SPEAKING
| PUBLICATIONS | ABOUT JSB
| CONTACT ME
I'm
a visiting scholar at USC and the independent co-chairman
of the Deloitte Center for the Edge.
In a previous life, I was the Chief Scientist of Xerox Corporation and the director of its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). I was deeply involved in the management of radical innovation and in the formation of corporate strategy and strategic positioning of Xerox as The Document Company.
Today, I'm Chief of Confusion, helping people ask the right questions, trying to make a difference through my work- speaking, writing, teaching.
I've also received a few honorary degrees along the way, and in 2004 I was inducted into the Industry Hall of Fame.
ASSOCIATES
BOARD ACTIVITIESI'm also involved on Boards, Advisory Boards and Editorial Boards, all manner of boards.
See my CV...
NEWSLETTER
Learning in the Digital Age (Indiana University, April 2009)
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Tinkering as a Mode of Knowledge Production (Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching) October 2008 (You Tube)>>
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On Creativity (speech at USC) January 2008 (You Tube)>> Slides from the presentation here >>
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"The Social View of Learning" Conferència "Innovation is around the corner: Learning in the digital age", Barcelona, Spain December 2007 (You Tube)
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Conversation with Ulrike Reinhard at SCOPE|08: The Future of Learning:
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SPEAKING
I love talking
(and listening) on these topics:
Rethinking Globalization
The intensity of global competition calls for a
review of your business strategy. Your company's sustainability depends
on your ability to develop a constantly evergreen set of capabilities
before anybody else does. How do you accelerate your firm's capability-building
processes? Your talent development strategy? Is it possible to learn even
faster? more>>
Innovation Blowback
Emerging markets such as China and India have become
breeding grounds for new management processes and practices that help
companies to maintain or even improve the quality of their products and
services while simultaneously slashing prices. The disruptive impact is
now confined to developing countries, but "blowback" from this surge of
innovation 
could
quickly be unleashed on the rest of the world. To meet the challenge,
established businesses must learn new skills—not least important,
an ability to orchestrate complex networks of specialized enterprises.
What steps must you take to protect your company's future? more
>>
Value Creation at the Edge
It is not just corporate training that is important
but rather rich participation with partners who are at the edge. 
Ask:
how do you learn as much from a partner as you learn from creating something
yourself? How does distributed collaboration around the world become a
critical strategy for survival? What are the most effective ways to convert
your existing global supplier networks into new nodes of innovation? more
>>
Learning in the Digital Age
Rethinking
how today's kids that grow up digital learn, think, work, communicate
and socialize. Perhaps our generation focused on information but these
kids focus on meaning - how does information take on meaning ... more
>>
Why
IT Matters More Today than Ever Before
To understand how to achieve a sustainable competitive
edge from IT, we must understand how Web services or, more generally,
service-oriented architectures, enable a new kind of corporate strategy
to become enacted. more
>>
Cloud Computing & Service Grids
We are at a strategic juncture which brings
two separate developments together - cloud computing and service grids
- providing the 
opportunity
to slash capital expenditure and TCO on the one hand and enabling a degree
of radical adaptability - both in terms of computer utilization AND business
flexibility, on the other hand. This confluence is unprecedented and opens
up a host of strategic possibilities but this also requires new skills
for the CIO and potentially a new positioning of CIOs before the full
potential of this confluence can be realized... more
>>
Creating
a Culture of Learning
Organizational learning 
and
knowledge sharing have held out great promises but have failed to deliver
the goodies. Why? And what can be done about it? more
>>
Managing
Radical Innovation
Let's be clear; you can't manage invention,
just nurture it ... but you can manage innovation, the pathway to the
market. more >>
The
Will to Innovate
I am tired of everyone pointing their fingers at
the other guys -- corporations at unions; universities at government;
and so on. Start by looking at your organization. What has your organization
undertaken to innovate your own innovation processes?
I am distressed at how bad most CEOs are today in thinking out of the box. Boards aren't much better. And, of course, most institutions and foundations tend to be hesitant to re-invent themselves...
It's time to be bold; it's time to innovate innovation. The 21st century
demands it...
more >>
Design,
Design, Design
Why can't we keep things simple? Sure,
we all complain, but why can't we design stuff that mere mortals (like
you and me) can use? more >>
RECENT
SPEECHES
CONTACT ME 
“Learning in the Digital Age” – 2009 Annual Midwest Regional Conference on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, South Bend, Indiana, 3 April 2009.
“Learning in the Digital Age” – Edward C. Moore Symposium on Teaching Excellence, Indiana University/Purdue University, Indianapolis, Indiana, 2 April 2009.
“Learning in the Digital Age” – Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Conference, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, 2 April 2009.
“Innovation in the Open Environment” – Open Forum for Higher Education Executives, Palm Springs, California, 8 December 2008.
“Organizational Design and the NetGen Gamer” – nGenera Talent 2.0 Conference, Orlando, Florida, 20 November 2008.
