Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions That Spark Game-Changing Innovation

by Phil McKinney

Overview

The Killer Questions Your Company Should Be Asking

Generating and executing great ideas is the key to staying ahead in a rapidly changing world. It seems so basic. Why is it so hard to actually get right? According to innovation expert Phil McKinney, the real problem is that we're teaching people to ask the wrong questions about their businesses--or none at all. There has to be a better way.

In Beyond the Obvious, McKinney will help you use his proven FIRE (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution) Method to dig deeper and get back to asking the right questions--the ones all companies must ask to survive. Full of real-world examples, this book will change the way you operate, innovate, and create, and it all begins with battle-tested questions Phil has gathered on note cards throughout his career. Shared for the first time here, these "Killer Questions" include:

What are the rules and assumptions my industry operates under? What if the opposite were true?

What will be the buying criteria used by my customer in 5 years?

What are my unshakable beliefs about what my customers want?

Who uses my product in ways I never anticipated?

These questions will reframe the way you see your products, your customers, and the way the two interact. Whether you're a company of thousands or a lean startup, Beyond the Obvious will give you the skills and easy-to-follow plan you need to make both the revolutionary changes and nuanced tweaks required for success.

Praise for Beyond the Obvious

"Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see."
--Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity

"I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart-or greatly enhance- your innovation efforts."
--B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy & Infinite Possibility.

"Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products."
--Satjiv S. Chahil, former global marketing chief, Apple

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781401324469
Publisher:	Hachette Books
Publication date:	02/07/2012
Pages:	272
Sales rank:	704,091
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 - 12 Years

About the Author

Phil McKinney is the vice president and chief technology officer for Hewlett-Packard's (HP) Personal Systems Group, where he is responsible for long-range strategic planning and research and development for all of the company's PC product lines, including displays, mobile devices, notebooks, desktops, and workstations. Over the course of his career, he has been profiled or had his work on innovation written about in media outlets ranging from tech press to Vanity Fair, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. McKinney also writes a column for Forbes called "The Objective," hosts a popular "Killer Innovations" podcast that CIO Insight has called "a must listen," and tweets from his @philmckinney handle. He currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is his first book.

What People are Saying About This

Geoffrey Moore

An empowering new voice for business readers, Phil McKinney will change your Monday with his rule-breaking approach to harnessing the power of innovation. This book is a killer read for anyone who hopes to triumphantly succeed and not just survive."
—Peter Guber, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Tell to Win "Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see. (Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity)

Peter Guber

"An empowering new voice for business readers, Phil McKinney will change your Monday with his rule-breaking approach to harnessing the power of innovation. This book is a killer read for anyone who hopes to triumphantly succeed and not just survive."
—Peter Guber, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, Tell to Win

Editorial Reviews

McKinney, vice president and chief technology officer for Hewlett-Packard’s Personal Systems Group, provides a thoughtful yet practical guide to consistently generating innovation. Arguing that ideas are a company’s most valuable currency, he maintains that an organization’s success will be determined by its ability to generate ideas that lead to innovations that customers want. To help companies ignite these ideas, McKinney shares a system called the “Killer Questions”: a tool that prompts re-evaluation of old organizational beliefs that dictate how a company operates but which may no longer hold value. To do so requires negotiating the forces inside an organization that challenge innovation as well as dealing with outside curve balls. While re-examining core beliefs is hardly new advice, McKinney’s system helps distinguish valuable ideas from others with less potential as well as paying attention to delivering value to customers, the value chain, manufacturing and supply, marketing and sales, shipping and distribution, and the customer experience. McKinney also provides an invaluable guide to extracting ideas from the book and applying them within an organization. He includes a helpful time line and six rules to keep companies on track. Offering concrete advice, McKinney gives organizations the tools they need to generate ideas and know that they’re moving in the right direction. Agent: Marc Gerald, the Agency Group. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see."—Geoffrey Moore, author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity

"I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart—or greatly enhance—your innovation efforts."—B. Joseph Pine II, co-author, The Experience Economy & Infinite Possibility

"Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products."—Satjiv S. Chahil, former global marketing chief, Apple

From the Publisher

"Product Innovation is a prerequisite to building great brands. Phil's questions are a prerequisite to building innovative products."

Satjiv S. Chahil

"I've always believed that asking the right questions is the essence of design. Phil McKinney proves that point with this wonderful set of killer questions that will jumpstart--or greatly enhance--your innovation efforts."

B. Joseph Pine II

"Human beings are creatures of habit, so getting ourselves and our teams to think beyond the obvious is a challenge we face all the time. Phil McKinney is an innovation expert, and his killer questions and hit-the-spot anecdotes provide a great way to get out in front of opportunities we otherwise won't see."

Geoffrey Moore

In this bright, informative debut, McKinney, chief technology officer of Hewlett-Packard's Personal Systems Group, writes that anyone can become an "idea person," given the right approach and a willingness to work hard. The most important thing is to ask the right questions--"Killer Questions" that produce new insights into your customers, product and organization, and help trigger ideas. For example: What are the assumptions of my industry? What will my customers want in five years? Who uses my product in ways I never anticipated? Describing at length the kinds of questions that generate new information, McKinney warns that you must be prepared to defend your idea against in-house adversaries ("corporate antibodies") who are comfortable with the status quo. In a time when businesses need continuous reinvention to survive, many cling to obvious ideas that worked in the past. "Nearly all great ideas require nerve, vision, and guts to get in motion," writes the author. To help readers identify and act on their best ideas, McKinney details a four-part FIRE program (Focus, Ideation, Rank, Execution), which hones in on the essential aspects of any problem or situation. As opposed to unguided and often fruitless brainstorming, FIRE uses questions to provide a logical and much-needed structure to focus ideation efforts, improve the quality of ideas, rank the ideas so that you know which ones to work on, and then execute the ideas. Offering vivid examples of how his approach has worked at HP and elsewhere, McKinney stresses the need to vigorously question conventional rules and assumptions to generate breakthrough innovations. Valuable and ready for immediate use.

Kirkus Reviews