The Interview with Phil

In the December issue of Computer Power User Magazine (CPU) I conducted an interview with Phil McKinney, my boss at HP. In CPU tradition they also had the columnists fill out their Christmas Wishlists.

The following is my wishlist for 2007.

1. Access to HP’s $3.5B+ R&D Lab. (Thanks, Santa!)
2. To see the U.S. Dollar get back to normal levels.
3. Nintendo Wii.
4. A new WQXGA+ home theater system.
5. A ticket to Gumball with a Ferrari F430 Spyder.
6. To wake up one day and speak five additional languages.
7. Courtside tickets to a Mavericks game.
8. To see Frank Shamrock return to the UFC and kick some ***.
9. For the Calgary Flames to win the Stanley Cup.
10. To have all spammers transported to a deserted island with nothing but Viagra to consume.

Keep in mind that this interview was written shortly after the acquisition...and for those of you interested, here is the rest of the article and interview;

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As you may already know, in late September HP reached an agreement to acquire VoodooPC. There has been a ton of speculation behind the motives of this acquisition, so rather than regurgitating what people have already written, I prepared a fairly verbose story about the history and the reasoning behind the transaction on my blog; I would encourage anyone interested to check it out.

For this month’s column, I thought it would be fun to interview Phil McKinney, my new boss and the CTO of HP’s PSG (Personal Systems Group). One of three business units within HP, the PSG consists of roughly one-third of HP’s overall $90 billion business.

RS: So Phil, we’re here now. Everyone keeps asking us, “Why HP?” Besides the fact that we can leverage HP Labs, there are many reasons and I’ve covered most of them in the blog. I’m here to ask you: Why Voodoo?

PM: Following HP’s gaming machine trail in 2004, we recognized that we needed to go about this market differently than just the normal box play. The market and customers demand a level of performance, support, and trust that would stretch any organization. When you look at the players that are out there that can bring influence, innovation, and brand, there was only one choice.

The other influence on the acquisition was the market desire for the latest technologies. With HP’s R&D, the acquisition gives HP a means to deliver breakthrough innovation in the high-performance market served by Voodoo. The technologies that are delivered in this high-end market then will eventually find themselves in our mainstream products.

RS: What kind of changes have you noticed at HP since you joined?

PM: I joined HP about four years ago. Since that time, I’ve seen HP become more responsive to market needs and the drive to create innovations that matter. Innovation for its own sake is what I call a hobby. Innovations that result in allowing a customer to benefit are the ones that matter.

RS: Do you think the Voodoo brand will get the life sucked out of it?

PM: No. HP is looking for the Voodoo DNA to influence HP and its products.

RS: What is your favorite movie?

PM: The old, original Pixar shorts (pre-Steve Jobs). I’m a nut for computer animation.

RS: I was caught off-guard when I visited your Web site (www.philmckinney.com) and listened to some of your podcasts. Those are pretty awesome man, why didn’t you tell me about them before?

PM: When I was first starting out in my career, I was fortunate to have a mentor (Bob Davis) who helped me get started and constantly challenged me to not get brainwashed by corporate think. As part of his mentoring, the only requirement he made was that I “pay it forward” when I was ready. Rather than just do the 1:1 type mentoring (which I do), I started experimenting using the podcast (back in March 2005) as way to share my “lessons learned” about creativity, innovation, and creating successful products.

The results have been overwhelming. I get regular emails from listeners sharing how they’ve applied the ideas in the podcast along with regular meet-ups with listeners when I travel.

From the start, the podcast and blog were my way of “paying it forward”; they are not affiliated or supported by my day-to-day job. I’ve purposely kept it a personal project and therefore I don’t make a big deal about promoting it.

RS: What do you think Bill and Dave would say if they were around today?

PM: They would be going nuts. From people who I’ve talked to who worked with Bill and Dave, they liked mavericks. Those individuals who pushed the organization, who didn’t accept the easy answer but instead dug into the problem and opportunity until they solved it. It also doesn’t hurt that Voodoo, like HP, started in a garage.

I have a favorite quote from David Packard: “Don’t be afraid to take risks. If you’re not taking risks, you’re not reaching far enough.”

As per my typical CPU plug, if you aren't a subscriber and you like to follow industry trends - this is the magazine for you.