Thursday, May 24, 2018

Traits of Walt's Imagineers

The Artistic Engineer with Mouse Ears
In my previous post I outlined the steps of Design Thinking, in the context of Imagineering:
  • Identify specific customer needs with Storytelling
  • Generate ideas with Blue Sky Brainstorming
  • Test and Learn about ideas with Rapid Prototyping
  • Pay attention to the details
  • Plus it up to exceed customer expectation
In this post I'm going to reveal a way for almost anyone to develop the traits of an Imagineer or at least figure out how many of them you may already have.

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If you do a web search on "How do I become an Imagineer?" Google will currently return about 5400 results, some of which are actually written by former Imagineers, like Bob Gurr, who said;

"You have to have an inherent internal drive within you that has always encompassed a range of characteristics that I think most successful Imagineers were born with. Characteristics that one might not be able to purchase in college."

Bob then went on to say that the Imagineers he has known have had three things in common;

1) Permanent curiosity about everything
2) Fearless creativity
3) The ability to clearly express themselves in words and drawings.

Let's look at each of these and one way to learn them;

Permanent Curiosity about Everything

"The most important characteristic is to be permanently curious about everything, especially about stuff you don’t know, and stuff that does not seem relevant at the time."

Bob's advice to be permanently curious about everything is significant. This is one of the core principles of deep creativity. The more raw material (ideas) there are to work with, the greater the number of possible combinations. In addition, the hidden links between seemingly unrelated things (the ambiguities and unknowns) often contain the seeds of break-thru creative solutions.

One example of this is IDEO's Deep Dive Process.  Developing deep relevant knowledge is also the first step towards what Bloom's Taxonomy calls the Creating phase, where information can be put together in innovative ways. Walt Disney exhibited this sort of behavior constantly. It is also a fundamental trait of babies and children.  That is why DT recommends adopting the mindset of a novice.

Fearless Creativity

"Not being afraid to show others a dumb idea. Maybe it will lead to something practical."

Dozens of authors have written about the importance of overcoming fear. In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review David Kelley commented:

"Students often come to Stanford University’s “d.school” to develop their creativity. Clients work with IDEO, our design and innovation consultancy, for the same reason. But along the way, we’ve learned that our job isn’t to teach them creativity. It’s to help them rediscover their creative confidence—the natural ability to come up with new ideas and the courage to try them out. We do this by giving them strategies to get past four fears that hold most of us back: 

1) Fear of the messy unknown
2) Fear of being judged
3) Fear of the first step
4) Fear of losing control.

Express ideas in both words and drawings

"Imagineers have the ability to clearly express themselves in words and drawings."

Visual Thinking - the ability to conceptualize in both images and words - is a key aspect of creativity. Artists and engineers both use their abilities to create images. It is the merging of these two skills which creates the Storyteller, who uses words and images to connect on a deep emotional level with the audience. This is something Disney has excelled at for decades and is also key element of Design Thinking.

Focus on the Guest (customer) in every phase

This one is so powerful it should probably have been stated first. Great Design, which seems like magic to the customer, comes from responding in a deep, empathic way, to guests' unexpressed needs. Its what enables the "How did they know I needed that?" moment of delight. This focus is often targeted at the end user, but the truth is the process starts with the very next person in your value chain - the person you deliver your work product to. Skip them - or anyone else - along the way and the quality of the end product will be reduced because someone's needs were overlooked or ignored.

So, how can you buff up your creativity toolbox and at least act like an Imagineer? Simple! Use the same methods to enhance your creative process. Fortunately, there are sources you can turn to for lots of free high quality guidance, provided you are willing to call the toolkit by a different name;

Human Centered Design Toolkit - (IDEO) 154 pages 34.4 MB pdf download

Use our Methods - (d.school) - "a collection of methods for folks new to design thinking."

Creative Confidence - The book by David Kelley.

Rapid Viz - A classic introduction to rapid drawing techniques.

Designing Like Imagineers

Trying to Believe
Matt O'Keefe wrote an article for Theme Park Tourist in which he listed 8 Key Principles That Disney Imagineers Use to Develop New Attractions;

Storytelling
Brainstorming
Details
Kinetics
Don't Give Up
Fill Specific Needs
Blue Sky Speculation
Plus It Up

I liked where Matt is going and wanted to take it a little further. In order to do that I'm going to compare Matt's list with the principles of Design Thinking, as taught at the Hasso Plattner Institutes of Design, also known as the d.school.  Design Thinking and Imagineering are both associated with extreme innovation, so we might expect to see some parallels.

