Our Guest Duncan Wardle Discusses
Disney Exec Explains Why Creativity Is the Most Important Skill for the Future
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Creativity is the key to staying competitive, so why do so many organizations struggle to innovate?
Today on Digital Disruption, we’re joined by Duncan Wardle, former Head of Innovation and Creativity at Disney.
Duncan and his team helped Imagineering, Lucasfilm, Marvel, Pixar, and Disney Parks to innovate, creating magical new storylines and experiences. Now a global keynote speaker and innovation advisor, he shares his unique design thinking approach to help organizations spark creativity, unlock fresh thinking, and embed innovation into their culture. A TED speaker and contributor to Fast Company, Forbes, and Harvard Business Review, Duncan also teaches innovation master classes at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Edinburgh.
Duncan sits down with Geoff to explore how businesses can break down the barriers to innovation by tapping into their most powerful resource: human imagination. Duncan gives us a look into the magic of Disney’s approach to creativity and explains how companies can design cultures that foster curiosity, risk-taking, and collaboration. From solving complex problems with simple questions to creating space for disruptive thinking, Duncan shares practical, transformative advice for leaders ready to think boldly and challenge the current workplace roles.
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Hey everyone!
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I'm so excited to be talking to Duncan
Wardell, who's
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the former head
of creativity and innovation at Disney.
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He's worked with teams
across Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm,
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and the fortune 100
to unlock their boldest ideas.
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What's cool about Duncan
is that he's insanely passionate
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about creativity and making it
not just for fun, but actually practical.
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This is an area where there's
a lot of advice that sounds great,
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but completely falls apart
once you try to do it.
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I really want to know what
this practical advice can pass that test.
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Let's find out.
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Duncan, you're an ambassador
for creativity and innovation,
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and I'm curious to get your perspective
on, you know, the state
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of organizational creativity in 2025.
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You've talked before about,
you know, AI and the changing technology
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landscape as it pertains to creativity.
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Is creativity
getting more important or less important?
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Easy.
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More. Well. Oh, sure.
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So why?
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So he comes. AI. Right.
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So in the last four years we've had,
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we all did really well
at doing what we did until 2020.
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And then we had a global pandemic
generation Z entering the workforce
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doesn't want to work for any corporations
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because they're driven by profit,
not purpose.
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And the boomers think that generation
Z will bend to them because the boomers
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had to bend to their elders.
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But hey, guess what?
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Generation
Z can tell the planet you couldn't.
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And so.
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And until you have this mandatory
return to the office.
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Yeah, good luck with that.
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You're going to lose
all of your talented employees.
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Then we have climate change.
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Anybody who doesn't believe in it
are welcome to come and look at my back
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garden.
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That used to be one in Central
Florida is now a lake.
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And and then he comes.
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I so, I've been working with Google
on their DeepMind project,
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and I asked the chief engineer
what she believes
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would be the most employable skill
sets for the next decade.
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I said, how am I going to compete
with what you're doing?
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She said, oh, that's easy.
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I said, well, how's that?
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And she said, well,
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the most employable skill sets
for the next decade will be the things
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that will be the hardest for her
to program into artificial intelligence.
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What would those be?
The ones with which were born?
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Imagination, creativity, curiosity,
empathy and intuition.
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We were all. But.
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So when you were a small boy
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and you were given a gift for a holiday,
it came with a huge box.
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And the only thing that. Did
you have brothers or sisters?
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I have a younger brother. Yeah.
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So the only thing that mattered was who
had the biggest box underneath the tree.
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You didn't care
what was in it as long as it was yours.
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And it took you ages of time
to take the toy out of the box
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where you spend the rest of the week
playing with.
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Right. The box. Right.
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So for us, it was your castle.
Was anything you wanted it to be to.
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You went to the number one
killer of creativity and imagination.
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Western education.
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And the first thing
you were taught to do in their
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telling your first grade is to do
today's dance.
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Gets killer in between the lines.
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Children are born very curious.
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Why why why why why why?
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The insight for
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innovation, the core consumer
truth comes on the fourth or fifth. Why?
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But our data only stops at the first
or second. Why?
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Today is getting better
and getting better every day.
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But you can't feel data.
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And so, so the.
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He comes. Empathy and intuition.
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If I were to survey 5000 people and
ask them why they go to Disney on holiday,
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the number one response was
they would go for the new attractions.
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If I were to only rely on my data,
I could spend $250 million
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on a capital investment strategy.
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But if I were to pause for a moment,
that child
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like not childish and say, well,
why do you go for new trips?
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I like I like the classic.
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Why do you like the classics?
I like smaller.
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Why on earth do you like this more?
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I remember the music.
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Oh, God. No, not by the music.
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Was my mom's favorite ride.
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And why is that important
to 25 years later?
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Our time is also now.
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From your insight, for innovation
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has nothing to do with capital investment
strategy
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and everything to do with people's
personal nostalgia and memories.
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That's a communication campaign.
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But then we go to the number one
killer of curiosity, western education.
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And the next thing we're taught to do
is stop asking why?
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Because. Is anyone right answer.
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I did an experiment
because I intuitively believed it
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to be true,
but I needed to prove it to myself.
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So I was giving a speech at a university
with 3000 university students,
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all between the ages of 19 and 24,
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and I brought in one
first grade class of 30
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little six year olds with their teacher.
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And I sat in them in the middle
and said, hands up, who's creative?
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Me me me me me me.
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30 hands shot into the air, no hesitation.
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And the other 3000 state down.
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So will I replace these skills over time?
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The answer is nobody knows today.
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But not in the short term. I suspect.
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And so those things that perhaps were not
the most employable skill sets of our,
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career up to now, they are now,
and I define I do not define.
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Creativity is the ability to paint
or write music.
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I define creativity
as the ability to have ideas.
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And we all have hundreds today.
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I define innovation is the ability
to get those ideas done.
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That's the hard part.
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So, you know, with creativity being
as important, more important than ever,
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how much of how much of creativity
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and our own individual,
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you know, need to bring creativity
to work.
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How much of that is our responsibility
versus the organizational responsibility?
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And what's the best way
to fuel this in the workplace?
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Well, so first of all,
I would encourage, playfulness.
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And so why?
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Because if you ask people
who are the most creative people
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you ever met, people say kids.
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You say, well,
what do they do? Business, play.
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So let me explain the importance
of playfulness at the right time.
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Can I invite you
for just a second to close your eyes?
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I want you to shout out the answer
to the following question,
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providing it's something you can shout out
in public on your podcast.
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When I ask you the following question
where are you usually
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and what are you doing
when you get your best ideas?
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I'm out walking typically.
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Then open your eyes.
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I've done this
with up to 20,000 people in Helsinki.
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You hear?
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Shower, walking, jogging,
falling asleep, waking up,
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in the bathroom, at the gym, commuting.
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And I get people to write it down.
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And even with 20,000 people, hands up.
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Who wrote down at work?
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Nobody.
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Nobody ever gets their best ideas at work.
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Well. Why not? Well,
close your eyes again.
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Actually, for people
listening are watching.
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Close your eyes
to picture that last verbal argument.
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Somebody. A bit of a shouting match.
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Angry at them.
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They're angry at you.
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Now you turn to walk away
from that argument.
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Your five seconds away,
the 10s you're 20s away from the argument.
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And what just popped into your head
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totally spontaneously that second
you turn to walk away from that argument.
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What was it?
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Yeah. What you wish you said.
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Yeah. The killer one liner.
You can open your eyes.
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That perfect, beautiful line.
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Oh, yeah.
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If I said that I covered
in the perfect line.
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We can write volumes and volumes
and volumes of the perfect line.
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We never delivered.
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Why? Because when you're an argument,
your brain is moving in a
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thousand miles an hour
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defending yourself.
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Guess what your brain looks like at work
emails, presentations, weekly
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posts, expense reports, weekly meetings.
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And I hear myself say,
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I don't have time to think.
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The number one barrier
to innovation and creativity.
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And when we hear ourselves say,
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I don't have time to think, you
on the brain state called beta.
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I call it busy beta, where the reticular
activating system, much easier remembered
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as a door between your conscious
and subconscious brain is when we closed.
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When that door is closed
and you don't have time to think,
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you are working with your conscious brain
and you can Google this.
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What percentage of my brain is conscious?
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13% of your brain is conscious.
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87% of your brain is subconscious.
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Every meeting you've attended,
every innovation you've ever seen,
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every creative problem you've ever
sold, is back here
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to serve as unrelated stimulus
to help you solve the challenge
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you're working on right now.
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But when the door shut,
you don't have access to it.
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So what do I do?
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I run energizers there in the book.
The imagination.
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But what is an energizer?
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An energizer is a 62nd exercise
specifically designed to make you laugh.
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Why? Because the moment I hear laughter,
I know that metaphorically,
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I've just opened the door and placed
you metaphorically back in the shower,
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where the door between your conscious
and subconscious brain is just wide
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enough open.
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You can still make an informed decision
in the shower or when you walk in,
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but you could still have a big ideas.
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I don't expect people to be playful
every minute of every day.
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I do expect people to be playful
when they're trying to develop
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big ideas,
particularly as a leadership team.
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So as a leadership team,
I'm glad you brought that up.
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Duncan,
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what do you recommend for leaders in terms
of, you know, cracking the door open?
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You talked about energizers, but how do we
how do we structure this
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in the workplace to make sure
people can be playful and be creative?
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This one's easy.
I do an exercise. Let's try it.
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So, Jeff, you and I are responsible
for a $100,000 birthday party tonight.
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You and I are responsible
for designing that party.
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Are we going to do a Star Wars party
or a Harry Potter party.
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A Star Wars?
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So I'm going to come with you
some amazing ideas for a Star Wars party.
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I'd like you to star each
and every response with the words.
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No, because the words you always hear
at work and tell me why not?
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So start with no. Because.
And then tell me why not.
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So I was thinking of coming to your house
and, actually to blowing up
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the structure, the inside of the house
and turn it into an intergalactic,
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canteen.
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And we can have food and wine
from the house and the. That's tattoo.
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You know, I have the cantina band
playing. It'd be great.
