The Innovators Studio with Phil McKinney

Have you created a Loonshot? Have people dismissed or laughed at your Loonshot? Safi Bahcall takes us through how to manage Loonshots—a big goal, an audacious idea which has a lot of enthusiasm and support, but may be viewed as crazy. What if you nurtured these crazy ideas that are dismissed and written off. Loonshots have always been created and declared, but not always nurtured, which is critica...

Does architecture have an effect on how we think, feel, and act?  Donald Rattner has researched and explored environmental psychology and come to the conclusion that it does.  This fact plays into our daily lives, affecting how we act and feel at the office and in our personal lives.  This week on Killer Innovations, Donald Rattner joins us to discuss innovation and creativity in design of archite...

This week on Killer Innovations, I am joined in the studio by Katherine Radeka.  Katherine is the founder of Rapid Learning Cycles Institute.  She has a new book coming out on October 1st called "High Velocity Innovation." Katherine started her career at HP and then went on to carry on Dr. Ellen Wards legacy as a lean product consultant. Challenges of Innovation The challenge inside large organiza...

On this week's episode of Killer Innovations, Phillip Merrick joins us in the studio.  Phillip and his wife Caren started a company called webMethods and pioneered the use of web services integrating, machines, software applications and databases with XML-based software integration technologies.  He was the co-founder of a web-multimedia resume company VisualCV and is currently CEO of cloud securi...

On this week's show of Killer Innovations, Michael George, Author, Entrepreneur and CEO of AI Technologies joins us as our guest. He is the founder of Lean Six Sigma, the most widely used process improvement method used globally. Since 2012 Mike has worked on applying Artificial Intelligence (AI) as the next big process breakthrough beyond Lean Six Sigma.  Over the years Mike has worked with Fortu...

What are the unique skill sets needed for innovation leadership?  We all have a list of what good leadership skills are but what are the unique ones you need to be a true innovation leader?  Today on Killer Innovations, I will discuss what I have found to be the skills needed for successful innovation leadership. Innovation Leadership Skills These leadership skills apply to all organizations, whet...

We love to say anything can be innovated, anyone can innovate and innovation can happen anywhere.  Silicon Valley and other recognized innovation hubs do not have a lock on innovation or a secret sauce that cannot be modeled or improved on.  It takes a willingness to put time, your resources, explore and expand your creativity (we all have it) beyond where you are today to see the non-obvious .  W...

I was recently asked to give a talk at TEDx Boulder.  The talk was based on a speech I gave in D.C. a few months past.  Humans have a superpower. That superpower is the ability to convince ourselves that something is true when it is not.  Seventy-five percent of us have convinced ourselves that we are an imposter or fraud when it comes to our jobs and careers.  Psychologists refer to this as the i...

On April 4, 2008, Phil McKinney, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Hewlett Packard, delivered the morning keynote speech at the fifth annual Business Alliance Bootcamp for growing companies and entrepreneurs in Washington DC. Creativity Economy What I am going to do today is give you my perspective on some of the economic challenges and also encourage you in thinking differently when...

Laws of Innovation Why do some organizations have better innovation than others?  Over the years I have collected what I call the " 7 Immutable Laws of Innovation ."  No single organization could be successful in all of these laws but there are always opportunities to improve.  Let's get started with the laws of Innovation. Law of Leadership. Leadership sets the tone of the organization. This incl...

Co-Innovation What is Co-Innovation?  Co-Innovation is two parties with unique expertise that come together in a 50/50 funding of resources.  The key component being they have complimentary interests. Think of it as a Venn diagram.  The goal of Co-Innovation is to find where the Venn diagrams overlap.  Co-Innovation means: Two parties with patented expertise. A complete 50/50 venture. Define what...

The success of the Apollo 11 mission, the first moon landing, inspires our innovative passions and pursuits.  With the 50 th Anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon, I've been looking back at all of those that impacted and supported an incredible journey.  In this episode of Killer Innovations, I had the pleasure of interviewing the inventor of the early display technology that ultimately res...

