CHM Soundbytes
Beyond the Obvious: Killer Questions that Spark Game-Changing Innovation. Author Phil McKinney in conversation with CHM's John C. Hollar
Upcoming Events
Feb 16,
2012
Speaker Series
Join innovation expert Phil McKinney for a conversation with the Computer History Museum’s John Hollar about killer questions and some of the ways we can all learn to harness the power of innovation.
"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 A. Moore,Author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity
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 discusses 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?
Join innovation expert Phil McKinney for a conversation with the Computer History Museum's John Hollar about killer questions and some of the ways we can all learn to harness the power of innovation.
Our partner Kepler’s Books will be on-site selling copies of Beyond the Obvious before and after the event.
--Geoffrey A. Moore,Author of Crossing the Chasm and Escape Velocity
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 discusses 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?
Join innovation expert Phil McKinney for a conversation with the Computer History Museum's John Hollar about killer questions and some of the ways we can all learn to harness the power of innovation.
Our partner Kepler’s Books will be on-site selling copies of Beyond the Obvious before and after the event.
Date
Thursday February 16, 2012
12:00 PM
Program Begins
Author book signing at program's end
Registration
Location
Feb 24,
2012
Speaker Series
CHM Soundbytes
Woven on the Loom of Sorrow:
The Co-Evolution of Computing and Conflict, presented by Grady Booch
The Co-Evolution of Computing and Conflict, presented by Grady Booch
Did you use the Internet today? Did you find your way using GPS? Have you used a credit card, or made a call on your mobile phone, or flown on an airplane? The very fabric of our lives, – from semiconductors to Silly Putty™, from work to play - has in many ways been shaped by war and woven on the loom of sorrow
The human needs for survival, protection, and dominance are powerful forces that have driven civilization for millenia. What does it say about us that we expend all this energy, concentration, money and emotion on fighting rather than talking?
The human needs for survival, protection, and dominance are powerful forces that have driven civilization for millenia. What does it say about us that we expend all this energy, concentration, money and emotion on fighting rather than talking?
A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.
Joshua from War Games
Did you use the Internet today? Did you find your way using GPS? Have you used a credit card, or made a call on your mobile phone, or flown on an airplane? The very fabric of our lives, – from semiconductors to Silly Putty™, from work to play - has in many ways been shaped by war and woven on the loom of sorrow
The human needs for survival, protection, and dominance are powerful forces that have driven civilization for millenia. What does it say about us that we expend all this energy, concentration, money and emotion on fighting rather than talking?
There is something fascinating – and telling – about the intersection of humanity and computing when it comes to fighting for survival. And, if we follow the consequences at the confluence of computing and conflict, what does it mean to have a war where no humans are present?
Computing: The Human Experience explores these startling stories at the intersection of computing and humanity, stories that are driven by human needs. From the abacus to the iPad, from Gutenberg to Google, from Enigma to GPS, we have created computers to count the uncountable, remember beyond our own experiences, and see the invisible as well as the unforeseeable. In just one or two generations – an imperceptible time in the timeless sweep of the universe – we have created a technology that has the power to extend us, to transform us, to define us, perhaps even to destroy us.
This is the world of computing, a world upon which we have come to depend. It is as if we have created a universe, then as its creators, made the choice to step inside and live within it. As such we are both its masters as well as its servants.
This event is the first in a series of lectures for Computing: The Human Experience, a transmedia project directed to the general public that explores the co-evolution of computing and humanity. Presented by IBM Fellow Grady Booch, Computing teaches the essential science of computing, presents the stories of the people, events, and inventions in the history of computing, examines the connection among computing, science, and society, and contemplates the future. Computing has played a fundamental role in the advancement of the human spirit, encompassing war, commerce, the arts, science, society, and faith and so this series takes us on a journey that examines the complex dance between computing and the human experience.
In this lecture, Grady explores the tangled web that connects both computing and conflict. How would computing have evolved without war as a clear and present force upon it? How will nations adjust to the ways in which computing has radically altered the very nature of warfare?