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No, because there's not
nearly enough space.
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It wouldn't.
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It just wouldn't fit. Right. Okay.
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Right.
00;08;27;11 - 00;08;28;06
Well, we borrow somebody's
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corporate jet
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and we paint it
black and turn it into the desktop,
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and we'll go down to Walt
Disney World to Galaxy's Edge.
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Know the logistics.
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And the budget would just never work
for something like that.
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How about a glow?
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Oh, no. Cosplay party.
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All the tall people could come
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as Lord Vader
and all the little people will be books.
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No, it's people would complain it's
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too discriminatory
and they'd want more control.
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Yeah, how about glow
in the dark lightsaber fight
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now? Because it would
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have to be in the dark, and that causes
a whole series of problems.
00;08;56;25 - 00;08;58;26
All right, what if we just show
the movies back to back?
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We do a movie marathon,
give people free Coca Cola and popcorn
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while.
00;09;02;25 - 00;09;04;10
No, because, you know,
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where are you showing that
it'd be far too long for a birthday party?
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Okay, so we'll stop there.
00;09;08;19 - 00;09;11;21
The biggest barrier to innovation is not,
time to think.
00;09;11;21 - 00;09;14;02
The biggest barrier to innovation
is our own river of thinking.
00;09;14;02 - 00;09;15;16
Well, what's a river thinking?
00;09;15;16 - 00;09;18;09
It's our own expertise
and our own experience built on years
00;09;18;09 - 00;09;20;16
of of experience
in our company, in our industry,
00;09;20;16 - 00;09;22;20
allowing us to make quick
and informed decisions.
00;09;22;20 - 00;09;23;18
But the world's changed.
00;09;23;18 - 00;09;25;08
We don't get to think
the way we always do.
00;09;25;08 - 00;09;28;09
So no, because has served as very well
for the last 30 years.
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The challenges from the more
the leadership team
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have the experience and expertise.
That's the single biggest barrier.
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Right.
00;09;35;08 - 00;09;37;27
And so,
yeah. So so let me ask you a question.
00;09;37;27 - 00;09;40;27
Do you think our idea is getting bigger
or smaller as we were going just say.
00;09;40;29 - 00;09;42;15
Smaller, a lot smaller.
00;09;42;15 - 00;09;44;13
Okay, so let's try it again.
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Can we do Harry Potter?
00;09;45;24 - 00;09;46;28
Sure. Excellent.
00;09;46;28 - 00;09;48;27
So I'm going to come at you
some ideas for Harry Potter party.
00;09;48;27 - 00;09;50;16
Same budget, $100,000.
00;09;50;16 - 00;09;53;08
Only this time
I'd ask you to respond with the words yes.
00;09;53;08 - 00;09;55;20
And they'll be the first two words
you use in each response.
00;09;55;20 - 00;09;57;05
And then you'll build on
what I've given you.
00;09;57;05 - 00;09;59;02
So I think he wrote coming to your house.
Right.
00;09;59;02 - 00;10;02;03
Put a sorting hat outside the front door
and all the goodies
00;10;02;05 - 00;10;05;26
get to go to the Gryffindor party and
all the bad people get the dark mysterious
00;10;05;27 - 00;10;07;14
with the red party.
00;10;07;14 - 00;10;10;04
Yes. And we can have,
you know, four different parties
00;10;10;04 - 00;10;13;03
and completely different experiences
for different people.
00;10;13;03 - 00;10;13;19
Oh, yes.
00;10;13;19 - 00;10;15;27
And we can have a magic potions room
where everybody drink
00;10;15;27 - 00;10;18;27
some amazing cocktail
that turns into something totally freaky.
00;10;19;17 - 00;10;22;27
Yes. And we can prepare it all in advance
and make sure that there,
00;10;23;12 - 00;10;25;17
you know, delicious.
Made with fresh fruit.
00;10;25;17 - 00;10;26;05
Oh, yes.
00;10;26;05 - 00;10;29;21
And we can invite in all the stars
from the film Daniel Radcliffe, Hermione,
00;10;29;29 - 00;10;31;26
Hermione Granger, forgotten Moss
00;10;33;21 - 00;10;34;16
and holograms
00;10;34;16 - 00;10;38;05
of those who have passed Maggie Smith,
Robbie Coltrane will actually have.
00;10;38;09 - 00;10;41;08
Oh, yeah, because they could be ghost
like headless Nick.
00;10;41;08 - 00;10;42;17
Yeah. Let's, Yes.
00;10;42;17 - 00;10;45;02
And let's get those invitations out
as soon as possible.
00;10;45;02 - 00;10;46;03
They're going to be so excited,
00;10;46;03 - 00;10;48;22
and it'll help us structure the party
and what we can do.
00;10;48;22 - 00;10;51;22
Yes, and we could deliver the invitations
by our.
00;10;54;05 - 00;10;55;06
So. Yes. And.
00;10;55;06 - 00;10;56;12
Yeah. Yeah.
00;10;56;12 - 00;10;57;06
We'll stop there.
00;10;57;06 - 00;10;58;29
A lot more laughter, a lot more energy.
00;10;58;29 - 00;11;01;08
Most of us became Italian
for the first time this morning.
00;11;01;08 - 00;11;03;07
This time around, bigger or smaller?
00;11;03;07 - 00;11;04;27
A lot bigger.
00;11;04;27 - 00;11;08;21
Now we work inside big organizations,
small organizations with constituents
00;11;08;21 - 00;11;12;02
and clients and colleagues and bosses
to bring on board with our ideas
00;11;12;08 - 00;11;15;03
by the time we just finished building
the idea together, whose idea was it?
00;11;15;03 - 00;11;16;00
By the time we finished.
00;11;17;04 - 00;11;18;23
It was all of our both of ours.
00;11;18;23 - 00;11;19;09
Ours.
00;11;19;09 - 00;11;22;13
Two very simple words from the world
of improv that have a remarkable power
00;11;22;14 - 00;11;24;25
to turn a small idea into a big
one really quickly.
00;11;24;25 - 00;11;27;04
You can always take a big idea of value
and do it down.
00;11;27;04 - 00;11;30;12
Far more importantly, has that power
to transfer the power of my idea,
00;11;30;12 - 00;11;32;13
which never goes anywhere inside
an organization,
00;11;32;13 - 00;11;35;22
to our idea and accelerates
its opportunity to get to
00;11;36;00 - 00;11;37;18
the challenges with the more experienced,
00;11;37;18 - 00;11;39;18
the more expertise
we have, the more resources we know. What.
00;11;39;18 - 00;11;41;21
A new idea won't work,
so we can't really start with.
00;11;41;21 - 00;11;45;25
No, because, as a leadership team
doing this exercise with leaders,
00;11;45;25 - 00;11;47;04
they instantly recognize
00;11;47;04 - 00;11;51;04
they have become a no because and here's
the thing, that person may have a genius
00;11;51;04 - 00;11;54;13
two seconds from now, two hours from now,
two days from now, two weeks from now,
00;11;54;15 - 00;11;56;06
if the first two words out of your mouth
00;11;56;06 - 00;11;58;13
or as a leader,
I know because that person's
00;11;58;13 - 00;12;01;19
never coming back in your office
with an idea again, just remind yourself,
00;12;01;19 - 00;12;04;18
I know you have responsibilities,
deadlines, quarterly results.
00;12;04;19 - 00;12;05;22
It's just an idea.
00;12;05;22 - 00;12;08;08
We're not greenlighting
this idea for execution today.
00;12;08;08 - 00;12;10;11
We're merely green
housing it together, using. Yes.
00;12;10;11 - 00;12;14;03
And the other thing we had at Pixar,
Marvel and Disney was a space.
00;12;14;29 - 00;12;17;17
It was
I called them the Expansionist Rooms.
00;12;17;17 - 00;12;20;29
We, so you could I'm sure everybody
listening has boring meeting rooms,
00;12;21;04 - 00;12;22;13
but you could actually,
00;12;22;13 - 00;12;25;21
have within your boring meeting rooms,
you could invite a local arts call in
00;12;25;21 - 00;12;28;13
to paint a greenhouse around the wall,
call it the green house,
00;12;28;13 - 00;12;30;05
and everybody knows
when they're in the green house.
00;12;30;05 - 00;12;33;05
This is the one room
where you don't get to kill ideas.
00;12;33;08 - 00;12;36;16
If you don't have that
physical space, you'll never succeed.
00;12;37;17 - 00;12;39;07
Let's let's talk about that physical space
00;12;39;07 - 00;12;41;09
for a second, Duncan,
because I love the idea.
00;12;41;09 - 00;12;44;18
I think having,
you know, a really creative space
00;12;45;02 - 00;12;47;02
can, can change the way people think.
00;12;47;02 - 00;12;50;02
You mentioned something earlier, though,
that may or may not be in conflict
00;12;50;02 - 00;12;50;13
with that.
00;12;50;13 - 00;12;53;28
And that's the,
you know, return to office mandate
00;12;53;28 - 00;12;57;24
and some of the creativity stifling that
happens when you tell people, you know,
00;12;58;00 - 00;12;59;11
you've got to be in this space
at this time.
00;12;59;11 - 00;13;02;01
How do you marry those two.
Of the technologies? Change.
00;13;02;01 - 00;13;05;01
Look, I was doing in, Covid,
00;13;05;02 - 00;13;08;02
I went to Copenhagen in March 15th, 2020.
00;13;08;07 - 00;13;11;01
As I landed, the British prime
minister said no more live events.
00;13;11;01 - 00;13;14;00
I spoke to 3002 chairs
and the camera and the like.
00;13;14;05 - 00;13;17;22
I was unemployed,
and so I hired, a couple of 17 year olds
00;13;17;22 - 00;13;21;16
out of London, and I turned this room
into a full broadcast studio.
00;13;21;28 - 00;13;24;17
We were doing over 300 events a year.
00;13;24;17 - 00;13;28;06
I could speak for years ago
in 37 different languages
00;13;28;06 - 00;13;31;06
simultaneously
through an artificial intelligence robot.