“Some Thoughts about Graduate Education in the 21st Century” – USC Joint Provost/Academic Senate Retreat on Innovative Approaches to Ph.D. Education, Santa Monica, California, 7 November 2008.
“Constructing the Tacit in Work and Play” – Western Behavioral Sciences Institute’s, International Leadership Forum, La Jolla, California, 5 November, 2008.
“Embracing a World of Constant Change and Re-thinking the Workspace for the 21st Century” – Deloitte & Touche, Technology Media and Telecommunications Summit, Phoenix, Arizona, 6 October 2008.
“Innovating Innovation – Transforming the accelerating pace of change from a challenge to an opportunity” – Singtel’s i.Luminate 2008, Singapore, 24 September 2008.
“Media 2.0 – Welcome to the 21st Century” – Singapore Press Holdings Conference, Singapore, 23 September 2008.
“Web 2.0 to Learning 2.0: Key to net-gen work force” – Gartner’s Portals, Content and Collaboration Summit, Anaheim, California, 19 September 2008.
“The Spirit of Entrepreneurism and the Gaming Disposition” - Singapore Management University’s iJam 2008, Singapore, 1 September 2008.
“Learning and Literacy in the Digital Age” – Willamette University, Salem, Oregon, 26 August 2008.
“Teaching, Learning and Technology: Past, Present and Future” – UC Systemwide 21st Century Conference, UC Davis, Davis, California, 20 June 2008.
“ Learning 2.0: Striving for New Forms of Productivity, Leveraging the Social Basis of Learning and The Net” – Moodle Moot 2008, San Francisco, California, 10 June 2008.
“Institutional Innovation“ – Institute of Design’s Strategy Conference, Chicago, Illiniois, 22 May 2008.
“The Expanding Roles for the CIO in a Rapidly Changing World” – CRITO’s CIO Roundtable, UC Irvine, Irvine, California, 31 March 2008.
“Innovating Innovation: A Social Dynamic Perspective: - MITRE Corporation Senior Staff and Corporate Officers, McLean, Virginia, 10 March 2008.
“Born Digital, Learning Differently” – CSULA’s Teaching the 21st Century Student: Technology, Information Literacy and Student Learning, Los Angeles, California, 29 February 2008.
“Born Digital, Learning Differently” – American Council on Education’s 90th Annual Conference, San Diego, California, 12 February 2008.
“Envisioning the Future of DIY” – Panel discussion, DIY Conference, USC, 9 February 2008.
“State of Research” – Panel Discussion, DIY Conference, USC, 8 February 2008.
“NSFNET: Impact on Teaching and Learning” – NSFNET: The Partnership that Changed The World: An event celebrating 20 years of Internet Invention and Progress, Arlington, Virginia, 30 November 2007.
“The Future of OCW and Education” – Panel Discussion, MIT OCW Conference: Unlocking Knowledge, Empowering Minds: A Milestone Celebration, Boston, Massachusetts, 28 November 2007.
“Learning 2.0: New Modes of Learning and Scholarship” – Open University’s Open Learn Conference, Milton Keynes, England, 31 October 2007.
“Life in the Networked Age: Technology, Science, and Society” – RES Advisory Board Roundtable, Avignon, France, 12 October 2007.
“Learning 2.0 – New modes of Learning and Scholarship” – Colgate University’s Celebration of Case Library and Geyer Center for Information Technology, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York, 5 October 2007.
“Born Digital: New Leaders, New Leadership Models” – New Paradigm E 2.0 Conference, Napa Valley, California, 18 September 2007.
