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Phil McKinney

Phil McKinney is an innovator, podcaster, author, and speaker. He is the retired CTO of HP. Phil's book, Beyond The Obvious, shares his expertise and lessons learned on innovation and creativity.

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My Experience with Innovation Influencing

Innovation influencer marketing is all about connecting with people passionate about innovation and helping them spread the word about your organization and brand.

My Experience with Innovation Influencing
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Innovation Hero Worship: FTX, Theranos, and the Media

Just because we consider someone an “expert” or an “innovator” doesn’t mean we should automatically believe everything they say. We should be willing to challenge the idea.

Innovation Hero Worship: FTX, Theranos, and the Media
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The Near Future. Step Inside

Using an Innovation Storytelling approach, created a short film, The Near Future—Step Inside, which gives viewers the ability to peek into the future.

The Near Future. Step Inside
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Automaticity: A Thinking Trap?

Just as a car can be driven more smoothly and efficiently when the driver doesn’t have to think about each action, so can our lives run more smoothly when some tasks are done automatically. For example, if you’ve ever ridden in a car with someone learning to drive, you know it’s not a very smooth […

A child learning match by building automaticity
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Future Faking Innovation

Future faking is a term that has crept into the lexicon that originated from a harmful dating practice. When applied to innovation, someone is predicting a future to get others excited about it, with no intention of making that future a reality.

Future Faking Innovation Image
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Selective Neglect – What Do You Not Do?

It can be tough to know which tasks to focus on, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done. We want it all. But by using the Eisenhower Matrix, we can focus on the right tasks and apply selective neglect to those we should delegate or ignore […]

picture of General Eisenhower
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Continue Innovating During An Economic Downturn?

The current economic downturn may have you feeling like you need to hunker down and wait it out. Especially in innovating during an economic downturn. This is understandable—no one wants to risk their hard-earned money in uncertain times. But this is actually the optimal time to take innovation lead

innovating during an economic downturn
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Are Innovations Invented or Discovered?

Are innovations invented or discovered? We have debated this question for many years. Some people believe innovations are inventions, while others believe they are discoveries. With people’s growing curiosity to understand how to be more creative, more innovative, there is a strong desire to learn t

Thomas Edison inventing and discovering innovations
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Innovation Arms Race: The Invisible Risk

The innovation arms race is the race to be the most innovative company in the world. It’s a competition where the prize is market share, customers, and profits. And the cost of entry is high. This is a competition where there is no finish line. To compete, companies must invest heavily in R&D. But n

innovation arms race is not really a race
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The Thinking Skills Needed For Success

How often do we step back and think about how we think? Probably not often enough. However, understanding how we think is important if we want to improve the quality of our ideas and, as a result, our innovations. Periodically throughout my career, I have benefited from reflecting on how I think. It

thinking skills