The Tao of Innovation

Insights for the modern business samurai.

Moses Ma is a partner at Next Generation Ventures. See full bio

June 14, 2009

Sexual Response, Motivation and Innovation

Where exactly does the motivation for innovation come from? Is the act of inventing buried deep within our evolutionary context? Is there an "invention gene"? How are the brain functions for creativity and procreativity similar? How can one achieve a state of mastery in innovation, so ideation becomes a meditation, like with a zen master at the archery range? A new approach might lead us to a post Theory Z view of motivation. Instead of using carrots and sticks and focusing on the extrinsic factors, perhaps management theorists and organizational psychologists should look at the intrinsic neurophysiology of invention and creativity. Read More

April 29, 2009

Innovation Loves a Crisis

The most interesting flavor of innovation is one without a name. It's the aha! that saves your behind exactly when things start falling apart. Let's call it... emergency innovation. It's 911 for management, when you tell your go-to team that everything is riding on them. Who you gonna call? Read More

April 19, 2009

Wrapping It Up: The Psychology of Twitter

Wrapping up this three part series on the Psychology of Twitter, I share the results of my survey on twitter usage. Read More

April 5, 2009

More on the Psychology of Twitter

In my last article on the social phenomenon of Twitter, I described its information stream as a river of human consciousness. I decided to jump in and see what it might be like in the deeper part of the river, sink or swim. Read More

March 27, 2009

Understanding the Psychology of Twitter

Understanding the psychology of Twitter helps innovators learn how to better predict emerging white space market opportunities. This is an existential exploration into the underlying meaning - and meaninglessness - of Twitter and the reasons for its meteoric rise in the Internet world. Read More

March 12, 2009

Extreme Innovation

When you delve into snowboarding or base-jumping, or any other extreme sport, you'll find many parallels to the art of innovation. In essence, innovation and extreme sports are pursuits that require energy, skill and courage...in spades. Read More

March 2, 2009

How “Open” Should Innovation Be?

What the heck is open innovation, anyway? Is it really an obviously good thing, like having an open heart, or maybe a more complicated thing, like asking your spouse for an open marriage? Here are the three enabling factors that can help you can transform the collaborative process at your company, especially around innovation, without inadvertently opening the kimono to potential competitors. Read More

February 17, 2009

Big and Bold Enough to Meet the Challenge

President Barack Obama, in selling his historic $787 billion economic stimulus bill, said that the budget had to be big enough and bold enough to meet the size of the economic challenge we face. The same is true for companies seeking to stimulate innovation and a turnaround in a recession. Read More

February 10, 2009

Breaking Away

There's a saying that "entrepreneurs are like teabags - you never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water." Well, we're all in hot water now. The next year or two should provide us with a remarkable opportunity to test our mettle.

The funny thing is, despite all the grumbling that accompanies a capital crunch, lean years are actually good for new companies.

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