00;13;31;18 - 00;13;34;17
It wasn't that good in the Asian languages
in those days.
00;13;34;17 - 00;13;36;02
But it was very good in the European.
00;13;36;02 - 00;13;37;24
Now it's good at all of them.
00;13;37;24 - 00;13;42;03
Avatar, avatars, Zoella,
the AI, RPA, slate.com.
00;13;42;08 - 00;13;45;12
You can go in, create your own avatar,
create your own campaigns,
00;13;45;12 - 00;13;48;03
you can white label it
and only your employees can get in.
00;13;48;03 - 00;13;48;25
And it's fun.
00;13;48;25 - 00;13;50;23
They've got a cocktail lounge,
they've got a bar,
00;13;50;23 - 00;13;53;18
they've got a soccer pitch,
they've got offices, break up and
00;13;53;18 - 00;13;55;29
and you can want to dress up for
Halloween. Here's the Halloween costumes.
00;13;55;29 - 00;13;59;16
Now there's no barriers to entry into
Bella because everybody's got a computer
00;14;00;14 - 00;14;01;00
special.
00;14;01;00 - 00;14;02;27
On the other hand, you need a VR headset.
00;14;02;27 - 00;14;05;07
And I recognize
not every company has that today.
00;14;05;07 - 00;14;05;22
And today.
00;14;05;22 - 00;14;08;06
They're too expensive
and they're too bulky, but it'll come.
00;14;08;06 - 00;14;12;16
And so, I was doing a workshop in 2021
with a woman in Johannesburg.
00;14;12;29 - 00;14;14;00
I was in Orlando.
00;14;14;00 - 00;14;16;13
I handed her
my virtual pen with my virtual hand.
00;14;16;13 - 00;14;18;18
She took it out of my virtual hand
with her virtual
00;14;18;18 - 00;14;20;25
and wrote on a virtual person
a virtual ink,
00;14;20;25 - 00;14;23;29
which she could have actually dictated to,
and handed me back the virtual post-it
00;14;23;29 - 00;14;25;28
note that technology
existed for years ago.
00;14;25;28 - 00;14;28;16
So, we just need to catch up.
00;14;28;16 - 00;14;32;09
And so, you know, and so, yeah, look,
everything has changed.
00;14;32;09 - 00;14;33;11
And I'll give you an example.
00;14;34;18 - 00;14;36;28
I know I'm doing some work with,
00;14;36;28 - 00;14;40;06
the let's just call it the,
the one of the largest baseball teams in
00;14;40;06 - 00;14;43;06
America who also owns one of the largest
football teams in England.
00;14;43;07 - 00;14;46;28
And, they probably can seat
50,000, 60,000 in their stadiums.
00;14;46;28 - 00;14;49;16
And I said, well, how many fans you got?
They said, oh, 20 million.
00;14;49;16 - 00;14;51;04
I said, well,
what if they could all come to the game?
00;14;51;04 - 00;14;52;08
They looked at me like I was nuts.
00;14;52;08 - 00;14;54;23
Was that hello?
It's called augmented reality.
00;14;54;23 - 00;14;58;12
Now today the, you know, the Vision
Pro phenomenal technology.
00;14;58;12 - 00;14;59;12
Too expensive, too big.
00;14;59;12 - 00;15;02;20
Well, it'll be the pair of glasses
that you're wearing within 5 or 7 years
00;15;02;20 - 00;15;03;19
from today.
00;15;03;19 - 00;15;05;08
And now Johnny in Cairo.
00;15;05;08 - 00;15;09;09
So I was actually invited
to sit in the dugout of this particular
00;15;09;09 - 00;15;13;09
baseball team with the Major League
Baseball players during the game live.
00;15;14;06 - 00;15;17;27
Now, we were in the Apple Store in London,
but I was in the stadium.
00;15;18;01 - 00;15;22;09
Now, fast forward that technology to a day
where a not too far distant future,
00;15;22;11 - 00;15;25;26
you pay a dollar in Cairo, you'll see it
on the back of a stadium, $5.
00;15;25;26 - 00;15;27;19
You'll sit
in the middle of the stadium, $10.
00;15;27;19 - 00;15;30;11
You sit in the dugout next to the
players. Hollywood's dead.
00;15;31;16 - 00;15;32;23
Hollywood just doesn't realize it.
00;15;32;23 - 00;15;35;15
Yeah, but what an outrageous statement.
It's been around since 1920.
00;15;35;15 - 00;15;36;09
Yeah, okay.
00;15;36;09 - 00;15;39;08
And I went to the movies in the 60s,
and I've been to the movies last week.
00;15;39;08 - 00;15;40;10
And what's changed?
00;15;40;10 - 00;15;43;08
Oh, yeah. The cigaret girls gone.
00;15;43;08 - 00;15;44;11
Nothing else has changed.
00;15;44;11 - 00;15;46;16
There's an industry that deserves to die.
00;15;46;16 - 00;15;47;24
I'm sorry, but it just does.
00;15;47;24 - 00;15;50;10
Nothing's changed in 60 years.
00;15;50;10 - 00;15;52;27
Nothing has changed. Nothing has changed.
00;15;52;27 - 00;15;53;28
We've done multi screens.
00;15;53;28 - 00;15;55;27
Oh, you still got a set time.
00;15;55;27 - 00;15;56;25
You have to watch the preview.
00;15;56;25 - 00;15;58;09
You can't participate blah blah blah.
00;15;58;09 - 00;16;02;15
So so Hollywood went on strike for a year,
00;16;02;24 - 00;16;07;03
18 months and very proudly
announced that the, the the the Oscars.
00;16;07;03 - 00;16;09;27
Oh we didn't use
I it's not coming. Oh, yeah.
00;16;09;27 - 00;16;10;19
Good luck with that.
00;16;10;19 - 00;16;13;00
Yeah.
The coal miners went on strike in 1973.
00;16;13;00 - 00;16;14;08
How did that work out for them?
00;16;14;08 - 00;16;15;22
AI is here, people.
00;16;15;22 - 00;16;17;28
So embrace it or go under.
00;16;18;26 - 00;16;21;24
A certain company
just lost hundreds of millions of dollars
00;16;21;24 - 00;16;24;28
on a certain film with a certain character
called Indiana Jones.
00;16;25;03 - 00;16;27;21
Now, Wall Street would probably suggest
they don't do that again.
00;16;27;21 - 00;16;30;21
Option A, they could go to another
screenwriters say give it a go.
00;16;31;00 - 00;16;34;15
Option B, they could go to ChatGPT today
and they and say, here's
00;16;34;15 - 00;16;36;19
the scripts of the last five movies,
here's what worked, here's
00;16;36;19 - 00;16;39;19
what didn't work, here's the history,
here's the character analysis,
00;16;39;21 - 00;16;41;06
piece could you do storyline, script
00;16;41;06 - 00;16;43;14
and character development
based on the algorithms of the top
00;16;43;14 - 00;16;46;29
performing action adventure
TV shows or movies of the last six months?
00;16;47;06 - 00;16;49;11
That's a three minute assignment
for ChatGPT.
00;16;49;11 - 00;16;51;00
Is it good enough today?
00;16;51;00 - 00;16;52;24
No. Will it be in less than three years?
00;16;52;24 - 00;16;54;01
Of course it will.
00;16;54;01 - 00;16;55;15
Tom Cruise sorry, Tom.
00;16;55;15 - 00;16;56;26
Love you, Sally Smith.
00;16;56;26 - 00;16;59;07
Sally Smith doesn't have wrinkles,
doesn't take bathroom break.
00;16;59;07 - 00;17;02;04
Speaks every language on the planet.
And you don't have to pay her.
00;17;02;04 - 00;17;03;05
She doesn't exist.
00;17;03;05 - 00;17;05;18
The number four selling K-pop in the band
today.
00;17;05;18 - 00;17;07;01
Well, today they don't exist.
00;17;07;01 - 00;17;08;06
I that they never did.
00;17;08;06 - 00;17;09;14
So I is here.
00;17;09;14 - 00;17;12;15
We can embrace it
or we can just say it's not coming.
00;17;13;13 - 00;17;15;25
And for those who think it's not coming,
goodbye.
00;17;15;25 - 00;17;17;16
I don't care
how big you are in the industry
00;17;17;16 - 00;17;20;26
today, the future of Hollywood,
the future of education, the universities.
00;17;20;26 - 00;17;22;23
No. Hello? Why?
00;17;22;23 - 00;17;25;11
Because they're teaching the same thing
they taught me when I went to university.
00;17;25;11 - 00;17;27;14
A very, very, very long time ago.
00;17;27;14 - 00;17;30;04
The future of, Hollywood is gaming.
00;17;30;04 - 00;17;32;19
A Pokemon Go started it.
I want to be in the movie.
00;17;32;19 - 00;17;34;06
I want to interact with the characters.
00;17;34;06 - 00;17;36;04
I want some level of social status.
00;17;36;04 - 00;17;38;11
I want to participate.
00;17;38;11 - 00;17;41;13
I believe what you'll see
is one of the Hollywood studios who,
00;17;41;24 - 00;17;44;16
will certainly burn Epic Games
in the next 24 months.
00;17;44;16 - 00;17;46;06
That's my personal speculation.
00;17;46;06 - 00;17;49;00
And the future of the movies will be,
if I want to be Jack Sparrow,
00;17;49;00 - 00;17;50;01
I'll be Jack Sparrow.
00;17;50;01 - 00;17;53;01
And if I want you to be Captain
Barbers, you'll be Captain Barbosa.
00;17;53;29 - 00;17;54;19
Education.
00;17;54;19 - 00;17;57;19
Today I sit in the back of an auditorium,
virtual or real,
00;17;57;24 - 00;18;00;15
and the professor stands
at the front of the room and goes.
00;18;00;15 - 00;18;03;28
Or want war or.
00;18;04;00 - 00;18;05;03
Yeah. Okay, great.
00;18;05;03 - 00;18;08;05
Or with my headset,
I can walk into the Senate and roam,
00;18;08;05 - 00;18;11;22
debate with the senators
and tell Julius Caesar, look behind you.
