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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.

12 Tips From Elon Musk On How To Be More Innovative

Download 12_Tips_on_Innovation_from_Elon_Musk_S11_Ep6.mp3 For many innovators, making a splash through social media is the subject of long thought and a lot of trial and error. On the other hand, innovators like Elon Musk tend to have the Midas touch when it comes

12 Tips From Elon Musk On How To Be More Innovative

How To Use Crowdsourced Creativity for Innovation

Download Innovation_From_Associative_Fluency_S11_Ep5.mp3 Everyone knows of the old saying “Great minds think alike,” usually said as a kind of joke when two people have the same idea at the same time. But just how true is that statement? In fact, there’s plenty of evidence

How To Use Crowdsourced Creativity for Innovation

See Your Frustrations As Inspiration For Breakthrough Innovations

Download Innovation_From_Frustration_S11_E4.mp3 Had enough of Barbie’s Dream House? Ever wonder why dolls and tiaras and pink party dresses fill the “girl” aisles of the toy store? After one such stroll down the isle with one of my grand daughters, I was reminded about the

See Your Frustrations As Inspiration For Breakthrough Innovations

How Brave Do You Need To Be To Innovate?

Download Innovation_Bravery_S11_Ep3.mp3 Do you consider yourself a brave person? A person of courage and conviction in the face of a challenge? Most of us don’t, but as an innovator, you practice bravery every day. Bravery means opening oneself up to criticism and overcoming the fear

How Brave Do You Need To Be To Innovate?

Here Are The 3 Skills Needed For The Emerging Innovation Economy

Download Education_Innovation_3_Critical_Skills_S11_Ep2.mp3 A few years back, I was invited to participate in a meeting with leaders from the US Department of Education. Others in attendance at the meeting included university presidents, representatives from the teacher unions, and a handful of others. There were

innovation skills for our children

How Can Boredom Be A Spark For Innovation?

Download Innovation_Boredom_S11_E1.mp3 It might happen while you’re taking your morning shower, or maybe you’re in the middle of your morning commute when a flash of creativity strikes: a great idea for a mobile app, a way to hack your Ikea bookshelf to solve a

How Can Boredom Be A Spark For Innovation?

Create Opportunity: On Malcolm Gladwell, Impressionism, and Being a Big Fish in a Small Pond

Who isn’t familiar with the Impressionists?  Most of us, no matter how little we may know about art, have heard of Monet and Renoir.  Impressionism makes an impact on the human psyche with its sublime, colorful landscapes and distinctive human subjects.  It’s not an exact representation of the world

create opportunity impressionism

What Can Children Teach Us About Creativity?

Some adults tend to think that creativity is something you are born with. But, the truth is we are all creative. If your creativity seems to be at a stand still, I invite you to think about what we can learn about creativity by observing children. I just came back from our vacation with our […]

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A Bizarre New Perspective on Brainstorm

We’ve all been in a meeting where we were asked to brainstorm.  The concept is familiar. Everyone involved writes out everything they can think of on the given topic, even if it seems strange, silly, or not quite practical, because sometimes, as we let our brains really run, we come across a solutio

creativity brainstorm

Learn the magic behind the innovations of Silicon Valley from the Innovation Boot Camp

Many governments and organizations have wanted to unravel the magic behind the innovations of Silicon Valley so that they can take it back and re-create its success. After my many years of working and innovating in the valley, I’ve learned that there isn’t a one size fits all way to re-create the va

innovation boot camp silicon valley