Killer Innovations with Phil McKinney - A Show About Ideas Creativity And Innovation

What if I told you that the people who disagree with you are actually your secret weapon for better thinking? Just last month, my wife and I had a heated argument about studio changes I wanted to make here on the ranch. Her immediate reaction was about cost. Mine was about productivity and creativity. We […]

In 2005, I had a ten-minute conversation at San Jose Airport that generated billions in revenue for HP. But here's what's fascinating: three other HP executives heard the exact same conversation and saw nothing special about it. If you read Monday's Studio Notes, you know this story from the emotional side—what it felt like to […]

In October 1903, The New York Times published an editorial mocking the idea of human flight, stating that a successful flying machine might take “from one to ten million years” to develop through the efforts of mathematicians and engineers. Eight weeks later, on December 17, 1903, the Wright brothers achieved the first powered, controlled flight […]

Your best innovation ideas aren't losing to bad ideas – they're losing to exhaustion. I know that sounds counterintuitive. After 30 years of making billion-dollar innovation decisions at HP and CableLabs, I thought I understood why good ideas failed. Market timing. Technical challenges. Resource constraints. Sometimes that was the case … but most of the […]

A software engineer grabbed a random word from a dictionary – “beehive” – and within hours designed an algorithm that saved his company millions. While his colleagues were working harder, he was thinking differently. This breakthrough didn't come from luck. It came from lateral thinking – a systematic approach to finding solutions hiding in plain […]

The most popular piece of innovation advice in Silicon Valley is wrong—and it's killing great ideas before they have a chance to succeed. I can prove it with a story about a glass of water that sat perfectly still while a car bounced beneath it. My name is Phil McKinney. I spent decades as HP's […]

Innovation partnerships can create breakthrough markets—or hand them to competitors through terrible decisions. I know because I lived through both outcomes. Bill Geiser from Fossil and I had it exactly right. We built the MetaWatch—a smartwatch with week-long battery life, Bluetooth connectivity, and every feature that would later make the Apple Watch successful. We had […]

You know that moment when you walk into a meeting and immediately sense the mood in the room? Or when a proposal looks perfect on paper, but something feels off? That's your intuition working—and it's more sophisticated than most people realize. Every leader has experienced this: sensing which team member to approach with a sensitive […]

The $25 Million Perfect Presentation Picture this: You're in a conference room with 23 executives, everyone has perfect PowerPoint presentations, engineering milestones are ahead of schedule, and you're about to sign off on a $25 million bet that feels like a sure thing. That was the scene at HP when we were developing the Envy […]

Every breakthrough innovation starts the same way: everyone thinks it's a terrible idea. Twitter was dismissed as “breakfast updates.” Google looked “too simple.” Facebook seemed limited to “just college kids.” Yet these “stupid ideas” became some of the biggest winners in tech history. After 30 years making innovation decisions at Fortune 100 companies, I've identified […]

In 2011, HP killed a $1.2 billion innovation in just 49 days. I was the Chief Technology Officer who recommended buying it. What happened next reveals why smart people consistently destroy breakthrough technology—and the systematic framework you need to avoid making the same mistake. HP had just spent $1.2 billion acquiring Palm to get WebOS—one […]

University of Washington researchers discovered something that should concern every parent: children who use AI to create can no longer create without it. And here's the concerning part: most parents have absolutely no idea it's happening. If you've been following our series on Creative Thinking in the AI Age, you know I've been tracking how […]

The most innovative creators don't use AI as a replacement – they use it as a strategic partner in a carefully choreographed dance of human and machine intelligence. Welcome to Part 4 of our series, Creative Thinking in the AI Age – on strengthening your uniquely human creativity while using AI as a partner, not […]

Humans who committed to four thinking exercises for 10 minutes daily generated 43% more original solutions than the most advanced AI systems. Welcome to Part 3 of our series, Creative Thinking in the AI Age – on strengthening your uniquely human creativity while using AI as a partner, not a replacement. In Part 1, we […]

Harvard neuroscientists confirm: creative thinking uses neural pathways that AI can't replicate – and never will. Hello, I'm Phil McKinney, and welcome to my innovation studio. Welcome to Part 2 of our series, Creative Thinking in the AI Age – on strengthening your uniquely human creativity while using AI as a partner, not a replacement. […]

Our ability to solve complex problems without AI has plummeted 30% in just five years. That's not just a statistic – it's the sound of your brain cells surrendering. We are announcing a new series we are calling – Creative Thinking in the AI Age – on strengthening your uniquely human creativity while using AI […]

In 2007, two designers struggling to pay rent in San Francisco had a seemingly simple thought: “What if people could rent out their spare rooms to travelers?” This question—posed by Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia—sparked what would become Airbnb, a company now valued at over $100 billion that has fundamentally reshaped how millions of people […]

Most people react to change. They adapt, adjust, and scramble to keep up. But a small group sees change coming. They prepare for it, shape it, and position themselves to win. Their edge? Strategic thinking skills. In this article, you'll learn six powerful strategic thinking skills and five proven exercises to sharpen your thinking, decision, […]

Your phone pings. A bold headline lights up your screen. A friend shares a “must-see” video. But how do you know what's real? In today's hyperconnected world, critical thinking skills are no longer optional. They're essential tools for digital literacy—your ability to find, verify, and act on information online. Without them, you risk falling into […]

In a world obsessed with digital tools and AI-generated solutions, it's easy to forget the original engines of creative transformation—our hands, our senses, and the objects we manipulate. Sure, artificial intelligence can analyze patterns faster than we can blink. But if you're searching for that breakthrough moment that flips a challenge on its head, you're […]