Killer Innovations with Phil McKinney

Rob Tiffany joins us to discuss innovations around digital twins and where the technology is making an impact. Digital Twins Rob is an industry analyst working around wireless communications, IoT, digital twins, etc. Digital twins are digital representations of a physical object. These representations arose with NASA when they used them as digital models of spacecraft. GE started using them for aircraft engines in the early 2000s. As the pace of innovation accelerates, things become more complicated. Rob likes to think of them as “asset avatars.” For example, if you have a 2018 Ford F-150, you build the digital twin to have the same properties as the car (oil, PSI in tires, engine, etc.). The digital twin holds all the elements that make up the object. Digital twins change the whole process of building products and improving them. Rob believes digital twin technology is in the early days because of low fidelity. The first person out of the gate usually doesn’t win with any innovation. Google was not the first search engine, for example. Electric Vehicle and Train Innovations One current issue affecting digital twins is the amount of data that an electric vehicle generates. Data is collected when the vehicle reacts to traffic, changing signs, the weather, etc. When people plug their cars in, a lot of data is jammed in and sent to the digital twins, stressing data servers. While at Hitachi, Rob’s team had a platform called Lumada, which held their digital twins and analytics. In 2016 the UK government put out an RFP as they were looking to replace all the inter-city trains in the country. Hitachi had no footprint in Europe at the time but ran Lumada on Hitachi bullet trains. They won the deal. The digital twin technology was put into a real-life situation. About Our Guest: Rob Tiffany Rob Tiffany is Founder and Managing Director at Digital Insights. Rob served as Vice President and Head of IoT Strategy at Ericsson, driving 5G connection management for IoT devices. As CTO and Global Product Manager at Hitachi, he received the Presidential “Product of the Year” award for designing the Lumada Industrial IoT platform, which landed in Gartner’s “Leaders” Magic Quadrant. Spending most of his career at Microsoft, Rob was Global Technology Lead for the Azure IoT cloud platform and co-authored its reference architecture. Before Microsoft, he co-founded NetPerceptor developing one of the industry’s earliest Mobile Device Management (MDM/EMM) platforms for smartphones. A bestselling author and frequent keynote speaker, Rob serves on multiple boards. He is routinely ranked as one of the top IoT experts and influencers globally by Inc Magazine, Onalytica and others. To know more about Rob Tiffany and Digital Insights, listen to this week's show: Rob Tiffany of Digital Insights on Digital Twins. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast  

Scott Crowder of IBM joins us to discuss quantum computing and its potential to change the world of technology. Quantum Computing and Its Impact Scott leads the quantum computing efforts at IBM. Quantum computing is an entirely different information science than what is considered classical computing. Quantum scales exponentially, whereas classical scales linearly. Data with structure, especially machine learning, and simulating quantum mechanics can't be done on a classical computer. Because of advances in technology, energy efficiency has dramatically increased over the last 70 years but still isn't linear. With quantum computing, every time a cubit is added to a system, the space that can be explored is doubled. This means that computing power is immensely more significant and more efficient. As Scott put it, it's “sci-fi come to life.” Areas of focus To win in the quantum space, several things need to be done. The technology needs developing, as there is a ton of innovation required. Quantum computing needs to be simplified, which is one of IBM's goals. They also want to make the technology available to as many people as possible. IBM believes they will be the first to market quantum computers as doing more than classical computers.  IBM and Collaboration IBM has one of the largest userbases of people exploring quantum computing. There are over twenty quantum computers available on the cloud today, with systems worldwide. They have a more open-access platform for exploration. They also have a platform with higher quality and capacity systems they provide to their partners for more profound research. They collaborate with over 175 industry, academic, and research institutions to identify ways to leverage the technology. IBM has adopted the attitude of “not doing everything on their own.” Scott says if they understand the problem better, they will create better technologies. About our Guest: Scott Crowder  Scott crowder is the Vice president of IBM Quantum and the CTO of IBM Systems, Technical Strategy & Transformation. Scott has his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. To know more about Scott Crowder and quantum computing, listen to this week's show: Scott Crowder of IBM on Quantum Computing and Its Impact. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast Innovation doesn't happen by accident. It takes planning, action, and the right tools to achieve game-changing innovations.

