Victor Mirshawka, Jr.

Location: Brazil
Fluency: English, Portuguese

Victor is a partner at New & Improved as well as the former Director of the Graduate Studies Department at the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado (FAAP), a university in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a trainer, speaker and consultant in the area of creative thinking, innovation management, talent management, and entrepreneurship.

Some organizations that have benefited from his expertise include: IBM/Lenovo, Johnson & Johnson, Liberty Mutual, Monsanto, Nestle, Novartis, and Scania. Victor works with large companies but also with students in his many academic activities, such as open enrollment events and MBA classes, spreading the concept of creative thinking and innovation.

Victor’s background includes participating in the introduction of microcomputers in Brazil by evaluating the new technology, beta testing and contributing to the development of user manuals. His interests evolved as the quality and productivity wave took off and in 1993 he was selected by the university to learn more about developing human potential.  He did so by visiting world renowned research centers including the Center for Studies in Creativity at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo. In 1994, he coordinated the implementation of the first creativity course at Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado’s engineering college and was its first professor. During this time, he also regularly attended the Creative Problem Solving Institute’s (CPSI’s) annual conference. More recently, he has focused on delivering innovation training to different levels within organizations and managing projects aimed at establishing an innovation culture that can foster creative efforts to launch new products, redesign processes, and recreate business models.

As an author, his books include: A Roda de Melhoria, Qualidade da Criatividade, Vols. I e II, and Gestão Criativa – Aprendendo com os Empreendedores mais bem sucedidos do mundo.  He has also had many articles and interviews appear in various Brazilian publications.

Victor is an electrical engineer and holds a master’s degree in Education, Art and the History of Culture.

When he’s not working, Victor can be found indulging his passions for his family, for sports, and in finding ways to tap into the vast array of human capabilities.