What is the strength of innovation in your organization?  In this week's Killer Innovations, we explore avenues to building innovation strength .  Innovation from Mergers and Acquisitions can be a fast track to innovation.  What are the pros and cons to this innovation path? We also look at the five biggest risks to innovation.  Your company's innovation depends on avoiding the pitfalls. Is buildi...

Innovation is all about translating ideas into real products, real services and real solutions.   Ideas without execution are a hobby.  Is your organization in the business of innovation?   This week's show boils it down to a simple equation.  Ideas + Innovation Culture = Innovation Success.  The process starts with ideas and the management of them.  But ideas won't develop and thrive without the...

When it comes to the process of generating ideas, the default answer is to host a brainstorming session.  Are there other ways to generate new ideas that are not dependent on traditional brainstorming?  Today on Killer Innovations, I am going to share with you five that I use. Mind Mapping and Wishing   Mind mapping is a fairly common term nowadays; there are many types of software proving templat...

This week on Killer Innovations, I will discuss how to use both individual ideation and team ideation to generate disruptive ideas that will create high impact innovations.   Individual Ideation When kicking off individual ideation , you need to ensure that the mechanics are in place.   Make sure everyone has a stack of yellow sticky notes and sharpies. They will be asked to write one idea per sti...

Today's show is going to be a look behind the scenes around the time when I took over as CTO at HP.  This time is so important because it is the time that I came up with the concept "The Innovation Program Office."  In today's show we will talk about the pros and cons of the "IPO", what are some of the things you need to think about regarding the "IPO", and will it work for you?  The concept of "I...

So, you are about to pull together a team of eight to twelve people into a brainstorming session; do not make the mistake that 90% of us make…no area of focus.  Most teams will be given the challenge of to "quickly come up with a product idea." The results can be predicted; poor to none when it comes to creating any form of disruptive ideas.  This week on Killer Innovations, we will talk about fou...

It goes without saying that not all ideas are good ideas that lead to market winning innovations.  Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that while failures will happen, we can learn from those that have gone before us in bringing innovations to market.  This week on the show, we are going to look at the five worst innovation failures and see what could have been done differently.     Five Worst I...

Many people believe when it comes to innovation, you've either got it or you don't.  But innovation is a skill that can be learned, practiced and perfected. One area of innovation is ideation.  Generating quality ideas is key to keeping the innovation funnel full.  How do you get started in innovation if your team doesn't have confidence in their innovation abilities?  One way is to have a disrupt...

Making hard decisions can bring the most seasoned leaders to their knees, no matter how calm they look on the outside.  The fear of a better option (FOBO) can paralyze decision-making. It is also the enemy of innovation .  In this show I talk about 4 ways to deal with FOBO.   FOBO versus FOMO What is it that causes that hesitation at decision time?  Patrick McGinnis calls it FOBO: the Fear of a Be...

Ethical lapses in some tech companies have grabbed headlines in recent years.  Tech is changing daily, touching every aspect of our lives. It's time to define the ethical boundaries of technology.  Without focus on ethics in technology, there will be huge unintended consequences .    On today's show, Joe Toscano, joins me.  Joe is founder of BEACON and author of Automating Humanity .  He is also a...

The latest innovation of today can quickly be replaced with the next best thing tomorrow.  Whether you're a newcomer to innovation or the seasoned innovator, there's something every innovator should know.  How to forecast and survive cycles of innovation .  This week Ray Zinn, longest serving CEO of a publicly traded company in Silicon Valley, shares his insights.  Ray's astute ability to forecast...

Leadership  support for innovation is critical to an organization. Any leader knows how to spell innovation.  But few senior leaders understand what is involved or how hard it is unless they have come from an "innovation background."  What are some essentials of innovation leadership? In today's show we discuss the role of the CEO and the Board of Directors.  We also consider the benefits of an ef...

Everyone is creative.  Yet some people seem more creative than others.  What do those people have that others might lack?  What's the secret to creativity? This week we talk about finding creative inspiration outside of work.  I'll share my thoughts on what makes people creative. We'll also hear Kym McNicholas interview Tania Katan.  Tania has just come out with a book called Creative Trespassing:...