Alan Proithis of Capstone Partners joins us to discuss private 5G networks and the importance of innovation collaboration. 5G Innovation Allen and I have worked together at different companies since the mid-90s. He is currently focused on private 5G networks. There is an unprecedented amount of investment and interest in the mobile space. People want to apply 5G to some crazy areas. The consumer market around it has created some misconceptions about the technology. Allen believes consumers won't benefit from it in the short term. Enterprises, on the other hand, can potentially benefit significantly from it. Even with the need for public networks, 5G brings in a new dynamic. You can tune virtual slices of a private network to do exactly what you want, where you want, all on-demand. This process can all be done securely, which is appealing to many. Innovation collaboration Allen's firm, Capstone Partners, was part of a team that delivered the first private 5G network for the Department of Defense. Cisco, Federated Wireless, JMA Wireless, the Marine Corps customers, and various smaller partners played a vital role in the project. There was a high level of collaboration, and this project wouldn't have worked without it. Collaborating with the right set of partners is key to reaching end goals. Innovation without collaboration is doomed for failure. Defining the Problem Within the practice of collaboration lies the critical task of defining the problem. Understanding the problem is a lot harder than most people think. Allen says understanding the problem requires getting your hands dirty. If you don't take the time to do this, you'll never understand the customer's problem deeply enough. As a result, you will not adequately solve their problem. No matter what the innovation is, it is vital to define the problem you are trying deeply About our Guest: Allen Proithis Allen Proithis is the CEO of Capstone Partners, a strategic advisory firm for clients in the mobile, IoT, software, and technology industries. Before Capstone, Allen was the President of Sigfox, North America. He created a high-performance team that built an Internet of Things business with top enterprise companies and verticals while providing wireless coverage for over 70M people in the US. Before Sigfox, he created a $155M IoT joint venture (Convida Wireless) with Sony, InterDigital, and Stephens Capital and served as Chairman. In 2014, Allen raised $15M to launch an Internet of Things spinout focused on accelerating value produced by the data generated by IoT. At InterDigital, Allen oversaw all market development activities, including commercializing IoT, Wi-Fi, shared spectrum, and video content management solutions. Allen was on and recognized by: CNBC, Fortune, Forbes, Wall Street Journal, Fierce Wireless, MWC, and CES. To know more about Alan Proithis on Innovation Collaboration, listen to this week's show: Alan Proithis of Capstone Partners on Innovation Collaboration. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast Innovation doesn't happen by accident. It takes planning, action, and the right tools to achieve game-changing innovations. Need help? Check out the aids/help over at innovation.tools.

Peter Lierni of Solutioneering joins us on the second episode of Season 18. The Solution Engineering Tool (SET) is a framework that takes an engineering-based approach to win competitive deals. The Solution Engineering Tool As a Navy officer, Peter lived on a ship, which he described as a system of systems. After leaving the Navy, he started consulting in the Pentagon, assessing complex weapons systems. Peter connected building a complex system and doing business development and capture and proposal planning. Peter began using different mental models he developed from his experiences to win deals. He was eventually encouraged to develop this into a framework, and the Solution Engineering Tool (SET) was born. SET is a tool of tools, holding sixty-one tools that companies of all sizes can use and for deals of all sizes and timeframes. The Importance of Critical Thinking Innovators often fail to think enough about their innovation's value critically. This critical thinking failure is where SET comes into play. SET starts with an issue and key factor analysis. The goal is to understand the problem, why it's a problem, and identify the critical problems and why they are problems. After that, it's a matter of showing the value your innovation offers. The Engineering Behind the Framework When SET is used, it stores a data lake of competitive intelligence. SET provides a digital and visual blueprint that federates all the thinking behind how you got to a win. Many companies can't repeat successes because they didn't document the process behind them. SET collects strategies behind wins to be built upon and repeated in the future. SET's root cause analysis helps identify areas of success and areas that need improvement. In the case of a loss, the compiled data can see where things went wrong. Peter says no matter what innovation tool you use, it's not the tool that makes you successful. It is how you use it. SET is meant to facilitate collaborative analysis to help you make decisions on strategies you apply, potential teams to partner with, who you should hire, and give reasons as to why your company should win a deal. To know more about Peter Lierni and the Solution Engineering Tool (SET) framework, listen to this week's show: Peter Lierni of Solutioneering on Innovating Frameworks for Critical Thinking. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast Innovation doesn't happen by accident. It takes planning, action, and the right tools to achieve game-changing innovations. Need help? Check out the aids/help over at innovation.tools.

