{"id":1620,"date":"2014-08-23T12:44:18","date_gmt":"2014-08-23T12:44:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=1620"},"modified":"2014-08-23T12:44:18","modified_gmt":"2014-08-23T12:44:18","slug":"beyond-the-obvious-by-philmckinney-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/beyond-the-obvious-by-philmckinney-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Obvious by @PhilMckinney [Review]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2Fbeyond-the-obvious-by-philmckinney-review%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/network.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1622 size-large\" src=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/network-1024x763.png\" alt=\"Network of Ideas\" width=\"608\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/network-1024x763.png 1024w, https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/network-300x223.png 300w, https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/network-900x670.png 900w, https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/network.png 1185w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Are you a leader, entrepreneur, or researcher looking for a system for making your organization more innovative? \u00a0In our economy, creativity has become critical skill. \u00a0 In a music context, the artists that continue to re-invent themselves find ways to remain relevant, fresh, and attractive to the market. \u00a0 Organizations take huge risks when they don&#8217;t reflect on their product or service offerings and look for new ways to serve. \u00a0 (When was the last time you used Kodak? \u00a0How about AOL?)<\/p>\n<p>Our book club at work just finished &#8220;Beyond the Obvious&#8221; by Phil McKinney, a book helping organizations create a disciplined culture of innovation. \u00a0 Mr. McKinney was a director for innovation at HP. In this book, he shares his systems, plans, and soft skills required to organize innovation team and create new products and services. \u00a0 He has a wealth of experience from other technology companies he has directed too. \u00a0 In my view, I found this book very pragmatic and thoughtful to helping us focus our innovation activities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Key points from &#8220;Beyond the Obvious&#8221;:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Questions Matter:<\/strong>\u00a0The questions that we ask determine the quality of ideas we receive from our teams. \u00a0 The book is designed to help organizations find &#8220;Killer Innovations.&#8221; \u00a0 \u00a0While most organizations focus on incremental innovations, Mr. McKinney coaches leaders to ask bolder questions to discover ideas that are desired by the market\u00a0and remarkable. \u00a0What are the assumptions of your organization or processes? \u00a0What if you changed the assumptions about who you serve and how you serve them? &#8220;<span style=\"color: #292f33;\">What are the criteria our customers use when selecting our product or service?&#8221; \u00a0You can find more &#8220;Killer questions&#8221; from <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/philmckinney\" target=\"_blank\">Phil&#8217;s Twitter feed<\/a>\u00a0and website.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Management of Ideas:<\/strong> \u00a0You have a system for managing your money in your business or family. \u00a0 In a similar way, Phil coaches organizations to create systems for managing ideas. \u00a0The book reviews a gated funding model to help your team and leadership manage risk thoughtfully. \u00a0He argues that ideas with remarkable execution define innovative companies. \u00a0Phil introduces readers to his &#8220;FIRE&#8221; method: focus, ideation, ranking, execution.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Focus<\/strong> &#8211; He encourages leaders to use bold questions to challenge and focus the attention of the organization. \u00a0 This phase can also be informed by market research. \u00a0On a personal level, you also might consider your passions too. \u00a0He also challenges organizations to REALLY know who you serve.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Ideation<\/strong> &#8211; It&#8217;s important for organizations to find a system for documenting their ideas. \u00a0 If you have ideas stuck in emails or meeting memo&#8217;s, it will be hard to move those ideas forward. \u00a0 \u00a0You also want ideas to mingle and combine. \u00a0 In this phase, you want to encourage your team to combine ideas together to create new concepts. \u00a0 This is especially potent when ideas combine from different divisions or functional groups. \u00a0The following TED talk speaks to this concept too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0af00UcTO-c\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ranking<\/strong> &#8211; You might have hundreds of ideas. \u00a0 How do you find the top 5% or 10%? \u00a0 He challenges organizations to use gamification, voting, and other mechanisms to help you discover your best ideas and focus on those concepts.