The Tao of Innovation

Insights for the modern business samurai.

by Moses Ma

The Evolution of Innovation

Just as humans evolve, so too does the process of innovation. Innovators have evolved from being hunter gatherers of ideas, to the usage of early tools, to creating idea factories with pipelines of intellectual property, and are now entering a "third wave" of innovation -- which will someday lead to a critical mass singularity of new innovation tools and methodologies. Read More

Innovation and Sun Tzu's Art of War

The Art of War is the military classic written by the Chinese philosopher-general and military strategist, Sun Tzu, and managers and leaders increasingly seek to apply its principles to their business challenges. Here is a novel look at Sun Tzu as advice for innovators. Read More

Unleashing Your Inner Steve Jobs Part 4

Innovation theory says all you have to do to create effective innovation teams is to cover the skill bases. When you actually apply these rules, with real people, unpredictable chemical reactions happen. Studying Steve Jobs, and film directors like James Cameron and Clint Eastwood, reveals insights about how to keep those reactions from exploding. Read More

Unleashing Your Inner Steve Jobs Part 3

Steve Jobs was the CEO of two major companies simultaneously - Apple in the morning, Pixar in the afternoon. Understanding why was Jobs successful as the world's most famous 'parallel' entrepreneur reveals the unique mental skills he developed - that are applicable for everyone wanting to run just one company. Read More

Innovation in Psychology

A new film, A Dangerous Method, provides an unflinching perspective on the invention of "the talking cure," as Sigmund Freud called it. In addition to being a terrific movie, it also provides some insights about the art of innovation and invention. Read More

Unleashing Your Inner Steve Jobs Part 2

It's possible to achieve revolutionary change and deep innovation by making three fundamental shifts within your own awareness and within the consciousness of your team. What's more, these three shifts translate to ways that you encourage an innovative culture of success at your company. Read More

Unleashing Your Inner Steve Jobs Part 1

Here are ten tips aimed at helping you learn how to innovate at a higher level by unleashing your inner Steve Jobs – that is, to figure out how to create the iPhone or iPad for your particular industry... a product so compelling it takes the market by storm and wins you rabid and fanatical fans. Read More

The Apple-theosis of Steve Jobs

To understand the meaning of Steve Jobs, we must look deeper into the archetype that he embodied: The Trickster. Read More

Can the American Jobs Act Kickstart Innovation?

In his jobs bill speech, President Obama asked every American, who agrees, to lift their voices. This is me doing so. Read More

Captain Innovation

In the recent action movie Captain America, a 98 lb weakling volunteers for a top secret research project that uses super steroids to turn him into a superhero dedicated to defending America's ideals. That's what we need to get America out of the mess we're in today, Captain Innovation. Read More

Asians Behaving Badly

Why are Asians, usually so polite and reserved, now suddenly getting all feisty? Read More

On Innovation and Optimism

To succeed as an innovator, you must be indefatigably optimistic. This rule of thumb applies to the economy as well. Like what Economist Larry Summers said, "The central irony of financial crisis is that while it is caused by too much confidence, borrowing, lending and spending... it can only be resolved by increasing confidence, borrowing, lending and spending." Read More

How America Got Its Mojo Back

Osama bin Laden targeted the World Trade Towers because it was a symbol of America's dominance, and in a way, because like Austin Power's Dr. Evil, he wanted to steal America's mojo. Here's how to get it back. Read More

Innovation Throwdown

When you're on top, there's a tendency to get complacent and likely be driven by ego instead of excellence. One of the best ways to keep on your toes is to do what I call an Innovation Throwdown. Read More

Detox Your Brain

Sometimes, the best way to get out of a rut is by doing a deep brain detox to recharge your innovation battery. Read More

Building Optimal Teams

Here's a fun yet powerful tool for assessing team dynamics... Personality Poker. Read More

The Importance of "Change-iness"

Similar to Stephen Colbert's term "truthiness" many Presidents, from Obama to most CEOs, have not understood the concept of "change-iness." In addition to real, substantive and lasting changes you have to make things "feel" change-y. Here's a guide to mastering the art of change-iness. Read More

Innovation in the Bedroom

Marriage in America is in trouble. But maybe we can fix marriage the same way we fix industry - by using innovation techniques that companies use to invent hit products like the iPhone, and applying them to invent "iMarriage". Read More

Zen Mind, Business Mind

Golfers often turn to ‘swing thoughts' - simple ideas that allow you to focus on one aspect of the swing. Good swing thoughts cause a chain reaction of proper technique, so one thought can influence the dynamics of your entire swing. Golf legend Arnold Palmer's top swing thought was keep your head steady. You can apply the swing thought concept to your entrepreneurial venture as well... Read More

Teaching Innovation as a Martial Art

Someone recently asked me... is innovation really something you can teach? My answer... of course it is! However, teaching innovation isn't really like teaching anything else. There's really no set textbook or curriculum, and there's no established and recommended pedagogical method. This is because the core of innovation is really a dynamic way of thinking, rather than a static body of knowledge. The best example of a teacher teaching a way of thinking, from my personal experience, was the physicist Richard Feynman. Read More

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.