00;18;12;22 - 00;18;14;27
So the glasses
that you're wearing now, today,
00;18;14;27 - 00;18;18;05
when I walk into my dentist, they know me,
my optician knows me, my doctor.
00;18;18;06 - 00;18;19;18
I got a clue.
00;18;19;18 - 00;18;22;20
However, give it five years from now
when you're wearing
00;18;22;20 - 00;18;25;29
those glasses, that will be,
you know, meta started piloting them.
00;18;25;29 - 00;18;27;27
They're not great today,
but that is just a pilot.
00;18;27;27 - 00;18;30;05
Of course it is
now on your right hand lenses.
00;18;30;05 - 00;18;34;02
They don't caboodle age prescriptions,
medical history, family medical history
00;18;34;05 - 00;18;35;22
issue. He's coming in to talk about today.
00;18;35;22 - 00;18;38;17
And on my left lens
I will tell you. And he is out of self.
00;18;38;17 - 00;18;40;07
It so it's coming.
00;18;40;07 - 00;18;44;00
It's, we can just continue to duck
and hide, or we can just embrace it.
00;18;44;00 - 00;18;45;18
Get on with the number.
00;18;45;18 - 00;18;49;01
A second barrier to innovation
after our own expertise is
00;18;49;01 - 00;18;51;11
I don't have time to think.
Everybody says that.
00;18;51;11 - 00;18;53;01
Well, what's I about to give us?
00;18;53;01 - 00;18;53;13
Let me think.
00;18;53;13 - 00;18;57;12
It's can do all we can replace expense
reports, forecasting, coding, accounting.
00;18;57;15 - 00;19;00;06
It's going to give us time to think.
00;19;00;06 - 00;19;01;27
So I'm not scared of AI.
00;19;01;27 - 00;19;03;12
I'm scared of man's stupidity.
00;19;04;23 - 00;19;05;12
Right.
00;19;05;12 - 00;19;09;10
So lots of lots to digest and unpack
there.
00;19;10;23 - 00;19;13;17
You talk about the need
for more innovation.
00;19;13;17 - 00;19;15;03
You talked about the need
for more creativity,
00;19;15;03 - 00;19;17;29
for fundamentally
reimagining a lot of these industries.
00;19;17;29 - 00;19;20;24
And, you know, there's
this kind of underlying,
00;19;20;24 - 00;19;23;13
yeah, this underlying sense
to what you're saying of
00;19;23;13 - 00;19;25;06
we have to adapt or die, right?
00;19;25;06 - 00;19;29;07
These, these industries
that haven't changed in 100 years
00;19;29;07 - 00;19;30;16
are they have nowhere to go but down
00;19;30;16 - 00;19;33;18
if they're not going to adapt
new practices. You,
00;19;35;02 - 00;19;38;18
you used a few tools there, Duncan, around
kind of imagining.
00;19;38;18 - 00;19;38;26
Right.
00;19;38;26 - 00;19;41;18
Figuring out what the rules are
and imagining what they could be.
00;19;41;18 - 00;19;44;09
Can you, you know, maybe walk.
You might walk me through your. Yeah.
00;19;44;09 - 00;19;47;09
So how we
we suggest organizations do this.
00;19;48;02 - 00;19;51;22
So, when you walk into an outfit now,
this will come across as a pitch
00;19;51;23 - 00;19;52;15
is not meant to.
00;19;52;15 - 00;19;53;19
So his thing
00;19;53;19 - 00;19;55;27
when you walk into your office,
in fact, your office today
00;19;55;27 - 00;19;57;23
and you have a business book,
where's the business book?
00;19;59;28 - 00;20;01;00
On the desk.
00;20;01;00 - 00;20;01;20
Yeah.
00;20;01;20 - 00;20;02;17
Ever have you read it?
00;20;02;17 - 00;20;04;24
And, I've got my boss needs this by 2:00.
00;20;04;24 - 00;20;07;03
I've got a weekly report to go
to. I've got a weekly meeting to go.
00;20;07;03 - 00;20;09;19
Now. I don't have time to read a book,
so I thought, okay, well,
00;20;09;19 - 00;20;13;17
how do I take a nonfiction book
and give it to people
00;20;13;18 - 00;20;17;26
who are normal, hardworking, busy people
and make innovation accessible?
00;20;18;03 - 00;20;20;09
So I set about creating a toolkit,
not a book.
00;20;20;09 - 00;20;23;06
A toolkit that makes innovation
accessible to normal, hardworking
00;20;23;06 - 00;20;26;22
people, creativity, and for people
uncomfortable with ambiguity.
00;20;26;22 - 00;20;28;22
Great fun. More reporting.
Make the process fun.
00;20;28;22 - 00;20;32;23
Give people tools they choose to use
when with all their other deadlines
00;20;32;23 - 00;20;33;11
that they've got.
00;20;33;11 - 00;20;36;20
So now, I thought, well,
what nonfiction book of I've a River?
00;20;36;20 - 00;20;37;20
I could read one piece that
00;20;37;20 - 00;20;41;21
I get what I need and get out and do what
I need to do and come back another day.
00;20;41;27 - 00;20;42;21
My mom's cookbook.
00;20;42;21 - 00;20;44;17
You want shepherd's pie? It's on page 67.
00;20;44;17 - 00;20;46;08
Sherry trifle. It's on page 12.
00;20;46;08 - 00;20;48;15
So the contents
page is exactly the same way.
00;20;48;15 - 00;20;50;21
Have you ever been to your brainstorm
when nothing ever happened?
00;20;50;21 - 00;20;53;09
Go to page 12.
Set up your boss shooting your ideas down.
00;20;53;09 - 00;20;54;06
Go to page 54.
00;20;54;06 - 00;20;56;06
Work in a heavily regulated industry.
00;20;56;06 - 00;20;57;28
Go to page 36 now.
00;20;57;28 - 00;21;00;24
But it also has to appeal to all three
learning styles.
00;21;00;24 - 00;21;02;19
So let me explain what that means.
00;21;02;19 - 00;21;03;24
Can you close your eyes, Jeff?
00;21;05;05 - 00;21;07;17
How many days are there in September?
00;21;07;17 - 00;21;10;04
30. Keep your eyes closed.
How did you know?
00;21;10;04 - 00;21;11;16
How did you learn? How did you remember?
00;21;11;16 - 00;21;14;16
What can you see with your eyes closed?
00;21;15;21 - 00;21;17;11
I did not answer that question.
00;21;17;11 - 00;21;20;29
I just try and remember which the
few months that I have 30 versus 31 days.
00;21;21;06 - 00;21;23;02
Well, that tell. Okay,
you can open your eyes.
00;21;23;02 - 00;21;24;22
You've just told me
you're a visual learner. How?
00;21;24;22 - 00;21;25;19
Because you were probably looking
00;21;25;19 - 00;21;28;18
at a calendar that could tell you
which was 30, in which was 31,
00;21;28;22 - 00;21;32;05
a third of the audience will recite
the rhyme, 30 days has a tempo,
00;21;32;05 - 00;21;33;00
blah blah blah.
00;21;33;00 - 00;21;34;25
And they just tell me the number
listening.
00;21;34;25 - 00;21;35;18
How do I know that?
00;21;35;18 - 00;21;37;04
Because they learned the rhyme
when it was six.
00;21;37;04 - 00;21;38;23
How to remember because they heard it.
00;21;38;23 - 00;21;39;18
The next set a peep.
00;21;39;18 - 00;21;41;07
30% will count them, not course they will.
00;21;41;07 - 00;21;43;22
January, February,
March, April, May, June, July, etc.
00;21;43;22 - 00;21;47;04
those are kinesthetic learners
and and people who just go 30, 31.
00;21;47;06 - 00;21;49;14
They're visual learners
that you saw Canada.
00;21;49;14 - 00;21;52;14
So the book is designed to appeal
to all three learning styles.
00;21;52;17 - 00;21;55;17
There's QR codes in the chat, up
with a Spotify playlist,
00;21;55;24 - 00;21;58;24
which will be turned into an auditory book
for people who are listening.
00;21;59;11 - 00;22;01;15
There are animated videos in each chapter.
00;22;01;15 - 00;22;02;20
I'm now a cartoon character
00;22;02;20 - 00;22;04;10
where I could pop out of the book
and show you,
00;22;04;10 - 00;22;07;10
in a fun way, how to use the tools
for the visual learners
00;22;07;14 - 00;22;08;23
and for our kinesthetic learners.
00;22;08;23 - 00;22;10;29
The QR code on the back cover is I.
00;22;10;29 - 00;22;11;25
You can ask the book
00;22;11;25 - 00;22;16;06
how to use a specific tool on page
67 to sell more orange pencils
00;22;16;06 - 00;22;17;12
in the state of Pennsylvania
00;22;17;12 - 00;22;20;11
on Valentine's Day
to the market of 20 months, 24 years
00;22;20;13 - 00;22;21;17
and the book will answer you.
00;22;21;17 - 00;22;23;15
Make it fun. Make it tangible.
00;22;23;15 - 00;22;25;29
Make it easy to use.
00;22;25;29 - 00;22;28;23
There are tools within there
that really cut through the nonsense.
00;22;28;23 - 00;22;32;11
So for example, one tool was created
by Walt Disney, I call it.
00;22;32;11 - 00;22;33;17
What is this about?
00;22;33;17 - 00;22;36;17
Listing the rules of your challenge,
picking one rule
00;22;36;21 - 00;22;40;09
and asking the most audacious,
provocative, outrageous, what if statement
00;22;40;09 - 00;22;43;09
to get you out of your rhythm of thinking
the way you always think?
00;22;43;09 - 00;22;44;14
So Walt had Fantasia.
00;22;44;14 - 00;22;46;11
He wanted to pump mist
and heat into the theater,
00;22;46;11 - 00;22;48;16
and the theater owner said, no, Walt,
that's not the way we do it here.
00;22;48;16 - 00;22;51;01
We try that. Last year,
that one hit our quarterly results.
00;22;51;01 - 00;22;53;14
So Walt listed the rules
of going to movie theater.
00;22;53;14 - 00;22;55;28
I must go to a physical theater.
