The greatest strength of Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area ’ s culture is its ability to roam outside its own comfort zones . The culture here is open to new and even disruptive ideas , and it is this openness that makes the innovative ecosystem so successful . The culture also has all the required elements for it to grow : 1 ) a steady stream of talent ; 2 ) a highly desirable place to live ; and 3 ) a lot of capital . This culture has the trifecta ! Stanford and UC Berkeley provide a constant source of young , energetic talent . The Bay Area is a nice place to live and attractive to every generation despite its high costs . Finally , there is plenty of money to feed the appetite of all the startups and businesses that are reshaping our economy . But I believe it is our insatiable appetite to learn new things that is the most important characteristic . As the Chinese executives come to learn more about this culture and inquire about what makes it tick , I am always pleased to see UC Berkeley and its professors engage the executives with the same amount of intellectual curiosity . Some of Berkeley Haas ’ leading minds and top professors like Maura O ’ Neil , Toby Stuart , and Homa Bharami teach innovation and what makes this culture so
Imagining the impossible is how we move forward , and defying convention is how we keep that forward momentum going .
unique to thousands of executives from nearly every part of the globe . Their willingness to learn from these executives is precisely why UC Berkeley and this ecosystem is unique . They ask as many questions as they answer , and it is this two-way exchange of ideas and information that sustains our competitive advantages . Thanks to another famous UC Berkeley professor , Henry Chesbrough , and his ground-breaking book Open Innovation : The New Imperative for Creating and Profiting from Technology , we know that innovation cannot occur in isolation . The culture here continues to reinvent itself by allowing the exchange of ideas to flow freely .
Imagining the impossible is how we move forward , and defying convention is how we keep that forward momentum going . We just witnessed a private company launch a rocket and a roadster into space . That same company wants to colonize Mars in 40 years . This quest for questioning the status quo is what makes me confident that this culture of innovation will continue to thrive and our contributions to businesses in a VUCA world ( Volatility , Uncertainty , Complexity and Ambiguity ) will not diminish anytime soon .
Dana Magenau has worked in education for more than 15 years . His early endeavors included business development for America ’ s Schools Program , and as Executive Director of the GRAMMY Foundation he was responsible for overseeing programs dedicated to keeping music in our schools . Prior to pursuing a career in education , Magenau spent 8 years in Asia , where he led sales in IMG China and helped establish China ’ s first professional leagues in soccer and basketball .
As Managing Director of Asia Pacific for UC Berkeley Executive Education , Magenau works closely with clients to create world-class leadership development programs , leveraging the expertise of the UC Berkeley faculty . Magenau holds a BA in Chinese from the University of Colorado Boulder . He loves to spend time with his family skiing , traveling and climbing mountains .
Dana Magenau Managing Director of Asia Pacific UC Berkeley Executive Education 24 APR-JUN 2018