Innovation: Improvisation & Mastery

This PARC Forum invited expert talk is part of a special series with 10 speakers on 10 aspects of innovation… because we’re celebrating the “Power of 10” years of practicing open innovation (since being incorporated as an independent subsidiary in 2002)! View other talks in this series here. If you’re not already a member of the PARC Forum invited expert series mailing list, you can sign up for advance announcements via email or feeds here.

Presenter(s)

Dubbed "The Innovation Maven" by CNN, and "Mr. Creativity" and a "serial innovator" by The Economist, John Kao is an innovation thought leader, practitioner, and activist. He is a trusted advisor to companies, startups, and nations on innovation strategy, implementation, and future trends. He is chair of the Institute for Large Scale Innovation, whose i20 group is an association of 41 national chief innovation officers.

A "venture catalyst" who has started and invested in a series of technology companies, John is also a Tony-nominated and Palme d’Or winning producer of film (sex, lies and videotape, Mr. Baseball) and theater (Golden Child, Flower Drum Song, Jitney). He has been engaged in the digital media industry since its inception and was a key advisor to both Singapore and Abu Dhabi in the development of their national media strategies.

John was a Harvard Business School professor from 1982-96, where he taught innovation and entrepreneurship. He authored Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity, a BusinessWeek best-seller, and Innovation Nation, a book about America's growing innovation challenge. John's training includes an MD from Yale Medical School, a residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. In the summer of 1969, he apprenticed to rock legend Frank Zappa. He was recently named a Yamaha concert artist and plays jazz piano in his spare time.

***Yamaha N3 AvantGrand piano for this event provided courtesy of Music Exchange***