00;22;55;28 - 00;22;58;11
It is dark. I must go to set time.
00;22;58;11 - 00;23;00;08
I, have to pay to get.
00;23;00;08 - 00;23;03;08
I can't control the environment
in which people experience my content.
00;23;03;16 - 00;23;04;14
So he took that one.
00;23;04;14 - 00;23;06;29
The environment said, well,
what if I could control the environment?
00;23;06;29 - 00;23;07;25
Well, he couldn't.
00;23;07;25 - 00;23;10;11
And besides, it
was, wasn't audacious enough.
00;23;10;11 - 00;23;10;28
So I said, all right,
00;23;10;28 - 00;23;12;25
if I can't control the environment
inside the theater,
00;23;12;25 - 00;23;15;12
what if I take my movies out
to the theater?
00;23;15;12 - 00;23;17;01
If you know how to do it,
you're iterating.
00;23;17;01 - 00;23;18;09
If it scares you, you're innovating.
00;23;18;09 - 00;23;20;12
Well, how you could do that, Walt?
00;23;20;12 - 00;23;22;20
The two dimensional there. All whatever.
00;23;22;20 - 00;23;24;14
What if I made them three dimensional?
00;23;24;14 - 00;23;25;23
Well, how on earth would you do that?
00;23;25;23 - 00;23;26;02
Well,
00;23;26;02 - 00;23;29;16
what if I had people dress up in costume
as pirates and princesses and cowboys?
00;23;29;24 - 00;23;31;12
But. Yeah, well,
you kind of Cinderella standing
00;23;31;12 - 00;23;34;20
next to Jack's fairy people wouldn't
be immersed in his story, a fair point.
00;23;34;24 - 00;23;36;18
What if I put them in different lands?
Oh, wait a minute.
00;23;36;18 - 00;23;37;25
What if I called it Disneyland? Oof!
00;23;37;25 - 00;23;40;16
We're done here. Simple, powerful, fun.
00;23;40;16 - 00;23;42;11
People used to go to Blockbuster Video.
00;23;42;11 - 00;23;44;02
The founder of Netflix used the same tool.
00;23;44;02 - 00;23;47;02
Set up a late fees step one list
the rules.
00;23;47;02 - 00;23;49;02
Had to drive to a physical store.
00;23;49;02 - 00;23;50;13
They had to go set time.
00;23;50;13 - 00;23;53;00
They never had. The one I want.
I was only allowed to take out three.
00;23;53;00 - 00;23;54;18
I had to return it, to rewind it.
00;23;54;18 - 00;23;56;21
And if I was late, I paid a late fee.
00;23;56;21 - 00;24;00;16
So he took store, and in 2005,
simply asked the question, what is.
00;24;00;16 - 00;24;03;04
There was no physical store.
00;24;03;04 - 00;24;06;01
And so he said,
well, well, no physical store.
00;24;06;01 - 00;24;08;21
That's. Well, and he looked outside
of his industry with another talk.
00;24;08;21 - 00;24;09;09
Go where else?
00;24;09;09 - 00;24;11;08
Which is in the book,
a lot of insights for innovation,
00;24;11;08 - 00;24;14;06
or most of the most people come
from looking outside of your industry.
00;24;14;06 - 00;24;16;29
And he found a company called YouTube
six months out on new streaming
00;24;16;29 - 00;24;18;22
amateur content.
So I said, well, why isn't it?
00;24;18;22 - 00;24;20;24
What if I just stream
professional content?
00;24;20;24 - 00;24;22;21
I could do a deal with a movie Studios.
00;24;22;21 - 00;24;24;09
Well, a nobody have to drive to a store.
00;24;24;09 - 00;24;26;13
I'll be open 24 hours
a day, seven days a week.
00;24;26;13 - 00;24;29;04
Everybody get the one they want.
They won't have to return it or rewind it.
00;24;29;04 - 00;24;31;00
I'll cut the rental off at 24 hours.
00;24;31;00 - 00;24;32;27
Nobody pays
a let's say I'll call it Netflix.
00;24;32;27 - 00;24;34;23
I'll take my video to blockbuster
five times.
00;24;34;23 - 00;24;35;28
They'll tell me down five times.
00;24;35;28 - 00;24;38;05
I'll take them out of business
in less than five years.
00;24;38;05 - 00;24;39;10
Now, for a lot of your listeners,
00;24;39;10 - 00;24;41;28
they're going to sit there and go, oh,
but I don't have the resources.
00;24;41;28 - 00;24;43;11
So I'll give you a smaller example
00;24;43;11 - 00;24;45;00
because I want people to know
the tools work for them.
00;24;45;00 - 00;24;49;03
Two very tiny company in Great Britain,
the late 60s, before the days of mass
00;24;49;03 - 00;24;51;21
automation, used to make glasses
that we drink out of fat,
00;24;51;21 - 00;24;53;20
and they found too much breakage
and not enough production
00;24;53;20 - 00;24;55;24
when the glasses
were being packaged and shipped.
00;24;55;24 - 00;24;56;26
So they went down the shop floor,
00;24;56;26 - 00;25;00;29
observe the process, wrote down the rows
26 employees, couple boxes, 12 glasses
00;25;00;29 - 00;25;04;28
to a box, six on top, six on the bottom,
glasses separated by corrugated cardboard
00;25;05;01 - 00;25;06;08
glasses wrapped individually.
00;25;06;08 - 00;25;08;06
Newspaper employees reading the newspaper.
00;25;08;06 - 00;25;10;20
So somebody asked me somewhat outrageous
what if question.
00;25;10;20 - 00;25;11;22
What if we put their eyes out?
00;25;11;22 - 00;25;13;21
Well, that's against the law
and it's not very nice.
00;25;13;21 - 00;25;17;04
But because they had the courage to ask
the most absurd was the question of all.
00;25;17;09 - 00;25;19;15
The lady sitting next to me immediately
got out of a river,
00;25;19;15 - 00;25;21;23
I think he said, well, hang on,
why don't we just hire blind people?
00;25;21;23 - 00;25;26;13
So they did production up 26%, break
is down 42%, and the British government
00;25;26;13 - 00;25;29;17
gave them a 50% salary subsidy
for hiring people with disabilities.
00;25;29;26 - 00;25;33;10
Take the rules of the challenge
you're working on next week.
00;25;33;22 - 00;25;34;16
List them.
00;25;34;16 - 00;25;35;20
Do not think about them all.
00;25;35;20 - 00;25;38;14
You'll start thinking of all the reason
you can't break. Pick one and ask.
00;25;38;14 - 00;25;40;05
The most audacious was you've questioned.
00;25;40;05 - 00;25;41;07
You'll be amazed how it helps
00;25;41;07 - 00;25;44;07
you jump out of your river of thinking
and think differently.
00;25;44;19 - 00;25;46;17
I love, I love that approach.
00;25;46;17 - 00;25;50;02
I, you know, I find it's such a
such a valuable exercise and it can,
00;25;50;12 - 00;25;53;28
you know, I love the examples
of how it can, you know, completely upend
00;25;53;28 - 00;25;55;18
what organizations are doing.
00;25;55;18 - 00;25;58;17
One of the you know, I'm curious
with your book and your approach, Duncan,
00;25;58;17 - 00;26;02;16
one of the most common pieces of feedback
I hear from,
00;26;02;16 - 00;26;05;20
you know, people I talk to is, well,
I don't work for Walt Disney.
00;26;05;21 - 00;26;08;08
You know, my leadership,
my leaders would never go for this.
00;26;08;08 - 00;26;08;29
How do we
00;26;09;28 - 00;26;11;20
how can we flip that around?
00;26;11;20 - 00;26;13;15
You've got to do the do it with them.
00;26;13;15 - 00;26;14;24
Do the yes and no.
00;26;14;24 - 00;26;17;24
Because get them to do exactly
what you just watched me and Jeff
00;26;17;24 - 00;26;20;28
to come up with the party idea,
have them do the no.
00;26;20;28 - 00;26;22;23
Because do it again.
00;26;22;23 - 00;26;25;23
Have them do the yes and
and they'll realize I'm a no because.
00;26;25;25 - 00;26;27;24
And look how big the idea was
when I became a yes.
00;26;27;24 - 00;26;30;13
And again, it's just a question of how.
00;26;30;13 - 00;26;33;12
So another to how you
just by reframing the challenge.
00;26;33;13 - 00;26;37;09
So this tool was created by Walt Disney
on July 17th, 1955.
00;26;37;09 - 00;26;38;16
When you opened the doors to Disneyland.
00;26;38;16 - 00;26;40;14
He said, we will not have any
00;26;40;14 - 00;26;42;06
customers in our park,
will only have guests,
00;26;42;06 - 00;26;43;27
we won't have employees,
we'll have cast members.
00;26;43;27 - 00;26;46;27
And but that simple
reframing of the challenge,
00;26;46;28 - 00;26;50;16
he creates a level of hospitality
that's rarely been repeated since. So.
00;26;50;16 - 00;26;52;12
So Jeff, where do you live?
00;26;52;12 - 00;26;53;17
I live in Toronto.
00;26;53;17 - 00;26;56;15
So if I was coming to Toronto tomorrow
and you and I were going to open a car
00;26;56;15 - 00;26;58;00
wash together, tell me if you would.
00;26;58;00 - 00;27;01;04
Five essential ingredients
we must have in a car wash. Go,
00;27;03;29 - 00;27;07;10
soap, soak sponges, water.
00;27;07;18 - 00;27;10;18
You know, water hoses. Hoses.
00;27;10;23 - 00;27;13;13
One of those automated conveyors,
I would say.
00;27;13;13 - 00;27;14;02
I don't know. So.
00;27;14;02 - 00;27;16;14
Got water, soap
brushes, vacuum and conveyor.
00;27;16;14 - 00;27;18;18
So close your eyes.
00;27;18;18 - 00;27;21;02
We've been invited to open an auto spa.
00;27;21;02 - 00;27;23;02
Ooh, us. New franchise.
00;27;23;02 - 00;27;24;05
What have you seen in a spa?