“Woven on the Loom of Sorrow” investigates this rich yet tragic connection between computing and conflict and considers the implications in the future of war.
Joshua from War Games
Did you use the Internet today? Did you find your way using GPS? Have you used a credit card, or made a call on your mobile phone, or flown on an airplane? The very fabric of our lives, – from semiconductors to Silly Putty™, from work to play - has in many ways been shaped by war and woven on the loom of sorrow
The human needs for survival, protection, and dominance are powerful forces that have driven civilization for millenia. What does it say about us that we expend all this energy, concentration, money and emotion on fighting rather than talking?
There is something fascinating – and telling – about the intersection of humanity and computing when it comes to fighting for survival. And, if we follow the consequences at the confluence of computing and conflict, what does it mean to have a war where no humans are present?
Computing: The Human Experience explores these startling stories at the intersection of computing and humanity, stories that are driven by human needs. From the abacus to the iPad, from Gutenberg to Google, from Enigma to GPS, we have created computers to count the uncountable, remember beyond our own experiences, and see the invisible as well as the unforeseeable. In just one or two generations – an imperceptible time in the timeless sweep of the universe – we have created a technology that has the power to extend us, to transform us, to define us, perhaps even to destroy us.
This is the world of computing, a world upon which we have come to depend. It is as if we have created a universe, then as its creators, made the choice to step inside and live within it. As such we are both its masters as well as its servants.
This event is the first in a series of lectures for Computing: The Human Experience, a transmedia project directed to the general public that explores the co-evolution of computing and humanity. Presented by IBM Fellow Grady Booch, Computing teaches the essential science of computing, presents the stories of the people, events, and inventions in the history of computing, examines the connection among computing, science, and society, and contemplates the future. Computing has played a fundamental role in the advancement of the human spirit, encompassing war, commerce, the arts, science, society, and faith and so this series takes us on a journey that examines the complex dance between computing and the human experience.
In this lecture, Grady explores the tangled web that connects both computing and conflict. How would computing have evolved without war as a clear and present force upon it? How will nations adjust to the ways in which computing has radically altered the very nature of warfare?
“Woven on the Loom of Sorrow” investigates this rich yet tragic connection between computing and conflict and considers the implications in the future of war.
Date
Friday February 24, 2012
Free to Attend
Bring your lunch and enjoy a lecture with CHM friends and family. Box lunches will be available for purchase in the Museum Café prior to the lecture.
The Museum will provide beverages and snacks.
Bring your lunch and enjoy a lecture with CHM friends and family. Box lunches will be available for purchase in the Museum Café prior to the lecture.
The Museum will provide beverages and snacks.
12:00 PM
Program Discussion Begins
Registration
Location
Mar 7,
2012
Speaker Series
CHM Presents: Revolutionaries
Turing's Cathedral. Author George Dyson in Conversation with John Hollar
Legendary historian George Dyson vividly re-creates the scenes of focused experimentation, incredible mathematical insight, and pure creative genius that gave us computers, digital television, modern genetics, models of stellar evolution—in other words, computer code.
Join John Hollar for a captivating conversation with Dyson about John von Neumann and the beginnings of the digital universe.
Join John Hollar for a captivating conversation with Dyson about John von Neumann and the beginnings of the digital universe.
I am thinking about something much more important than bombs. I am thinking about computers.
John von Neumann, 1946
The most powerful technology of the last century was not the atomic bomb, but software—and both were invented by the same folks. Even as they were inventing it, the original geniuses imagined almost everything software has become since. At long last, George Dyson delivers the untold story of software’s creation. It is an amazing tale brilliantly deciphered.
Kevin Kelly,
cofounder of WIRED magazine, author of What Technology Wants
Legendary historian George Dyson vividly re-creates the scenes of focused experimentation, incredible mathematical insight, and pure creative genius that gave us computers, digital television, modern genetics, models of stellar evolution—in other words, computer code.
