Ed Boyden

Wrestling with incredibly complex problems is par for the course in most industries – from finance to health care, education to strategic management. But it is equally common for firms to approach innovation blindly, developing products and services without a roadmap or guide on how to do so. Ed Boyden is a scientific prodigy who pursued his life’s work in a field where breakthroughs are rare and much of the discipline remains a mystery: neuroscience. Yet, he’s succeeding. He built and led a team to develop radical new techniques for mapping and analyzing the brain, potentially ushering in a new era of medical advancement in treating incurable diseases like Alzheimer’s and depression. His team’s development of ways to expand microscopic objects – and subsequently to shrink objects – can have an impact in fields outside his own, potentially revolutionizing our ability to treat diseases like cancer or better understand the origins of human emotions. Often, the solutions were derived from connecting the dots between fields that don’t typically communicate or were figured out by systematic critical thinking methods. In a culture that is knowledge-rich and wisdom-poor, Boyden teaches methods of creativity and imagination that lead to innovative breakthroughs. The techniques learned by trial and error are applicable to every industry, says Boyden – not just science and medicine. In this bold, thought-provoking presentation, he reveals a set of rules for pioneering solutions where there are few rules or precedents to follow.