About
What brings you here?
Thanks for stopping by. I’m Phil McKinney—and if you’ve landed on this page, something I said or wrote probably caught your attention. Before I tell you my whole story, let me save you some time. Where you go next depends on what brought you here in the first place.
You found Studio Sessions
The podcast has been running since 2005—over a thousand episodes exploring why smart leaders consistently make terrible innovation decisions. The YouTube channel goes deeper with frameworks, case studies, and the Thinking 101 series on critical thinking and mental models. Whether you binged a few episodes or stumbled on one that hit home, there’s plenty more to explore.
You found Studio Notes
This is where I tell the stories I couldn’t tell while they were happening. The real version of what went down inside HP’s innovation labs, billion-dollar product decisions that almost didn’t happen, and the patterns I’ve seen repeat across 40 years of leading and advising on breakthrough ideas. New stories every Monday on Substack.
You read the book
Beyond the Obvious introduced the KILLER Questions framework—a methodology for generating breakthrough ideas that came from evaluating over 30,000 innovation proposals during my time as HP’s CTO. If the book resonated, you’ll find the full text here for free, plus years of additional thinking on innovation decision-making.
You’re facing a decision
The kind that doesn’t have a clear answer. When to commit resources, what to kill before it drains you, who to trust, whether to leap. After 40 years of making these calls—and helping others make them—I’ve seen how most of them play out. Sometimes a conversation with someone who’s been in that room helps.
You’re just curious
Maybe someone mentioned my name at a conference. Maybe you’re doing research. Maybe you just want to know who’s behind all this before you commit any more time. Fair enough.
Continue … 👇
The short version
I’ve spent 40 years in rooms where billion-dollar innovation decisions get made—and killed. I co-founded a company and took it public. I served as CTO of HP, where I led the team that won “Most Innovative Company” three years running. Now I’m CEO of CableLabs, driving the technology roadmap for the broadband industry.
Somewhere along the way I realized something that changed how I think about innovation: the ideas aren’t usually the problem. The decisions around them are. When to fund, when to kill, who to trust, when to pivot, whether to leap.
That’s what I write about, talk about, and help people and teams navigate.