00;27;24;05 - 00;27;24;26
Anything you like.
00;27;24;26 - 00;27;27;14
What would you like to have in your spa?
00;27;27;14 - 00;27;30;02
There's probably a good fragrance there.
00;27;30;02 - 00;27;31;29
There's oils?
00;27;31;29 - 00;27;32;15
Sure.
00;27;32;15 - 00;27;34;27
Yeah.
00;27;34;27 - 00;27;36;29
I don't know, nicer soaps.
00;27;36;29 - 00;27;39;29
Probably more of a human aspect to it.
00;27;40;01 - 00;27;43;08
People who would talk to you
and say nice things to your car, maybe.
00;27;43;08 - 00;27;44;02
Are you.
00;27;44;02 - 00;27;44;23
What's the spa?
00;27;44;23 - 00;27;47;23
What do you want in your spa?
00;27;49;11 - 00;27;49;15
What?
00;27;49;15 - 00;27;50;10
Have you seen the spa?
00;27;50;10 - 00;27;53;10
Jeff?
00;27;54;08 - 00;27;54;19
I don't know.
00;27;54;19 - 00;27;56;13
I don't go to a lot of spas. Duncan.
00;27;56;13 - 00;27;57;26
But watch your eyes and imagine what.
00;27;59;17 - 00;28;01;06
I don't know, relaxing music.
00;28;01;06 - 00;28;02;01
Very relaxing music.
00;28;02;01 - 00;28;05;01
What else?
00;28;07;09 - 00;28;08;20
I don't know, a bath.
00;28;08;20 - 00;28;11;08
Above massages, but mani. Pedis.
00;28;11;08 - 00;28;14;08
Yeah. So here's the thing. I say car wash.
00;28;14;08 - 00;28;16;04
And everybody thought the same thing
you did.
00;28;16;04 - 00;28;18;00
Water. So brush, dry vacuum.
00;28;18;00 - 00;28;19;03
I said auto spa.
00;28;19;03 - 00;28;22;25
People start to think about other things
like essential oils and music and relaxing
00;28;22;25 - 00;28;25;20
atmosphere and blah, blah.
Which one would you rather go to? The spa?
00;28;25;20 - 00;28;27;12
It's a simple, simple tool.
00;28;27;12 - 00;28;29;16
If we do ask the question,
how might we make more money?
00;28;29;16 - 00;28;33;02
In 2011, we'd put the gate price up
at Walt Disney World by 3%.
00;28;33;03 - 00;28;36;15
We made our quarterly results,
but instead we reframe the channels, said,
00;28;36;15 - 00;28;38;15
how might we solve the biggest consumer
pain point?
00;28;38;15 - 00;28;40;09
Everybody knew what it was.
It was standing in line.
00;28;40;09 - 00;28;43;02
And I said, what if there were no lines?
I didn't know the answer at the time.
00;28;43;02 - 00;28;46;00
We looked outside of our industry
using that where else tool,
00;28;46;00 - 00;28;49;10
and we found a very small pharmacy
in Tokyo, Japan, using RFID
00;28;49;10 - 00;28;52;10
technology to enable people
not to stand in line.
00;28;52;13 - 00;28;53;08
Welcome to the world.
00;28;53;08 - 00;28;56;03
This is Magic band. It's RFID enabled.
It is my room key.
00;28;56;03 - 00;28;56;24
It's my theme park.
00;28;56;24 - 00;28;59;11
Ticket is my reservation
from my favorite meet and greets.
00;28;59;11 - 00;29;01;14
My favorite rides.
I can pay for merchandise with it.
00;29;01;14 - 00;29;02;25
I can pay for food with it.
00;29;02;25 - 00;29;03;25
The average guest today
00;29;03;25 - 00;29;07;19
has two hours free time each and every day
they didn't have in 2016.
00;29;07;26 - 00;29;08;25
What does that resulted in?
00;29;08;25 - 00;29;10;27
Record intensive recommend records
intend to return?
00;29;10;27 - 00;29;13;27
And what is it we lovely people
do with their free time in Disney parks?
00;29;13;28 - 00;29;17;06
Spend money, the single biggest revenue
generating idea in Disney
00;29;17;06 - 00;29;21;08
theme parks history, by not asking
how might we make more money now?
00;29;21;08 - 00;29;22;24
Again, that's a big example.
00;29;22;24 - 00;29;26;11
So I'll give you some of those people
that you said, I don't work for Disney.
00;29;26;15 - 00;29;28;14
I was waiting for an appointment
up in New York
00;29;28;14 - 00;29;31;14
at Chaplin's, the young lady
behind the reception desk got upset.
00;29;31;14 - 00;29;32;12
I said to the boss, your
00;29;32;12 - 00;29;36;08
your reception's delightful,
so friendly, so helpful, so empathetic.
00;29;36;08 - 00;29;38;27
Said, wow, that is nice to hear.
How long were you chatting to?
00;29;38;27 - 00;29;41;19
It was about ten minutes,
I suppose. He goes, oh, that's odd.
00;29;41;19 - 00;29;42;22
I said, well, what is odd?
00;29;42;22 - 00;29;45;22
He said, well, we don't have
a receptionist like, well hang on, do do.
00;29;45;24 - 00;29;47;03
I was talking to somebody.
00;29;47;03 - 00;29;48;20
She has some address on, had no sleeves.
00;29;48;20 - 00;29;51;00
She goes, oh, that was probably Sarah.
00;29;51;00 - 00;29;52;20
So I said, oh Sarah. Yeah.
00;29;52;20 - 00;29;54;27
He goes, oh, Sarah's our director
of first Impressions.
00;29;54;27 - 00;29;56;07
Is that good? Simple.
00;29;56;07 - 00;30;00;10
Re expression of her form of employment
empowered to own the space.
00;30;00;10 - 00;30;03;10
She is the challenge for most of us
is this
00;30;03;18 - 00;30;06;01
we don't get fresh
stimulus into our lives. So.
00;30;06;01 - 00;30;08;04
Jack, hands up if you,
00;30;08;04 - 00;30;10;28
if you go to your favorite restaurant
or cafe, you read the menu.
00;30;10;28 - 00;30;12;01
You already know what's on it.
00;30;12;01 - 00;30;14;21
You listen to the specials, and then you
order the same thing every single time.
00;30;16;24 - 00;30;17;08
Hands up.
00;30;17;08 - 00;30;20;07
If you get to on the same side of the bed
every night,
00;30;20;15 - 00;30;23;15
even when you're staying
in the hotel room by yourself.
00;30;23;17 - 00;30;25;09
If you ever got home
when you used to commute
00;30;25;09 - 00;30;27;06
from wherever you used to work
and you get home,
00;30;27;06 - 00;30;29;06
just look at your front door
and there's just that split second.
00;30;29;06 - 00;30;32;06
We just go, oh, shit, how do I get home?
00;30;33;04 - 00;30;36;07
So, yeah, on the way home,
because you went past the same stimulus
00;30;36;07 - 00;30;37;15
day in, day out,
00;30;37;15 - 00;30;40;10
your brain physically shut down,
didn't wake up to, and you got home.
00;30;40;10 - 00;30;44;06
No fresh stimulus, no new ideas out,
different companies do it different ways.
00;30;44;06 - 00;30;45;17
Microsoft says think quick.
00;30;45;17 - 00;30;47;23
No meetings, no emails, no presentations.
00;30;47;23 - 00;30;49;15
Pixar does not sit by department.
00;30;49;15 - 00;30;52;24
They sit by unplanned collaboration
specifically designed
00;30;52;24 - 00;30;54;24
to bring two people together
to have a conversation.
00;30;54;24 - 00;30;56;29
They was supposed to have to spark
a new idea.
00;30;56;29 - 00;31;00;15
Hasbro says employees $3 a quarter
to put something on a table,
00;31;00;15 - 00;31;01;09
but it can't be a toy.
00;31;01;09 - 00;31;05;00
To spark a different conversation,
Google gives their engineers 20% time.
00;31;05;00 - 00;31;07;08
It's not up and miss. They are given it.
00;31;07;08 - 00;31;10;26
And so I'm not suggesting everybody
walks up to their boss on Mondays.
00;31;10;26 - 00;31;13;14
Hey, dude, from now on, on Fridays off
only 20%.
00;31;13;14 - 00;31;15;13
What if you take one hour
a month as a team?
00;31;15;13 - 00;31;16;11
Real or virtual?
00;31;16;11 - 00;31;18;23
Invite your team in. No PowerPoint
presentation?
00;31;18;23 - 00;31;20;03
No. Why? Is it good for the business?
00;31;20;03 - 00;31;22;13
Call it first Friday of every month
nine till ten.
00;31;22;13 - 00;31;23;09
But be consistent.
00;31;23;09 - 00;31;24;26
Whatever day or time you choose,
00;31;24;26 - 00;31;26;20
just invite people to come in
and talk about something
00;31;26;20 - 00;31;29;20
they've seen in their business life,
or ideally their personal life
00;31;29;20 - 00;31;31;11
that they thought was innovative
or creative.
00;31;31;11 - 00;31;34;17
You'll be amazed at the new energy and
ideas you drive into your organization.
00;31;35;18 - 00;31;36;27
I love that approach.
00;31;36;27 - 00;31;40;24
And you know, I'm reflecting
on, you know, all the creative ideas that
00;31;40;24 - 00;31;44;03
that you've shared here and how I can, you
know, implement them in my own workflow.
00;31;44;22 - 00;31;49;07
I'm curious, do you have like a, like
a number one piece of advice for leaders?
00;31;49;07 - 00;31;53;05
You know, how you can get more creativity
and more innovation in your organization.
00;31;54;24 - 00;31;56;22
Give your employees time to think,
00;31;56;22 - 00;31;59;09
stop the oh,
you got two hours to do a brain.
00;31;59;09 - 00;32;01;18
So the other thing
is this our legal department,
00;32;01;18 - 00;32;04;18
we hired them out of college
because they studied the bar.
00;32;05;07 - 00;32;07;03
It went to coding school.
00;32;07;03 - 00;32;09;22
Our sales team got sales
training, our operations, etc..
