which helped me connect the dots of the Design world. Now, I am excited to announce that I would be attending the Global Design Thinking Workshop (GDTW) in Potsdam, Germany during March 2024 in which we would be working on solving complex problems using design thinking approach. Kudos to you for igniting my interest for product design!
Adwait Mahajan
Engineering Design Graduate Student, The Pennsylvania State University

Updates (News and Blog)

I write occasionally about a few things that are dear to me - writing about life, teaching tools and techniques, and learning about technology. I plan to write more about health and writing in general as well. Stay tuned. Please do subscribe to my blog if you like what you read.

Karmic Design Thinking is on a Kindle Deal Tomorrow — Here's Why You Should Grab It

on 2026-04-20

Buddha

There are days when the universe sends you a pleasant surprise. Today is one of those days.

I just received word from the Kindle Direct Publishing team that Karmic Design Thinking: A Buddhism-Inspired Method to Help Create Human-Centered Products & Services has been selected for a Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon.in on April 21, 2026.

For one day only, you can grab the Kindle edition for just ₹129.

org-gmail: When Gmail Finally Met Org Mode (and They Actually Got Along)

on 2026-01-14

Email and I have always had a complicated relationship. I love Gmail’s web interface for quick triage, but my real work happens in Org Mode. For years, I tried the “all-in-Emacs” approach with mu4e and notmuch, but 500+ lines of config later, I realized I was fighting Gmail rather than working with it. That’s when I decided to build a bridge instead of a replacement.

Karmic Design Thinking Kindle Version selected for discount

on 2025-07-01

Exciting news! My book “Karmic Design Thinking” is available on Kindle for just 129 INR, but only this month (July 1st-31st, 2025). Don’t miss this one-day opportunity to grab your copy at a special price!

As someone passionate about design thinking, I’m thrilled to see over 111,000+ learners enrolled in my NPTEL Design Thinking course so far. This book complements the course material and offers deeper insights into the world of design thinking.

Compassion-a-thon 2.0: Idea to MVP - A paradox event

on 2025-06-25

We’re thrilled to reflect on the resounding success of Compassion-a-thon 2.0, a pioneering pre-pre-incubation innovation challenge designed to bridge the gap between raw ideas and viable Minimum Viable Products (MVPs). This year’s event showcased the power of compassion-driven entrepreneurship, fostering socially impactful and technically sound business ideas.

Nirmaan IITM and Spirelia proudly served as official Knowledge Partners, playing a pivotal role in shaping the entrepreneurial journeys of budding innovators.