In the 1940s and '50s, a group of eccentric geniuses—led by John von Neumann—gathered at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Their joint project was the realization of the theoretical universal machine, an idea that had been put forth by mathematician Alan Turing. This group of brilliant engineers worked in isolation, almost entirely independent from industry and the traditional academic community. But because they relied exclusively on government funding, the government wanted its share of the results: the computer that they built also led directly to the hydrogen bomb. George Dyson has uncovered a wealth of new material about this project, and in bringing the story of these men and women and their ideas to life, he shows how the crucial advancements that dominated twentieth-century technology emerged from one computer in one laboratory, where the digital universe as we know it was born.
Join John Hollar for a captivating conversation with Dyson about John von Neumann and the beginnings of the digital universe.
We are pleased to partner with Kepler's on this event - they
will be selling copies of Turing's Cathedral before and after the event.
KQED Radio will be on-site to tape this event for broadcast March 8 at 8pm.
Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.
Everyone uses computers. Few know the story of how they came to be. Revolution chronicles the evolution and impact of modern computing from the abacus to the smart phone. This 25,000 sq. ft multimedia experience is a technological wonderland that immerses visitors in the sights, sounds, and stories of the computer revolution. Be sure to visit the Birth of the Computer gallery, where you can learn more about early computers and the people involved in creating them.
Visit Revolution online
John von Neumann, 1946
The most powerful technology of the last century was not the atomic bomb, but software—and both were invented by the same folks. Even as they were inventing it, the original geniuses imagined almost everything software has become since. At long last, George Dyson delivers the untold story of software’s creation. It is an amazing tale brilliantly deciphered.
Kevin Kelly,
cofounder of WIRED magazine, author of What Technology Wants
Legendary historian George Dyson vividly re-creates the scenes of focused experimentation, incredible mathematical insight, and pure creative genius that gave us computers, digital television, modern genetics, models of stellar evolution—in other words, computer code.
In the 1940s and '50s, a group of eccentric geniuses—led by John von Neumann—gathered at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Their joint project was the realization of the theoretical universal machine, an idea that had been put forth by mathematician Alan Turing. This group of brilliant engineers worked in isolation, almost entirely independent from industry and the traditional academic community. But because they relied exclusively on government funding, the government wanted its share of the results: the computer that they built also led directly to the hydrogen bomb. George Dyson has uncovered a wealth of new material about this project, and in bringing the story of these men and women and their ideas to life, he shows how the crucial advancements that dominated twentieth-century technology emerged from one computer in one laboratory, where the digital universe as we know it was born.
Join John Hollar for a captivating conversation with Dyson about John von Neumann and the beginnings of the digital universe.
We are pleased to partner with Kepler's on this event - they
will be selling copies of Turing's Cathedral before and after the event.
KQED Radio will be on-site to tape this event for broadcast March 8 at 8pm.
Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.
Everyone uses computers. Few know the story of how they came to be. Revolution chronicles the evolution and impact of modern computing from the abacus to the smart phone. This 25,000 sq. ft multimedia experience is a technological wonderland that immerses visitors in the sights, sounds, and stories of the computer revolution. Be sure to visit the Birth of the Computer gallery, where you can learn more about early computers and the people involved in creating them.
Visit Revolution online
Sponsors
Date
Wednesday March 7, 2012
6:00 PM
Member Reception
7:00 PM
Program
8:30 PM
Author book signing
Registration
Location
Mar 28,
2012
Speaker Series
CHM Presents: Revolutionaries
The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation. Author Jon Gertner in conversation with KQED's Dave Iverson
This event is part of our 2012 Revolutionaries series, featuring conversations with some of the most distinguished minds in the computing field. Join author Jon Gertner for a fascinating conversation with KQED's Dave Iverson about the people and history of Bell Labs, and the ways it fostered a culture of innovation and ideas.