Welcome to season 18 of the Killer Innovations podcast! We are thrilled to kick off the 18th year of Killer Innovations. This episode is dedicated to answering your questions about the podcast. Ask Me Anything: Killer Innovations Q&A What was the original impetus for the podcast? My mentor Bob Davis, who I attribute much of my success to, inspired me to pay it forward What was your inspiration for the format and structure of the podcast? I used to listen to a motivational speaker, Earl Nightingale's Insight Audio Magazine cassette tapes. How did you produce the first podcast? I recorded it in a Marriott bathroom, using a $5 microphone attached to my laptop. How did the podcast get traction? Adam Curry, an MTV VJ who had a podcast called Daily Source Code, promoted my show. What would be some surprising “podcast history” that others would find interesting? Odeo was a podcast directory that promoted my podcast on their show. Not too long after, the Apple podcast came out, killing Odeo. Odeo pivoted and eventually became Twitter. What was the original audience for the podcast? – The original audience consisted of mostly tech people. Has the target audience for the podcast changed over time? Yes, most early listeners were podcasters. Now people from all sorts of backgrounds are listening. What makes your show different from other podcasts? Longevity (averaged 40-45 episodes a year for seventeen years) and staying consistent with the content. How have you produced the show over such a long period? This show is my creative outlet. What are some of your favorite episodes? Geoffrey Moore or Peter Guber. What has been the biggest challenge with the podcast? Dealing with personal issues that impact getting a show out and maintaining consistency What is your advice to today's podcasters? Don't chase the numbers. Focus on your content, be consistent, and collaborate with other podcasters who you like. How can someone who listens to the podcast benefit from it? The podcast is encouraging and holds timeless content with a long/deep archive of episodes – take advantage of it. What would you say is your most significant achievement with the podcast? Inspiring others to podcast, inspiring creatives to create, and inspiring innovators to invent Is there something you experienced that was unexpected about your podcast? Fans were becoming friends – Woody, Seth (designer), and many others. What was the most incredible experience with fans of the podcast? The listeners of the show threw me a party in London. To know more about the Killer Innovations Show, listen to this week's show: Ask Me Anything Q&A. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast Innovation doesn't happen by accident. It takes planning, action, and the right tools to achieve game-changing innovations. Need help? Check out the aids/help over at innovation.tools.

COVID-19 greatly impacted technology efforts and continues to do so rapidly. Tim Bajarin joins us from Silicon Valley to discuss work from home shifts and the newest innovations from Apple. Tim Bajarin On WFH Shifts Over the last eighteen months, businesses have realized that bringing everybody back to the office isn’t realistic. People are comfortable with the flexibility that working from home provides. Creative Strategies did several studies on this topic and discovered that people establish sophisticated work from home set-ups. Because people want consistency with their office and work from home, IT directors face new challenges. Even when in-office, people are still connecting with clients and colleagues virtually. Because people now want studios in their homes for work, homeschooling kids, etc., the housing demand has skyrocketed. Architects are currently designing new custom homes that include studios. We are moving towards the hybrid environment being the norm. Large and small companies have been investing in sprucing up their offices for their employees to match their WFH settings. Shifts in Technology COVID has opened room for more innovative technologies. People want better cameras, pushing laptop makers and other tech companies to make heavy improvements. Intel competitors have evolved, such as AMD and Qualcomm. Apple’s introduction of the M1 Chip has immensely shaken things up in the valley. The demand for Macs has increased immensely as well. Apple is innovating on so many fronts and has the patience to stay in it for the long run. Regulatory Pressures Government regulation has become more prevalent, specifically with the European Union, as it attempts to harness the growth of companies like Apple and Facebook. Tim says that Washington D.C does not understand technology, which has caused some issues. While they talk significantly about clamping down on things, the reality is that great economic challenges will arise if governing bodies step in. About our Guest: Tim Bajarin Tim Bajarin is one of the most recognized and sought-after global technology analysts, futurists, and consultants. His fifty years in Silicon Valley have made him a voice that moves the market. “With his writing and analysis being at the forefront of the digital revolution, Tim was one of the first to cover the personal computer industry and is considered one of the leading experts in the field of technology adoption life cycles. He is president of a technology-focused company, Creative Strategies, and a regular podcaster on Tech.Pinions (also broadcasted on The Innovators Network). He is a futurist and credited with predicting the desktop publishing revolution three years before it reached the market and multimedia. Been with Creative Strategies since 1981, Tim has served as a consultant to most of the leading hardware and software vendors in the industry (IBM, Apple, Microsoft, Nvidia, AMD, HP, Xerox, Compaq, Dell, AT&T, Microsoft, Polaroid, Lotus, Epson, Qualcomm, Toshiba, and numerous others). Tim Bajarin is on the technology advisory boards of IBM, Compaq, and Dell. (from Wikipedia)” To know more about Tim Bajarin, Work from Home (WFH), Apple, and Silicon Valley, listen to this week's show: Tim Bajarin of Creative Strategies on Work from Home (WFH), Apple and Silicon Valley RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast