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Execution<\/strong> &#8211;\u00a0Phil challenges individuals and organizations to move and execute their ideas. \u00a0 In this perspective, he challenges organizations to build prototypes, perform limited launches, and get feedback from users. \u00a0 If you start finding successes with these small prototypes and limited launches, then start selling the product and service and measure the impact thoughtful. \u00a0 This is a very similar concept to &#8220;build, measure, learn&#8221; concept from Lean Startup by Eric Ries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>\u00a0In the closing chapters of the book, he provides a clear plan for running innovation workshops with your team. \u00a0 His six golden rules for innovation workshops include the following: (1) Setting the focus, (2) Assigning 2 &#8220;Killer Questions, (3) Encourage research, (4) Don&#8217;t filter ideas, (5) Schedule time for idea generation, and (6) ranking ideas.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I think <a href=\"https:\/\/openideo.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">OpenIdeo<\/a> is a solid example of Phil&#8217;s FIRE system in action. \u00a0 If you&#8217;re looking for fresh ideas on civic entrepreneurship, this is a great website. \u00a0 Notice how the website encourages focus through questions, ideation, and ranking.<\/p>\n<p>If you&#8217;re serious about creating a culture of innovation, I would highly recommend <a href=\"http:\/\/philmckinney.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Phil McKinney<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Beyond-Obvious-Questions-Game-Changing-Innovation-ebook\/dp\/B006ZDGEGA\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Beyond and the Obvious&#8221;<\/a>, and his <a href=\"http:\/\/philmckinney.com\/killer-innovations\" target=\"_blank\">podcasts<\/a>. \u00a0 \u00a0They are not easy teachings. \u00a0 I, however, think they are ideas that will make a difference.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>How do you keep yourself innovative and creative?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\">Join the\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/1529734900588516\/\" target=\"_blank\">Spark Macon Maker Space Community on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\">\n<p style=\"color: #555555;\">Posts From\u00a0<a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">InspiredToEducate.NET<\/a><\/p>\n<ul style=\"color: #555555;\">\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=1388\" target=\"_blank\">10+ Lessons To Help You Grow Your Skills as a Developer from Mercer GDG<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=1238\" target=\"_blank\">17 Fun Tools To Teach Kids To Code by @ChrisBetcher<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" title=\"Benefits of Teaching Kids To Code That No One Is Talking About\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=623\">Benefits of Teaching Kids To Code That No One Is Talking About<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" title=\"7 Reasons Why The Makers Movement Is Revolutionary\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=942\">7 Reasons Why The Makers Movement Is Revolutionary<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" title=\"How to Build Your Mobile App using HTML\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=849\">How to Build Your Mobile App using HTML<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" title=\"Maker Camp: Free Virtual Summer Camp for Teens\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=961\">Maker Camp: Free Virtual Summer Camp For Teens<\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-style: inherit;\"><a style=\"font-style: inherit; color: #0085cf;\" title=\"5 reasons to love Khan academy for computer science\" href=\"http:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/?p=202\">5 reasons to love Khan academy for computer science<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Photo from\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/9\/9b\/Social_Network_Analysis_Visualization.png\">http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/9\/9b\/Social_Network_Analysis_Visualization.png<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<!-- Facebook Like Button v1.9.6 BEGIN [http:\/\/blog.bottomlessinc.com] -->\n<iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/like.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Finspiredtoeducate.net%2Finspiredtoeducate%2Fbeyond-the-obvious-by-philmckinney-review%2F&amp;layout=standard&amp;show_faces=false&amp;width=450&amp;action=like&amp;colorscheme=light\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowTransparency=\"true\" style=\"border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height: 30px; align: left; margin: 2px 0px 2px 0px\"><\/iframe>\n<!-- Facebook Like Button END -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Are you a leader, entrepreneur, or researcher looking for a system for making your organization more innovative? \u00a0In our economy, creativity has become critical skill. \u00a0 In a music context, the artists that continue to re-invent themselves find ways to remain relevant, fresh, and attractive to the market. \u00a0 Organizations [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13,4,6,18,8],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1620"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1623,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620\/revisions\/1623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inspiredtoeducate.net\/inspiredtoeducate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}