00;32;09;22 - 00;32;11;25
When it comes to innovation
and brainstorming,
00;32;11;25 - 00;32;13;29
we just tell people
to get rid of a big idea
00;32;13;29 - 00;32;17;10
with absolutely no training and no tools.
00;32;17;15 - 00;32;20;21
And that's why I developed the Imagination
Emporium to give people a toolkit
00;32;20;26 - 00;32;23;27
they can use for things
like brainstorming and innovation,
00;32;24;01 - 00;32;25;26
because today it's too ethereal.
00;32;25;26 - 00;32;29;05
I get lots of people come to conferences
and they leave inspired and motivated,
00;32;29;10 - 00;32;30;23
and they haven't got a clue
what to do next.
00;32;30;23 - 00;32;34;01
So this is creating your toolkit
in a workshop where people do
00;32;34;01 - 00;32;37;01
the tools, where by the end of the day,
they know what to do.
00;32;37;01 - 00;32;38;23
I want, yes, people want to be inspired.
00;32;38;23 - 00;32;42;19
A motivated, but what they really want
is 2 or 3 tools they can take away
00;32;42;19 - 00;32;43;16
and use in their day
00;32;43;16 - 00;32;46;15
to day business to help them
think differently and grow their business.
00;32;47;03 - 00;32;50;20
I love that, and one of the reason
it resonates with me, Duncan, is it's it's
00;32;50;20 - 00;32;56;00
so, it's so practical and it's so oriented
around, like, what do I actually do?
00;32;56;07 - 00;32;58;13
Well, one of the things I've found,
and I'm sure you found it too,
00;32;58;13 - 00;33;01;26
is just there's no there's
no shortage of hype right now for,
00;33;01;26 - 00;33;04;28
you know, technology
or tools or approaches that are,
00;33;05;06 - 00;33;06;21
you know, going to change the world.
00;33;06;21 - 00;33;08;02
And, oh, you've got to buy this.
00;33;08;02 - 00;33;12;14
I'm curious for you if you can, you know,
call out 1 or 2, you know, things
00;33;12;14 - 00;33;15;26
that you've seen hyped and in your mind
you're like, this is not the answer.
00;33;15;26 - 00;33;18;26
This is not what's going to make
organizations more effective.
00;33;19;05 - 00;33;21;18
Well, I saw an article in Harvard Business
Review
00;33;21;18 - 00;33;24;26
about a year and a half ago
that says process beats culture.
00;33;25;20 - 00;33;26;20
Good luck with that meat
00;33;27;20 - 00;33;29;24
culture eats process for lunch.
00;33;29;24 - 00;33;31;14
And, most companies are driven
00;33;31;14 - 00;33;33;23
by culture results
and they're obsessed by quarterly results.
00;33;33;23 - 00;33;35;00
But and here's the thing, Dave.
00;33;35;00 - 00;33;37;20
And it worked up until generation
Z entered the workforce
00;33;37;20 - 00;33;39;13
or tried to enter the work
they're not working for.
00;33;39;13 - 00;33;43;00
How will you remain relevant
ten years from today if a new generation
00;33;43;00 - 00;33;45;29
employee chooses not to work for you?
00;33;46;19 - 00;33;49;08
You know, so let's let's I mean,
let's talk about that for a minute.
00;33;49;08 - 00;33;51;27
What do you see
as being different with Gen Z?
00;33;51;27 - 00;33;54;08
Is it is it, you know, radically?
00;33;54;08 - 00;33;57;12
No. We were as passionate as generations
about our causes.
00;33;57;12 - 00;33;59;06
We could only tell
two people down the part.
00;33;59;06 - 00;34;01;07
When we kick the football around,
they can tell the world,
00;34;01;07 - 00;34;02;17
call Greta Thunberg.
00;34;02;17 - 00;34;04;05
I was asked to give a talk to.
00;34;04;05 - 00;34;06;20
Let's just call them
the world's largest tool manufacturer.
00;34;06;20 - 00;34;09;07
They make more hammers and chisels
and sauce than everybody else,
00;34;09;07 - 00;34;11;27
and they wanted to know
about how to innovate with generation Z.
00;34;11;27 - 00;34;14;18
So I went down to, 91ÖÆÆ¬³§ Depot and Lowe's,
hung out in the aisle
00;34;14;18 - 00;34;15;19
like some creepy dude
00;34;15;19 - 00;34;17;22
just watching their consumers
and listening at the point
00;34;17;22 - 00;34;20;03
to push out their decision
making. I'm taking this home.
00;34;20;03 - 00;34;23;14
I was watching generation Z
and they didn't talk about this brand.
00;34;23;14 - 00;34;24;05
They'd never heard of it.
00;34;24;05 - 00;34;26;01
They didn't talk about their products,
the hammer, the chisel.
00;34;26;01 - 00;34;28;05
They didn't talk about the price,
but talk about what's important to them.
00;34;28;05 - 00;34;30;29
We had to remodel our dream apartment,
our dream kitchen ordering bathroom.
00;34;30;29 - 00;34;33;05
I said, your purpose is
you choose to create.
00;34;33;05 - 00;34;36;15
One is you could be the, brand
who helps people build their dreams.
00;34;36;20 - 00;34;37;22
You can see the finance guys
00;34;37;22 - 00;34;39;22
rolling their eyes in laughter, thinking,
this guy's a joke.
00;34;39;22 - 00;34;41;16
Let's get him out of it,
okay? Fair enough.
00;34;41;16 - 00;34;43;11
If you have the brand,
you can help people build their dreams.
00;34;43;11 - 00;34;45;01
Could you be an education? Yes. Force.
00;34;45;01 - 00;34;46;00
Yes. Hospitality.
00;34;46;00 - 00;34;47;22
Yes. Finance. Yes. Insurance.
00;34;47;22 - 00;34;49;06
Yes. Education. Yes.
00;34;49;06 - 00;34;51;11
You could be in any line of business.
No, no, we made tools.
00;34;51;11 - 00;34;54;03
We're really good at it. In fact,
we're going to expand in India. Mexico.
00;34;54;03 - 00;34;56;04
They have a growing middle class.
They will buy our tools.
00;34;56;04 - 00;34;57;07
Oh yeah. Good luck with that.
00;34;57;07 - 00;34;59;18
India, bypass
the laptop computer over a decade ago.
00;34;59;18 - 00;35;00;29
Went straight to a mobile phone.
00;35;00;29 - 00;35;04;03
India will be bypassing your tools
and going straight to 3D printing.
00;35;04;27 - 00;35;06;10
So. But oh, no.
00;35;06;10 - 00;35;09;14
Well we may so so yeah, this company,
they will make
00;35;09;14 - 00;35;12;18
a quarterly results
for about 7 to 8 more years.
00;35;12;25 - 00;35;17;24
This company, the world's largest
tool manufacturer, will be gone by 20, 32,
00;35;17;25 - 00;35;18;24
six years from today.
00;35;18;24 - 00;35;20;03
Yes. They'll make their quarterly results.
00;35;20;03 - 00;35;22;18
I don't give a damn because they've got
no purpose. They got no where to go.
00;35;24;16 - 00;35;27;08
So that that purpose for you, that's
that's thing one.
00;35;27;08 - 00;35;30;29
You've got to figure out
where you should really be playing,
00;35;31;00 - 00;35;34;19
how you're inspiring people
and everything else follows from that.
00;35;34;19 - 00;35;36;07
Is that right? It's my way.
00;35;36;07 - 00;35;39;22
And if you can't articulate it in 20s,
you don't have one.
00;35;40;10 - 00;35;43;10
I believe everybody is creative
and I'm on a mission to prove it.
00;35;43;12 - 00;35;46;12
It's as simple as that. Yeah.
00;35;46;23 - 00;35;48;06
We roll, so we roll.
00;35;48;06 - 00;35;51;06
Born creative education
just squeezed it out of us.
00;35;51;20 - 00;35;52;19
Right?
00;35;52;19 - 00;35;53;07
I want to,
00;35;53;07 - 00;35;56;06
you know, but before I lose track of it,
I do want to talk a little bit about,
00;35;56;09 - 00;35;58;27
you know, Disney and your journey
from there to what you're doing now.
00;35;58;27 - 00;36;03;00
You've talked about this mission
and kind of unlocking creativity.
00;36;03;00 - 00;36;05;08
How did how did that come to be for you?
00;36;06;09 - 00;36;07;07
30 years.
00;36;07;07 - 00;36;08;05
I got the job.
00;36;08;05 - 00;36;11;10
So I was when I finished, I was head
of innovation and creativity at Disney,
00;36;11;21 - 00;36;12;29
Marvel, Pixar, etc..
00;36;12;29 - 00;36;14;16
Yeah, I didn't start that way
00;36;14;16 - 00;36;17;16
as actually started
the cappuccino boy in the London office.
00;36;18;13 - 00;36;21;07
But I was the guy who had the mad,
audacious, outrageous ideas
00;36;21;07 - 00;36;23;00
that used to upset loads of other people.
00;36;23;00 - 00;36;25;03
But the difference
was I've gotten dumb. Why?
00;36;25;03 - 00;36;26;26
Because I use tools.
00;36;26;26 - 00;36;28;06
To help me get them done.
00;36;28;06 - 00;36;33;01
Tenacity, patience, but also just ways of
thinking differently and giving people.
00;36;33;01 - 00;36;34;07
And here's the thing.
00;36;34;07 - 00;36;36;12
We tried four models of innovation
at Disney.
00;36;36;12 - 00;36;39;12
Model number one, I hired an outside
consultancy, said make me look good.
00;36;40;02 - 00;36;41;06
They were very expensive.
00;36;41;06 - 00;36;42;18
They were never around for execution.
00;36;42;18 - 00;36;43;21
They sure as hell weren't going to show me
00;36;43;21 - 00;36;46;03
how they did it,
because then we would not.
00;36;46;03 - 00;36;47;27
Model number two,
we're creating the innovation team.
00;36;47;27 - 00;36;48;29
Bad idea.
00;36;48;29 - 00;36;50;13
Anybody outside legal? Do legal?