It's no mystery that COVID-19 disrupted the technology industry. Bob O'Donnell joins us to discuss the innovation impacts of broadband and 5G. Innovation Impacts of Remote Work COVID-19 dramatically changed how we communicate, increasing the need for fast, consistent broadband. The broadband industry globally builds around two and a half years of capacity ahead of time. High internet usage spikes from COVID resulted in broadband capacity exhaustion 14 days after March 1, 2020. The spikes were due to people working from home and kids being home from school. Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft, etc., all came together to improve the problems. A strong work-from-home environment is the byproduct of the shift from in-person to remote. To build out their mobile workstations, people invest in high-quality PCs, monitors, cameras, platforms, etc. Bob believes there will continue to be an “explosion of installs” of different video calling platforms. The Accelerated Pace of Technology Innovation Competition in the tech world has seen accelerated growth since COVID-19 started. There are four or five video conferencing platforms most people are currently using. Zoom, for instance, released 320 new features last year. When it comes to microchips, things have never been more competitive. Intel and AMD are working with global governments on semiconductor and supply chain issues. Technological innovations are continuously rolling out. 5G Innovation Growth When it comes to 5G innovation, most of the world started out using mid-band frequencies. The U.S started with low and high-band frequencies. Mid-band turned out to be the fastest, leaving U.S 5G efforts off to a slow start. Like Y2K, everybody knew 5G was coming but did not plan for it properly. However, things are now starting to pick up. The world's leading proponents on 5G private networks, Vodafone Germany recently unveiled a private network at Porsche's main factory. Everything at the factory runs on a 5G network, which does real-time tuning on the car while it's on a test track. Bob is currently working on a study of private 5G and how companies are implementing it. Everybody is talking about private 5G and its potential impacts from chip manufacturers to software, devices, and networks. About our Guest: Bob O'Donnell Bob O'Donnell is the President, Founder, and Chief Analyst of TECHnalysis Research. The firm's research and O'Donnell's opinions are also regularly used by major media outlets, including Bloomberg TV, CNBC, CNN, Investor's Business Daily, the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, and more. O'Donnell writes regular columns for USAToday and Forbes and a weekly blog for Tech.pinions.com published on TechSpot, SeekingAlpha, and LinkedIn. Before founding TECHnalysis Research, Bob served as Program Vice President, Clients, and Displays for industry research firm IDC. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame. To know more about Bob O'Donnell and innovation impacts, listen to this week's show: Bob O'Donnell of TECHnalysis Research — What Innovation Will Impact You? RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast

Many businesses find their innovations fail, often at great expense and strenuous effort. These innovation failures surprise and frustrate them. They are then left wondering as to what caused their innovations to fail. Innovation Preparedness Many causes result in innovation efforts failing. While many causes of innovation failure are within your control, some are not. Understanding the most common causes of innovation failure is essential to prepare yourself better to address them. When you are prepared to face the inevitable, you increase your chances of success. 10 Most Common Causes for Innovations to Fail Lack of Problem Identification:Often, innovators are so excited about their new idea that they don't take the time to identify the problem they're trying to solve. This leads to a lot of wasted time and resources. Lack of Ideation or Inability to Generate Good Ideas: Lack of ideationis a reason for many failed processes, and the inability to develop good ideas is close behind. Poor Execution of the Idea:If you can't successfully execute an idea, it will go nowhere. Lack of Funding or Support: Many promising innovations get canceled due to lack of funding. Dollars, time, and people are all critical parts of successful innovations. Lack of a Clear Roadmap/Plan: Without a rational plan, it's nearly impossible to remain focused and motivated when those inevitable roadblocks arise. Implementation Challenges:Implementation challenges can include anything from tech issues to employee pushback. Cultural Barriers: Cultural barriers, whether on an individual, team or organizational level, can prevent the successful implementation of new ideas. Naysayers (innovation antibodies): Every organization has people who refuse to accept change or even consider it. Poor Timing: Several factors can lead to poor timing, such as market or technology changes, shifts in customer needs or preferences, and changes in the current political climate. Customer Disinterest: No matter how great your innovation is, they won't buy it if customers aren't interested. To know more about the causes of innovation fails, listen to this week's show: Why Innovation Fails – The Top 10 Causes. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast

