The Innovators Studio with Phil McKinney

There is a mystique about Silicon Valley. Some think its this magical place where the breakthrough innovation is done. Others talk about it in hushed terms reserved for spiritual experiences. In reality, Silicon is much more complex and harder to grasp than with some simple labels. To understand it, you need to understand the answers to these […]

Many have the dream of making it into the CxO (CEO, CFO, CIO, CTO, etc) suite. What skills and abilities does it take to be in position to become a world-class CTO? During the time I was CTO at Hewlett-Packard, what where the skills and abilities I had – and which are the ones I […]

There are many tools you can use to generate ideas such as brainstorming. Every innovator runs into walls where they know there are better ideas out there but can't seem to get a grasp on what they is. SCAMPER is one of those tools that has always come in handy for me when I want […]

Just as we make sure we don't skip many meals, we need to prioritize the feeding of our creative mind. Our creative mind is a critical resource that enables our ability to think creatively. Without it, we stunt our creative output and therefore our personal and professional success. For some reason, most people don't prioritize it. […]

What do you do with a highly successful 35 year career? You pay-it-forward. You take the ups and downs you experienced and share it with others and help them achieve not just professional success – but also personal success. There seems to be an explosion of people hanging out their coach and mentor shingles. The […]

The emerging creative economy is dependent on having a workforce that is skilled differently than in the past. These new skills include: critical thinking, using our natural ability to be highly creative, be willing to take risks and to not have a fear of failure. There are kids/young adults who showing the rest of us how they […]

Our early childhood experiences have a major impact on our lives. In the case of Rodney Williams, he started down his path of being entrepreneur at the early ago of 8. While his friends were out cutting grass, he had his first entrepreneurial success by renting, for $0.50, the latest and hippest magazines to customers waiting in his […]

Creative thinking is not about how many ideas you can generate in a brainstorming session. Creative thinking is the result of using a variety of thinking styles to improve your creativity. The result is better ideas that turn into better innovations. We are born with a variety of thinking styles that are established based on […]

Creative thinking is a critical skill for personal, professional and business success. When you look at others who have been highly successful, such as Elon Musk, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, the common skill they have is a well exercised skill of creative thinking. Creative thinking is the fuel to everything you do. Creative Thinking According […]

The role of designers and design thinking is impacting every product and service being created. The old days of a product being created and then tossed over the wall to a designer to "wrap it in plastic and make it look nice" are long gone. With the introduction of products like the iPhone and Tesla, customers […]