Bell Laboratories, which thrived from the 1920s to the 1980s, was the most innovative and productive institution of the twentieth century. Long before America's brightest scientific minds began migrating west to Silicon Valley, they flocked to this sylvan campus in the New Jersey suburbs built and funded by AT&T. At its peak, Bell Labs employed nearly fifteen thousand people, twelve hundred of whom had PhDs. Thirteen would go on to win Nobel prizes. It was a citadel of science and scholarship as well as a hotbed of creative thinking. It was, in effect, a factory of ideas whose workings have remained largely hidden until now.
New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner unveils the unique magic of Bell Labs through the eyes and actions of its scientists. These ingenious, often eccentric men would become revolutionaries, and sometimes legends, whether for inventing radio astronomy in their spare time (and on the company's dime), riding unicycles through the corridors, or pioneering the principles that propel today's technology. In these pages, we learn how radar came to be, and lasers, transistors, satellites, mobile phones, and much more.
Even more important, Gertner reveals the forces that set off this explosion of creativity. Bell Labs combined the best aspects of the academic and corporate worlds, hiring the brightest and usually the youngest minds, creating a culture and even an architecture that forced employees in different fields to work together, in virtually complete intellectual freedom, with little pressure to create moneymaking innovations. In Gertner's portrait, we come to understand why both researchers and business leaders look to Bell Labs as a model and long to incorporate its magic into their own work.
Join author Jon Gertner for a fascinating conversation with KQED’s Dave Iverson about the people and history of Bell Labs, and the ways it fostered a culture of innovation and ideas.
Our partner Kepler's Books will be on-site selling copies of Idea Factory before and after this event.
This event is part of our 2012 Revolutionaries series, featuring conversations with some of the most distinguished minds in the computing field. Be sure to visit our exhibition, Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing. It is rich with images, artifacts and stories of the people and innovations of Bell Labs.
New York Times Magazine writer Jon Gertner unveils the unique magic of Bell Labs through the eyes and actions of its scientists. These ingenious, often eccentric men would become revolutionaries, and sometimes legends, whether for inventing radio astronomy in their spare time (and on the company's dime), riding unicycles through the corridors, or pioneering the principles that propel today's technology. In these pages, we learn how radar came to be, and lasers, transistors, satellites, mobile phones, and much more.
Even more important, Gertner reveals the forces that set off this explosion of creativity. Bell Labs combined the best aspects of the academic and corporate worlds, hiring the brightest and usually the youngest minds, creating a culture and even an architecture that forced employees in different fields to work together, in virtually complete intellectual freedom, with little pressure to create moneymaking innovations. In Gertner's portrait, we come to understand why both researchers and business leaders look to Bell Labs as a model and long to incorporate its magic into their own work.
Join author Jon Gertner for a fascinating conversation with KQED’s Dave Iverson about the people and history of Bell Labs, and the ways it fostered a culture of innovation and ideas.
Our partner Kepler's Books will be on-site selling copies of Idea Factory before and after this event.
This event is part of our 2012 Revolutionaries series, featuring conversations with some of the most distinguished minds in the computing field. Be sure to visit our exhibition, Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing. It is rich with images, artifacts and stories of the people and innovations of Bell Labs.
Sponsors
Date
Wednesday March 28, 2012
6:00 PM
Member Reception
7:00 PM
Program
8:30 PM
Author book signing
Registration
Location
Jun 12,
2012
Speaker Series
CHM Presents: Revolutionaries
Doing Well by Doing Good: A Conversation with Matthew Flannery and John Wood, moderated by KQED’s Dave Iverson
Join KQED's Dave Iverson for an inspiring, educational and thought-provoking conversation with two leading social entrepreneurs.
This event is part of our 2012 lecture series celebrating Revolutionaries, featuring conversations with and about some of the most distinguished thinkers in the computing field. The Revolutionaries lecture series complements the launch of the Computer History Museum's permanent exhibition, Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.
This event is part of our 2012 lecture series celebrating Revolutionaries, featuring conversations with and about some of the most distinguished thinkers in the computing field. The Revolutionaries lecture series complements the launch of the Computer History Museum's permanent exhibition, Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.