Innovation tools allow us to do things we naturally can’t, which unleashes our creative potential. It can be hard to pinpoint the right one for your organization with thousands of options out there. Let’s explore several innovation tool categories that will help improve performance. 9 Types of Innovation Tools Idea sketching tools: Idea sketching tools can be extremely helpful in speeding up the innovation process. They act as time savers, and all you to better communicate your ideas visually. Idea Generation tools: Tools like mind maps, freewriting, or ideation exercises speed up the ideation process, allowing you to generate more ideas. These tools are powerful because they can be used individually or in groups in a way that is free of distractions and deadlines. Creativity tool: Creativity tools improve innovation speed and fall into three main categories. The ideation category includes brainstorming sessions, and the collaboration category includes techniques like facilitated team exercises. The evaluation category contains methods like ranking ideas and project priorities that lead to the best solution. Prototyping tools: Prototyping tools offer a quick and easy way to create a mock-up of ideas, get feedback, and then improve ideas. Prototyping tools can also help save time and money by avoiding future mistakes. Visualization tools: Visualization tools accelerate innovation success by giving access to different perspectives and starting points for creativity. Flow charts or process maps are tools that create more efficiency and effectiveness by indicating the path from start to finish. Market research tools: These tools help innovators identify customer needs, problems, and potential solutions. The top tools provide quantitative data about the general population and specific demographics that aid in product development. They simplify the process of determining idea popularity, best launch time, and areas of improvement. Trend analysis tools: These tools help identify social media, news, and consumer trends. Trend analyses give users opportunities to jump on new ideas before their competition. Technology scouting tools: These tools help you quickly identify and assess new useful technologies. They can also help you ensure you are aware of technologies that might benefit your organization. Properly utilizing these tools allows companies to compete in their market more effectively. Business model generation tools: These tools help you explore and analyze a wide range of business models for your product or service. Business model generation enables you to select the best model for your innovation project. Popular tools include the Business Model Canvas, the Value Proposition Canvas, and The Lean Startup Methodology.   To know more about these innovation tools, listen to this week's show: 9 Types of Innovation Tools. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast

Creativity is one of the most important skills you can have. It unlocks the door to game-changing ideas. Although some people have it naturally, some exercises help in improving creativity. 10 Exercises That Will Improve Your Creativity 1.     Take a walk outside: Breaking free of your work, moving around, and observing your surroundings can give you mental clarity and boost creativity.  2.     Write a list of things that annoy you: You can identify new patterns by identifying these things. This exercise can lead to new ideas previously unseen.  3.     Play with the lyrics to your favorite song: Playing with the lyrics of your favorite song opens your mind to new possibilities and breaks you out of your comfort zone.  4.     Create a video montage of your day: This can be a fun way to document your life and see how your creativity manifests itself. Trying different techniques and making edits will improve your creativity skills. 5.     Write about what scares you and why it scares you: Some creatives sharpen creativity muscles by writing about what scares them and why (or writing about what doesn't scare them). Exploring scary things can open new avenues that would otherwise be closed.    6.     Play games that require creativity: Many creatives play games such as chess or scrabble. These games sharpen the mind and improve problem-solving.  7.     Do something that makes you laugh: If you're struggling with a creativity block, you can watch funny videos or do other things that release endorphins. 8.     Draw something you see every day but don't pay attention to: When we see the same things repeatedly, they become mundane. If we examined the objects and scenes that make up our everyday lives, we'd be surprised at how much creativity hides in plain sight. 9.     Exercise your brain with a puzzle: Puzzles exercise the creative side of your brain by forcing you to come up with new ideas and solutions. Doing this can help you break out of a rut. 10.  Make crafts out of old things lying around the house: Crafts helps you tap into your creativity and improves your ideation.   To know more about these creativity exercises, listen to this week's show: 10 Exercises That Will Improve Your Creativity. RELATED:   Subscribe To The Newsletter and Killer Innovations Podcast