Preconference Workshop – Disney’s Approach to Inspiring Creativity

21 May 2011, Saturday, Disney Institute

The workshop started with getting the participants to draw Mickey Mouse.  This resulted in Mickey in all shapes and forms and colours.  Then, the facilitators taught us how to draw Mickey Mouse in a structured format so that Mickey Mouse will always look the same albeit in different clothes, designs, shapes, etc – a hint on the theme of the workshop– how to inspire creativity within some form of structure ….

At Disney, Creativity is defined as the collective expression, analysis and implementation of new ideas within an organization.

“There is no science to creativity.  It’s about taking intelligent risks, tolerating mistakes, respecting boundaries, and most important, having the right people in place to make the right choices.” 

               Bob Iger, President & CEO, The Walt Disney Company

FOUR ELEMENTS OF THE DISNEY CREATIVITY MODEL

Collaborative Culture Build genuine relationships Ensure ideas can be expressed honestly and without fear Produce the most and the best ideas using available resources	Organizational Identity Have a common understanding of who you are, what you create, and for whom you create it Know parameters within which your organization can create Make the organizational identity clear Focus creative energy to conserve resources
Structural Systems Ensure effective decision making Move forward economically Lead to measurable results	Leader’s Role Inspire culture Commit to organizational identity Be responsible for holding components together

Key takeaways from the workshop:

1.      The 2 facilitators worked well together, each taking turn to illustrate the 4 elements with the aid of video clips and games.   Both were able move in and out of their part seamlessly which suggested they probably practiced their “show” many times to achieve this chemistry.

2.      I find the concept of thinking inside the box interesting.  In Disney, ‘the box’ refers to the organizational identity.  Once the organizational identity is established, it provides guidance and direction and ensures creativity is aligned with existing identity to avoid wasting resources.   Hence, Disney also recognizes the concept of “an idea whose time has not yet come”, and thus being willing to take a fresh look at concepts that may initially failed.

Wai Cheng