Think back to your birthday morning as a child… That rush of anticipation as you leap out of bed and run towards the living room, your brain cycling through all the possibilities of what your Mom and Dad may have brought you. And as you turn the corner and catch your first glimpse of the presents in all their glory, what’s the first thing you do? You take inventory: how big are the boxes and which ones should I open first? As far as children are [...]
I'll never forget the first time we met. (Like any good Disney story, there always must be a great "Once upon a time" intro, right?) He was a young Senator at the time, and I was lucky enough to give him his first pair of custom Mickey Mouse ears. Little did I know that this interaction would be the first of many wonderful stunts that we would collaborate on. And now, again we are about to add another event to our list! President Barack Obama [...]
Let’s be honest. Diversity quotas are the single most frustrating thing about workplaces today. The reasoning for having a quota is well-intentioned, but, ironically, it’s the quota itself that is getting in the way of diversity, every single day. Because of this, companies are wasting the talent they have hired and don’t even know it, because it’s never crossed their minds to do more than simply hire a candidate and check off the “diversity” box. Hear me out. The problem is that companies hire diverse [...]
Imagine yourself backstage at a theatre. The Production Assistant has just finished clipping on your microphone, and the Stage Manager has given you the one-minute warning. Beyond the curtain, you hear the muffled sounds of the audience taking their seats. Pacing back and forth, you review your opening line over and over in your head. But this rehearsal doesn’t last long. Before you know it, the house lights dim, the stage lights go bright, and you’re given the cue. You walk out, face the crowd, [...]
Need some inspirational creativity and innovation quotes to ignite your 2020? Creativity and innovation have been at the heart of my career for as long as I can remember. From the Head of Creativity and Innovation at Disney to now being an innovation speaker, new ideas are integral to long term success of any organization. Creativity & Innovation Quotes To Spark Innovation "No Fresh Stimulus In. No new Ideas out." - Duncan Wardle "Innovation often comes from looking outside your own industry." - Duncan Wardle [...]
If you’ve spent any time at all reading my blog, you certainly understand the importance of creativity, and some of the ways you can foster it in the workplace. But something I haven’t discussed much is the context of creativity. More specifically: do your employees’ creative ideas make sense given your industry and your position in the marketplace? To explain how contextualized creativity works, let’s look at the board game industry. The Advantages of Understanding Your Context When you think of the most popular board [...]
If I were to approach you with two different seeds and ask you to show me which one is a weed and which one is a flower, how would you know which is which? Do you think you’d be able to tell simply by looking closely at each seed? Of course not! The only way to tell is by planting both seeds and allowing them to grow. Initially, both will break the surface with a tiny sprig of green, and likely look very much the [...]
As an ideation speaker, I talk a lot about creativity and idea generation, as these are some of the most important skills I learned during my time as Head of Creativity and Innovation at The Walt Disney Company. More specifically, I focus most of my efforts on showing people how to make their business creative and idea driven. What I don’t speak about as much is why your business needs to be creative. Quite honestly, I don’t broach this topic frequently because it feels so [...]
Anyone that’s seen me speak or has read my blogs knows that there is a universal truth when it comes to creativity: we are all born creative. Though many may want to tell themselves that they’re not a creative person, or that creativity is best left to the “Creative Departments”, the truth of the matter is that we all have creativity inside of us. The problem is not lack of creativity. The problem is the lack of time to access our creative minds. Have [...]
Simple Tips to Improve Creativity! Think back to when you were young. What was your favourite day of the year? Most of you are probably imagining your birthday, right? That special day once a year where you got extra attention, plenty of cake and ice cream, and of course, every kid’s favourite: presents! What child doesn’t love presents? But as you may recall, there’s something funny about kids and gifts. No matter if it’s a brand-new bike or the latest, greatest toy, most of us [...]