JSB's Sand Box
CLOUD COMPUTING & SERVICE GRIDS A series of working papers from the Deloitte Center for the Edge. Download >> Demystifying Clouds: Exploring Cloud and Service Architectures Moving IT Platforms to the Cloud: Insights into IT Platform Architecture Transformation |
Commencement Speech: N.C. State (2009)
From Transactional Markets to Relational Networks: Amplifying the innovation Potential of High Tech Regions (PDF) with John Hagel
Entrepreneurial learning in the networked age: How new learning environments foster entrepreneurship and innovation (PDF) with Max Senges and Howard Rheingold
Why Virtual Worlds Can Matter (PDF) with Douglas Thomas
How to Connect Technology and Passion in the Service of Learning, The Chronicle of Higher Education, October 2008
Learning
2.0 - The Big Picture (PDF)
Web Services
2.0: Policy Driven Service Oriented Architectures
(with Thomas B Winans) May 2008
The Gamer Disposition Harvard Business Review "Conversation Starter" Blog (with Douglas Thomas), February 14, 2008
Minds on Fire (co-authored with Richard P. Adler) Educause, January - February 2008
Does the Experience Curve Matter Today? April 03, 2009 Peer-to-Patent: A System for Increasing Transparency March 18, 2009How World of Warcraft Promotes Innovation January, 2009 [CIO case study: our colleague Stephen Gillett] Harrah's New Twist on Prediction Markets December, 2008 Changing
the World from the Edge Institutional Innovations: > A Silicon Valley nonprofit fostered the development of a radical open-source platform for top-level health research May 2008 Life on the Edge: Learning from Facebook April 2008 Learning
from Tata's Nano February 2008 Catching the Innovation Wave January 2008) Embrace
the Edge -- or Perish Funding
Invention Vs. Managing Innovation February 2006 |
The Play of Imagination: Beyond the Literary Mind (PDF) with Douglas Thomas
Interview: John Seely Brown on Web 2.0 and the Culture of Learning (School 2.0, Part 6) from Steve Hargadon's blog
Architecting School 2.0 from Wesley Fryer's blog: Moving at the Speed of Creativity
Ex-PARC chief urges shift in engineering schools itworld.com
New Learning Environments for the 21st Century: EXPLORING THE EDGE Change Sep/Oct 2006
Five
Questions... for John Seely Brown
eLearn Magazine
New Learning Environments for the 21st Century
Creation Nets: Harnessing the Potential of Open Innovation with John Hagel
VIDEO: Is business waking up to wiki? Socialtext CEO Ross Mayfield and I discuss the emerging role of the wiki in the evolution of corporate collaboration. CNET, April 2006
You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired! Wired, April 2006
FAST COMPANY Open Debate: in which I debate Shannon O’Brien, a high-school senior >> long version | short version
Connecting Globalization & Innovation: Some Contrarian Perspectives Prepared for the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland January 25 – 30, 2006. edgeperspectives.com
My presentation at KM Asia 2005
Foreword from Judy Breck's 109 Ideas for Virtual Learning
From Push to Pull - Emerging Models for Mobilizing Resources (PDF) offers a preview of some of the research for our next book...
China's
Technological Leap Forward NPR: Talk of the Nation, August
25, 2005 
University
of Colorado System's 2005 Teaching with Technology Conference podcast
+ presentation
Benefits of a long-distance relationship, FT
Silicon Valley's Risky Complacency BusinessWeek
Beware "Berrybite" Blowback JH3's blog
Keynote:
From Push to Pull: Higher Education in the Digital Age
Ohio Digital Commons for Education (ODCE) 2006 Conference The Convergence
of Libraries, Learning and Technology
Supernova
2005 Podcast (MP3)
Cook Report (PDF): A Review of Supernova and The Only Sustainable Edge
From
push to pull: The next frontier of innovation McKinsey
Quarterly
Innovation
blowback: Disruptive management practices from Asia McKinsey
Quarterly
Warcraft & The Fundamentals of Leadership and the abstract for "Extending the Reach of Games"- a GLS Symposium proposal
Intelligence: We've Lost Our Edge WaPo
John Hagel and John Seely Brown: Friction can be Good - Esther Dyson
Letter to A Young Researcher JSB at PARC
Global View of Infocomm in 2015 March 2005
The Innovation/Productivity Quotient Optimize
Don't Resist Offshoring, Exploit It FT
From Tightly Bound to Loosely Coupled Software Development
Does IT Matter? An HBR Debate Harvard Business Review
Interview with Sandra Higgison
Mind Bugs or why "seeing" is so damn difficult (PDF)
Where
Have All the Computers Gone?
T E C H N O L O G Y R E V I E W
Commencement Speeches: N.C. State (2009); University of Michigan 2005 (PDF) and CGU (2004)
BOOKS
The Only Sustainable Edge: Why Business Strategy Depends On Productive Friction And Dynamic Specialization, John Hagel and John Seely Brown, Harvard Business School Press; May, 2005
Storytelling
in Organizations : Why Storytelling Is Transforming 21st Century Organizations
and Management, John Seely Brown, Stephen Denning, Katalina
Groh, Laurence Prusak, Butterworth-Heinemann; August 2004
The Social Life of Information,
John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid, Harvard Business School Press, February
2000 (translated into nine languages).
Seeing
Differently: Insights on Innovation, J.S. Brown (Ed.), Boston,
MA: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1997.
Intelligent
Tutoring Systems, D. Sleeman and J.S. Brown (Eds.),
London, England: Academic Press, Ltd., 1982.
INTERVIEWS
Knowledge@Wharton:
Can Your Firm Develop a Sustainable Edge?
WIRED: Innovation and Technology: An Interview with JSB
Seth Kahan: Storytelling and the Art of Science
Marcia Conner: Linking, Lurking, Listening, and Learning, an interview from Learning in the New Economy Magazine
Lawlor
Review: High Tech, Higher Ed, and the New World Order
David Gill: The IBTE Conversation Ethix
Storytelling:
The Scientist's Perspective
John spoke on this topic at a symposium called "Storytelling: Passport
to the 21st Century," arranged by the Smithsonian. Slides here
>>
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