The 9-Second Version.
Mumbai Railways turned train tickets into lottery entries—using human motivation to solve ticketless travel, and reminding us that starting with empathy often sparks the best solutions.
Discover.
Lucky Yatra - Turning Train Tickets into Lottery Tickets
Mumbai Railways faced a massive challenge with ticketless travel, costing them significant revenue.
The typical response? More enforcement, bigger penalties. But they, along with FCB India, took a brilliantly different path with ‘Lucky Yatra’ – turning every train ticket into a lottery entry.
This isn’t just a clever gimmick; it’s a masterclass in understanding fundamental human desires (the thrill of a potential win, the fun of a lottery) and using that insight to solve a business problem in an engaging, rather than punitive, way.
It highlights how deeply considering human behavior can unlock entirely new categories of solutions.
Think.
How are you framing your problem-solving sessions?
The ‘Lucky Yatra’ solution didn’t come from a spreadsheet optimizing fines; it came from understanding people.
As a leader, how often do your teams deeply explore the underlying human behaviors, motivations, and even ‘irrational’ desires of your customers, employees, or stakeholders when tackling a persistent organizational challenge?
Are your problem-solving sessions focused on the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the problem, or do they truly dive into the ‘who’ and ‘why’ from a human perspective?
Where might an insight into human nature unlock a ‘Lucky Yatra’-style creative solution for your organization?”
Do.
Facilitate a "Human-Centric Innovation Sprint."
Select one persistent organizational or team challenge. Instead of a standard solution-brainstorming session, facilitate a “Human-Centric Innovation Sprint” with your team:
Empathy Deep Dive (30 mins): Who are the key humans involved or affected by this challenge (customers, employees, partners)? What are their current experiences, frustrations, unspoken needs, or even secret wishes related to this situation? Encourage your team to think beyond the obvious.
Reframe with “How Might We…” (15 mins): Based on those human insights, reframe the problem. Instead of ‘How do we reduce X problem?’, try ‘How might we make [desired behavior] incredibly appealing/easy/fun for [the humans involved]?’ or ‘How might we tap into [observed human motivation] to achieve [desired outcome]?’
Wild Idea’ Generation (30 mins): Inspired by the human insights and the reframed problem, encourage your team to generate unconventional solutions, just like ‘Lucky Yatra’. No idea is too ‘out there’ at this stage. Aim for ideas that might bring a smile or an ‘aha!’
The goal is to practice shifting the problem-solving lens towards creative, human-centered approaches. Reply to this email with your results. I would love to hear some of the innovations you come up with.
To your creative success…
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About Josh
Josh Linkner is a New York Times bestselling author, serial entrepreneur, venture capital investor, professional jazz guitarist, and a globally recognized innovation expert. To learn more or to explore a collaboration, visit JoshLinkner.com
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