Killer Innovations – Interview with Phil McKinney

Phil McKinney is an award winning innovator of technologies and products used by 100’s of millions of consumers and businesses worldwide. In this interview, Phil shares ideas on how to innovate in the construction industry. In this interview, we discuss * What are killer innovations * Where to innovate * How to use questions as an innovation tool * How to brainstorm effectively About Phil Since 2005, Phil has shared his expertise in innovation and creativity, free of charge (in an approach he refers to as “paying it forward”) through his award winning weekly podcast Killer Innovations™. Phil has been credited with forming and leading multiple teams that FastCompany and BusinessWeek list as one of the “50 Most Innovative”. His recognition includes Vanity Fair naming him the “The Innovation Guru”, MSNBC and Fox Business calling him “The Gadget Guy” and the San Jose Mercury News dubbing him the “chief seer”. Phil shares his rule-breaking approach to innovation and creativity in his book Beyond The Obvious. Phil and his wife donate 100% of the author royalties to charities such as Hacking Autism. Phil is the CEO of CableLabs, the non-profit research & development lab funded by the global cable industry. CableLabs is the “Bell Labs” of the cable industry. He joined CableLabs after retiring as CTO at Hewlett-Packard. While at HP, McKinney created the Innovation Program Office (IPO). The IPO was/is chartered to identify, incubate and launch adjacent and fundamentally new technologies, products and services that will become the future growth engines for HP. Phil, and the success of the Innovation Program Office, are now shared in widely used case studies at Stanford University and Harvard Business School. He oversees his family VC fund (Techtrend Group) that invests in for-profit start-ups that use their economic impact (jobs and profits) to address local social needs (e.g. Lakeside Fish Farm in Rwanda). Phil volunteers as a board member at a number of non-profits including The Computer History Museum and Hacking Autism. Listen to the interview (also on iTunes and other podcasting platforms)