David A. Owens is Professor of the Practice of Management and Innovation at Vanderbilt’s Graduate School of Management, where he also directs the Executive Development Institute. Specializing in innovation and new product development, he is known as a dynamic speaker and is the recipient of numerous teaching awards. He provides education and consulting services for a wide range of clients around the world, and his work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, London Guardian and San Jose Mercury News, as well as on NPR’s Marketplace.

Owens has consulted for NASA, The Smithsonian, Nissan, Gibson Music, Alcatel, Tetra Pak, Cisco, LEGO, The Henry Ford Museum and many other organizations. He has done product design work for well-known firms including Daimler Benz, Apple, Dell, Corning, Steelcase while working at IDEO Product Development. He also served as CEO of Griffin Technology, a large consumer electronics firm in the iPhone/iPad/iPod accessory market.

Owens earned his PhD in management science and engineering through a joint fellowship program between Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and its School of Engineering. He holds an MS in engineering product design from the d.school at Stanford and is a registered professional electrical engineer (PE). In his current work, Owens focuses on concrete strategies for creating positive change in all types of organizations. His book “Creative People Must Be Stopped! Six Ways We Stop Innovation (Without Even Trying)” was published by Jossey-Bass Wiley in 2012.

Book Synopsis Video: Creative People Must Be Stopped!