The man who dies rich, dies disgraced
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
Andrew Carnegie made a fortune in steel. His net worth was roughly $300 billion in today’s dollars. Then he gave it all away, mostly to build schools, universities, museums and libraries. When Carnegie died, his last $30 million went to charities, foundations and pensioners. Carnegie believed that philanthropy was the only reason to amass an enormous fortune.
Today, we're creating more wealth than at any time in history. Who are today's Carnegies? They're called social entrepreneurs. They combine a passion for inciting social change with the tough discipline of a global corporation. It's about creating innovative products and services to address desperate human needs – and insisting on long-term, measurable results. Can social entrepreneurship reduce illiteracy, disease, malnutrition, environmental degradation and other pressing ills?
Matt Flannery and John Wood are coming to the Computer History Museum to share their first-hand experiences in using business tactics to do good works. Matt began developing Kiva in late 2004 as a side-project while working as a computer programmer at TiVo, Inc. Former Microsoft executive John Wood founded Room to Read, which publishes and supplies books, builds libraries and schools, and provides scholarships for girls to developing countries. It's a classic bottom-up strategy based on Woods’ belief that world change starts with educated children. He told his story in a bestselling memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.
These two Revolutionaries share a background as successful technology entrepreneurs who made the transition to becoming successful social entrepreneurs. How and why did they do it? What traits and skills were transferable, which were not? Is there something endemic about the technology industry that generates so many of these 21st century philanthropists? What qualities do they think are crucial to bringing about social change? And, what advice would they give to the next generation – of both technology and social entrepreneurs?
Join KQED's Dave Iverson for an inspiring, educational and thought-provoking conversation with two leading social entrepreneurs.
This event is part of our 2012 lecture series celebrating Revolutionaries, featuring conversations with and about some of the most distinguished thinkers in the computing field. The Revolutionaries lecture series complements the launch of the Computer History Museum's permanent exhibition, Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.
Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919)
Andrew Carnegie made a fortune in steel. His net worth was roughly $300 billion in today’s dollars. Then he gave it all away, mostly to build schools, universities, museums and libraries. When Carnegie died, his last $30 million went to charities, foundations and pensioners. Carnegie believed that philanthropy was the only reason to amass an enormous fortune.
Today, we're creating more wealth than at any time in history. Who are today's Carnegies? They're called social entrepreneurs. They combine a passion for inciting social change with the tough discipline of a global corporation. It's about creating innovative products and services to address desperate human needs – and insisting on long-term, measurable results. Can social entrepreneurship reduce illiteracy, disease, malnutrition, environmental degradation and other pressing ills?
Matt Flannery and John Wood are coming to the Computer History Museum to share their first-hand experiences in using business tactics to do good works. Matt began developing Kiva in late 2004 as a side-project while working as a computer programmer at TiVo, Inc. Former Microsoft executive John Wood founded Room to Read, which publishes and supplies books, builds libraries and schools, and provides scholarships for girls to developing countries. It's a classic bottom-up strategy based on Woods’ belief that world change starts with educated children. He told his story in a bestselling memoir, Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.
These two Revolutionaries share a background as successful technology entrepreneurs who made the transition to becoming successful social entrepreneurs. How and why did they do it? What traits and skills were transferable, which were not? Is there something endemic about the technology industry that generates so many of these 21st century philanthropists? What qualities do they think are crucial to bringing about social change? And, what advice would they give to the next generation – of both technology and social entrepreneurs?
Join KQED's Dave Iverson for an inspiring, educational and thought-provoking conversation with two leading social entrepreneurs.
This event is part of our 2012 lecture series celebrating Revolutionaries, featuring conversations with and about some of the most distinguished thinkers in the computing field. The Revolutionaries lecture series complements the launch of the Computer History Museum's permanent exhibition, Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing.
Sponsors
Date
Tuesday June 12, 2012
6:00 PM
Member Reception
7:00 PM
Program
8:30 PM
Adjourn
Registration
June 12, 2012
Registration is not opened yet.
Location