00;36;50;13 - 00;36;51;21
Know anybody outside of sales?
00;36;51;21 - 00;36;54;01
Do sales
know anybody outside of market know.
00;36;54;01 - 00;36;56;09
So if you create an innovation team,
you subliminally
00;36;56;09 - 00;36;58;15
just tell the rest of the organization
they're off the hook.
00;36;58;15 - 00;37;00;19
Model number three an accelerator program.
00;37;00;19 - 00;37;03;27
We bring in some young tech startups,
take a 5050 stake in that business.
00;37;04;04 - 00;37;04;21
They enable
00;37;04;21 - 00;37;05;29
us to bring products and services
00;37;05;29 - 00;37;07;16
to market much quicker
than we normally would,
00;37;07;16 - 00;37;09;05
because they weren't
encumbered by our politics.
00;37;09;05 - 00;37;10;13
And that's the way we do it here.
00;37;10;13 - 00;37;11;28
We will enable them to scale things.
00;37;11;28 - 00;37;15;13
But again, we had failed in our overall
objective was how might we embedded
00;37;15;13 - 00;37;18;10
culture of innovation, creativity
into everybody's DNA?
00;37;18;10 - 00;37;22;15
So I set out to create a toolkit
that that we could pass along.
00;37;22;15 - 00;37;25;12
The other people chose to use
when we were not around.
00;37;25;12 - 00;37;27;02
That's when you know,
you're changing the culture.
00;37;27;02 - 00;37;30;08
We have a three and a half year
wait list for a two day voluntary
00;37;30;11 - 00;37;31;12
training workshop.
00;37;32;12 - 00;37;35;06
And so after 30 years,
I was given the bronze Jiminy Cricket.
00;37;35;06 - 00;37;37;00
Thank you for 30 years of magical service
00;37;37;00 - 00;37;38;19
that you and I thought,
you know what I do?
00;37;38;19 - 00;37;39;26
I got to do something else.
00;37;39;26 - 00;37;43;17
And so I love the keynotes, but
I love the workshops you get in the room,
00;37;43;24 - 00;37;44;05
you know, it's
00;37;44;05 - 00;37;47;09
you can inspire and motivate people,
but you can't help them in 60 minutes.
00;37;47;27 - 00;37;51;20
But if you give people a fake challenge
at 9:00 and let them use the tools
00;37;51;20 - 00;37;53;24
to solve the challenge,
but it's like a clock,
00;37;53;24 - 00;37;55;09
then they know what to do next.
00;37;55;09 - 00;37;56;04
And again, here's
00;37;56;04 - 00;37;59;05
another industry that needs to be blown up
the conference industry.
00;38;00;17 - 00;38;03;21
It's just speakers because speaker panels
speak about, you know,
00;38;04;04 - 00;38;06;04
people learn by doing.
They do not learn by listening.
00;38;06;04 - 00;38;08;02
So yes, they learn both, but we can't.
00;38;08;02 - 00;38;09;05
We're going to shake it up with it.
00;38;09;05 - 00;38;11;27
We can't just get on a stage
and speak at people.
00;38;11;27 - 00;38;12;28
You've got to engage them.
00;38;12;28 - 00;38;13;26
And so to me,
00;38;13;26 - 00;38;17;05
people always ask me when I get off stage,
how did you know if you were successful?
00;38;17;05 - 00;38;18;18
I said, that's easy as well.
How'd you know?
00;38;18;18 - 00;38;21;18
I said, if one person is looking down
the telephone, I fail.
00;38;21;25 - 00;38;24;28
Simple as that. Yeah. So from
00;38;26;03 - 00;38;26;27
for you, it all comes
00;38;26;27 - 00;38;29;29
back to like that, that muscle memory.
00;38;29;29 - 00;38;30;06
Right.
00;38;30;06 - 00;38;34;03
Like actually practicing
these new skills. So.
00;38;34;04 - 00;38;37;12
So yeah.
And I'm just kind of digesting it.
00;38;37;12 - 00;38;41;11
But for you the answer is not I'll create
a chief innovation officer
00;38;41;11 - 00;38;43;19
and they'll come in and tell everybody
what to do.
00;38;43;19 - 00;38;44;24
It's like. But.
00;38;44;24 - 00;38;48;10
We need to use these tools and put them
into practice and get comfortable.
00;38;48;15 - 00;38;51;15
We need to impart them
to the rest of the organization.
00;38;51;20 - 00;38;54;19
Every conversation
that has an innovation team of 12 people.
00;38;54;26 - 00;38;57;06
Oh yeah, great. Good luck with that.
00;38;57;06 - 00;38;59;29
When we really moved,
the needle was when we imparted
00;38;59;29 - 00;39;03;18
our knowledge to other people
and let them do it for themselves.
00;39;03;24 - 00;39;06;08
That's
when you're really changing a culture.
00;39;06;08 - 00;39;06;29
Right?
00;39;06;29 - 00;39;09;03
I think I think that's very well said.
00;39;09;03 - 00;39;10;08
And I loved your
00;39;10;08 - 00;39;11;18
I loved your walk through of why
00;39;11;18 - 00;39;14;08
the different models don't work
and why this was the right one.
00;39;14;08 - 00;39;15;25
And yeah, certainly that,
00;39;17;17 - 00;39;20;28
just kind of triggered a few different
organizational memories I've had as well.
00;39;20;28 - 00;39;22;13
So, no, thanks for that.
00;39;22;13 - 00;39;22;29
Thank you for that.
00;39;22;29 - 00;39;25;19
I think that's, that
that's really interesting. Duncan.
00;39;25;19 - 00;39;26;26
This has been super interesting.
00;39;26;26 - 00;39;29;26
I really appreciate you
opening my mind in terms of,
00;39;29;28 - 00;39;33;06
you know, not just the why of creativity
in innovation, but the how when you've,
00;39;33;16 - 00;39;37;01
you know, shared so many great tools
that I'm excited to try out myself.
00;39;37;28 - 00;39;39;20
Well, thank you very much indeed.
00;39;39;20 - 00;39;40;10
Anybody else?
00;39;40;10 - 00;39;42;16
It's the Imagination emporium.com.
00;39;42;16 - 00;39;43;20
It will change your lives.
00;39;43;20 - 00;39;45;07
So I actually I've finished my
00;39;45;07 - 00;39;48;28
I created this character called out,
this is the importance of diversity.
00;39;49;05 - 00;39;51;28
We were doing a new,
designing a new retail
00;39;51;28 - 00;39;54;22
dining entertainment complex for Hong Kong
Disney Resort.
00;39;54;22 - 00;39;57;05
And in the room that day,
I had the Imagineering team.
00;39;57;05 - 00;40;00;04
But that day, with 12 white
male American architects over 50.
00;40;00;04 - 00;40;01;20
So I brought in a naive expert.
00;40;01;20 - 00;40;05;10
Or who or what's naive about somebody who
doesn't know what you're working on? Why?
00;40;05;16 - 00;40;08;14
Because they'll ask the silly questions
that we're too embarrassed to ask.
00;40;08;14 - 00;40;11;01
They'll throw out the audacious idea
and governed by our river thinking.
00;40;11;01 - 00;40;13;18
So I brought in a young female Chinese
chef. Why?
00;40;13;18 - 00;40;15;28
Because she was the antithesis
of everybody else in the room.
00;40;15;28 - 00;40;17;16
And I asked everybody to draw house.
00;40;17;16 - 00;40;19;21
And everybody drew what you were draw,
Jeff?
00;40;19;21 - 00;40;22;23
Two windows, one door
and the roof was a triangle.
00;40;22;23 - 00;40;25;18
Except the chef
she drew in some architecture.
00;40;25;18 - 00;40;26;11
And why wouldn't she?
00;40;26;11 - 00;40;29;01
She's a young female Chinese chef,
not an architect.
00;40;29;01 - 00;40;32;06
On the way out the door, when the Disney
Imagineers slapped a, post-it
00;40;32;06 - 00;40;35;10
over her drawing, which said
Distinctly Disney, authentically Chinese.
00;40;35;21 - 00;40;37;22
Seven years later,
the strategic brand position
00;40;37;22 - 00;40;40;24
that guided the entire design
of the Shanghai Disney was all distinctly
00;40;40;24 - 00;40;43;24
Disney, authentically
Chinese diversity is fashion.
00;40;44;00 - 00;40;46;16
If somebody doesn't look like you,
they don't think like humans.
00;40;46;16 - 00;40;47;14
They don't think like you.
00;40;47;14 - 00;40;49;18
They can help you think differently.
00;40;49;18 - 00;40;52;27
And so, when I was designing the book,
I had this character called Archie,
00;40;53;04 - 00;40;54;28
who was a direct descendant of Archimedes,
00;40;54;28 - 00;40;56;05
because when you ask people
where they are,
00;40;56;05 - 00;40;59;05
when they get their best ideas, they say,
the shower, Archimedes was in the bar
00;40;59;10 - 00;41;00;09
and my daughter looks at it.
00;41;00;09 - 00;41;02;15
She goes, dad, it's an all white guy.
00;41;02;15 - 00;41;03;20
You can't do that shit anymore.
00;41;03;20 - 00;41;05;26
You know, like
so I created three new characters.
00;41;05;26 - 00;41;07;03
This is Spock.
00;41;07;03 - 00;41;09;27
Spock is male.
He introduces you to the crazy behavior.
00;41;09;27 - 00;41;12;21
Zing. Gender
neutral. Introduce to the energizers.
00;41;12;21 - 00;41;13;21
No. She's female.
00;41;13;21 - 00;41;14;16
She introduces you.
00;41;14;16 - 00;41;18;09
The innovation tools make it fun,
and people will use it,
00;41;18;19 - 00;41;21;14
but make it practical at the same time.
00;41;21;14 - 00;41;22;23
Nice, I love it.
00;41;22;23 - 00;41;24;05
Well, thank you so much again for joining.
00;41;24;05 - 00;41;26;16
This has been awesome
and I really appreciate your time.
00;41;26;16 - 00;41;27;27
So thank you very
much. Lovely to meet you.


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