Introducing the Author— (An Excerpt from Piloting Through Chaos—The Explorer’s Mind)

It may be useful for the visitor to understand why, after so many years, I decided to write a second edition of Piloting Through Chaos. My earliest memories are of wanting to be an explorer. Hence, at the ripe age of 69, I decided to realize my childhood dream. In part it began simply as artistic exuberance. Mark Twain once remarked, "What is it that confers the noblest delight?  What is that which swells a man’s breast with pride above that which any other experience can bring to him? Discovery!" I have found some lovely pebbles by the seashore, and I take much joy in showing them to you.

There is also a more serious intention. It doesn’t take much insight to look at the world and see and feel how much suffering there is, how much of that suffering might be prevented, and how often calamity falls crazily and unfairly on those who have had the least part in causing it. Nor does one have to be a genius to see how vulnerable we are and unprepared to deal with the fall-out from natural disasters like Fukushima in Japan or the mayhem of a biological or nuclear terrorist attack. Many of the tools presented in Piloting Through Chaos, including the methodologies for anticipating catastrophe and dealing with risk and contingency, have direct and practical applications for these existential challenges of our times. My samurai spirit and my instincts as a public advocate are aroused for action. Excerpted from Julian Gresser, Piloting Through Chaos—The Explorer’s Mind, ©Copyright, Julian Gresser, September 2012; exclusive English and Chinese language publishing rights, Bridge 21 Press)

Author's profile -- We each play various roles in our lives. Mine have been exceptionally diverse. Here is a sampling

• Explorer—I have been exploring since the age of four. I have spent many years exploring the frontier of mind/body/spirit through my training in EEG biofeedback and related disciplines which I have adapted to the discovery process in a field of my creation, "discovery engineering."
• Inventor/Innovator—I have invented an expert wisdom software program, the Artful Navigator, as well the smart technologies reflected in this book. I have also developed a "Discovery Engine" which integrates the best practices of discovery, invention, and innovation, and a "Trigger Method" which helps identify which technologies or industries based on them will serve as strategic catalysts of economic growth and job creation. (See Julian Gresser, Partners in Prosperity—Strategic Industries for the U.S. and Japan 1984)
• International Attorney—I have over forty years of practical experience as an international and environmental attorney and advocate.
• Negotiator-This book introduces my system of Artful and Adaptive Negotiation.
• Martial Arts—I have trained with grandmasters in judo, aikido, gong fu, and qigong;
• Alliance Builder—I have invented several allied fields, including "collaborative innovation" and "strategic alliance mediation" and have applied these in the context of Collaborative Innovation Networks (COINS) first articulated by Peter Gloor in his book, Swarm Creativity.
• Musician/Artist—I play the oboe, oboe d'amore, and recorder, and have created an Anthology—Music, Beauty & Awakening in Discovery and Healing.

Julian Gresser--Professional Profile

Julian Gresser is an international attorney, negotiator, inventor, and recognized expert on Japan. As a negotiator his most dramatic success involved helping a San Francisco-based trading company transform its $8 million after-tax branch into a $1 billion Japanese company in seven years. From 1976-1983 he was twice Visiting Mitsubishi Professor at the Harvard Law School and also taught courses as a Visiting Professor at MIT on the legal issues of strategic industries. He has been a Visiting Professor at Beijing University, where he taught seminars on Japanese and U.S. environmental law, and also helped the Chinese environmental authorities draft China's Marine Pollution Control Law.

He has served as legal advisor to numerous U.S., Japanese, and European companies on a wide array of business issues, including joint ventures, limited (venture capital) partnerships, technology licensing, export controls and customs fraud, antitrust, and intellectual property protection, particularly patent infringement disputes. He has been a senior consultant to the U.S. State Department, The World Bank, The Prime Minister's Office of Japan, The People's Republic of China, and the European Commission (where he trained the Commission's Japanese negotiating teams).

Julian Gresser is the author of four books, Environmental Law in Japan (MIT Press, 1981), Partners in Prosperity: Strategic Industries for the U.S. and Japan (McGraw Hill, 1984; in Japanese, Cho Hanei Sengen), and Piloting Through Chaos: Wise Leadership/Effective Negotiation for the 21st Century ( Five Rings Press, 1996), (in Japanese, Ishi Kettei Isutsu no Hosoku--Koshodo no Gokui, Tokuma Shoten Publishing Company, Tokyo, 1997), in addition to numerous articles in English and Japanese on technology, economics and law. His most recent article is Expanding Your IP Pie in China—Winning Strategies for Agile Foreign Companies (Bloomberg, May 2011) Julian Gresser’s forthcoming book, Piloting Through Chaos—The Explorer’s Mind will be published in English and Chinese in November 2012—January 2013, as  a Living Adaptive (Smart) Multimedia Book, a new model of publishing which he has invented.

Julian Gresser is also the founder of Global Innovation Integrators (GII/ http://gii.us.com/) which is assisting 100 of China’s top CEOs and their companies to become Global Innovation Champions.

Julian Gresser’s most passionate project is a Global Network of Intelligent Explorer’s Wheels,  dedicated to finding solutions to some of the "wicked" problems confronting humanity, based on the template for continuous lifelong learning introduced in the Piloting Through Chaos—The Explorer’s Mind.