Massimo Garbuio

Biography

Dr. Massimo Garbuio is a Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship at the University of Sydney. His approach to research and training involves helping others–whether they’re students or seasoned strategists–imagine, ideate and design new sources of value. Massimo is passionate about the human impact that good ideas can make given the right approaches and skill-sets, whether within start-ups seeking a firm footing or organisations envisioning a new future.

Massimo’s research focuses on three broad areas that he deems necessary to do this. First, design and the creative thinking that yields potentially innovative futures, second, the science of evaluating options and making sound strategic decisions and third, how to turn ideas into real value for a broad range of stakeholders, both short-term and long-term. With this research background, Massimo actively participates in shaping public opinion on innovation and its impact on the economy, writing and speaking for the Australian Financial Review, SBS and The Conversation as well as contributing to ‘The Venture Capital Effect: A Report on the Industry’s Impact on the Australian Economy’ published by The Australian Venture Capital Association. He has also published in global industry journals including the California Management Review, Design Studies, The Academy of Management Learning and Education, Long Range Planning and Journal of Management.

Beyond research, Massimo’s teaching approach is highly practical. He is passionate about helping the next generation of entrepreneurs make their first mark, encouraging students to see the whole picture: from how best to generate ideas to the very real mechanics of running start-ups. A number of his students have built valuable real-world start-ups.

Massimo holds a PhD from the University of Western Australia and has also trained at University College London and the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the Strategic Management Society, the Design Research Society and the Academy of Management as well as is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Management.

Education

PhD, Strategic Management, UWA Business School, 2008
M.A, Economics, University of Pennsylvania, 2003

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Massimo Garbuio’s research essentially aims to solve the question that most occupies the attention of today’s corporates, venture capitalists and innovators – what does it take to turn abstract ideas into industry, business and most of all, human, impact? His research revolves around three areas of focus that combine to effectively answer this dilemma: Design Thinking and the creative processes behind the imagination of new futures, Strategic Decision Making and the cognitive decision processes that lead to option selection and lastly, Innovation – moving beyond the buzzword to being able to make concepts real through appropriate business structures and human interactions.

Massimo Garbuio’s research on Design involves diving deeply into the perspective of the innovator when moving from thick and fuzzy data to vivid hypotheses about the world should be, whether it’s through products, services or systems. He goes a step further than process oriented design thinkers into Design Cognition – the diverse thinking patterns that occur within our brains and harness previous knowledge to generate ideas, whether it’s the power of analogies or the intricacies of problem framing and abductive thinking. However, he places an equal focus on design ‘doing’, how to take the necessary steps to going to market with the right business models and resources.

Massimo’s research into Strategic Decision Making aims to truly understand how great strategists strike the balance between rationality and emotion to break through information overload and make accurate decisions. He connects learnings from behavioural science and case studies from diverse worlds including project management, start-up communities and even Artificial Intelligence to help provide focus amidst infinite options – the challenge of today’s entrepreneur and strategist. He finds that these decision making methods are often transferable to a range of domains facing immense change, shifting power balances between users and rapid technological development, hence his current research into entrepreneurship in healthcare.

Lastly, research on Innovation involves the practicalities of how to execute promising ideas amidst the demands of the modern corporation’s vast array of stakeholders. Massimo takes a highly practical approach, moving from how innovators reframe real-life problems to how they bring together the financial, human, physical and digital resources to bring true solutions to life. Often this involves understanding how companies approach innovation portfolios and how they might better deliver radical value while meeting short-term business objectives.

Overall Massimo’s research aims to equip students, other researchers and managers with a holistic perspective on how to bring ideas from the realm of the intangible into human impact.

Websites

• 6 Building Blocks

• LinkedIn

• The University of Sydney

Books

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