Design Thinking follows a consistent, repeatable, process which was described by Herbert Simon as;

Define - Research - Generate - Prototype - Choose - Implement - Learn

Each phase of the process has methods and set of principles associated with it. Basically they address the questions of What, How and Why to do something in the context of problem solving.

I'm going to start by moving Matt's list of Imagineering principles around a little bit;

We start with Identifying a problem, or need(s) to fill.  This phase is what Simon calls Define and Matt calls Fill Specific Needs. The output of Imagineering's need identification is a document called the Scope of Needs, which is a list of what all the attraction "stakeholders" want, beginning with the Guests, including operations, maintenance, finance, etc. That's the WHAT part.  

How to identify a problem is addressed by Design Thinking's very well developed Interview with Empathy methods, which basically involve talking with real users in the real world about their experience and desires. This has a parallel in Disney's Storytelling, as successful empathic interviews typically trigger the customer telling a story that involves how they felt about a problem.

Why identify a problem or fill a need?  Filling needs creates happy customers. Put another way, it creates value. This is also where Plus It Up starts to come into play because exceeding customer expectations results in delighted customers. Plus It Up also relates to paying deep Attention to the Details.

Disney Imagineering's emphasis on the Guest Experience has a parallel in Apple's focus on look and feel (and WDI's "kinetics") which have to do with the emotional content and presence of their products.

How to generate ideas a.k.a Brainstorming is the most direct parallel, as both Design Thinking and Imagineering use the same term. That is done extensively in Disney's Blue Sky phase, where judgement is suspended and anything and everything goes.

Design Thinking also dives deep into explaining how to execute on developing and proving new ideas with Rapid Prototyping. Disney does lots of this during the Concept and Feasibility phases of their process.

Combined and rearranged the lists look like this:
  • Identify specific customer needs with Storytelling
  • Generate ideas with Blue Sky Brainstorming
  • Test and Learn about the ideas with Rapid Prototyping
  • Pay attention to the details
  • Plus it up to exceed customer expectations
Along the way, it helps to be curious, optimistic and persistent.

Follow this method and you'll be well on your way to creating solutions that suspend your customer's disbelief and making some magic.

Design Like Walt Disney





Much of what is called Design Thinking has its roots in work done by John Arnold, Herbert Simon, Robert McKim and Rolf Faste, starting in the late 1950's. Today, Design Thinking is closely associated with methods taught in Stanford's Product Design Program, Joint Program in Design, at the d.school, and applied by IBM, IDEO, SAP, GE, GE Healthcare and Procter and Gamble. Other schools, colleges and universities are also offering theoretical and practical courses in Design Thinking.

Alcoa first described its method of blending of imagination and engineering, asImagineering in the 1940's. Union Carbide's Richard F. Sailer wrote an article called BRAINSTORMING IS IMAGINation engINEERing in 1957. Disney filed for a copyright on the term in 1967, claiming first use in 1962. Walt Described it this way, possibly as early as 1952;

"We keep moving forward - opening new doors and doing new things - because we're curious. And curiosity keeps leading us down new paths. We're always exploring and experimenting... we call it Imagineering - this blending of creative imagination and technical know-how."

Both processes are multi-phasic and include brainstorming and storytelling. They both utilize in-depth investigation and broad-scope information gathering (ie; IDEO's "Deep Dive") to thoroughly understand all aspects of the situation. Both processes are also highly collaborative and focus on the emotional and cognitive experience of the user.

What are the differences and similarities between the methods taught at Stanford, used by IDEO and Walt Disney Imagineering? Are there common traits between one organization famed for its feel-good family entertainment and another known for solving "wicked" problems?

First, a review of what the d.school says are the key phases of Design Thinking:

Empathize - Define - Ideate - Prototype - Test
Brainstorming, Storytelling, Rapid Prototyping, Testing and Interviewing for Empathy stand out as key activities associated with the phases. These methods also create artifacts associated with each phase, like storyboards and models.

My approach was to gather as much information as I could from both on-line and print sources where persons with first hand knowledge of Imagineering and Design Thinking explained the key elements of their design processes. Next, I looked for any significant correlations and parallels between them, both in terms of vocabulary and method; I also relied on my own experience applying the principles of Design Thinking over the past 30 years.

Storytelling - Tim Brown (IDEO)

"Though its not always necessary to make your audience cry, a good story, well told should deliver a powerful emotional punch."

"...a new idea will have to tell a meaningful story in a compelling way if it is to make itself heard."

"...storytelling needs to be in the toolkit of the design thinker."

Storytelling - Walt Disney

"The story man must see clearly in his own mind how every piece of business in a story will be put."

"He should feel every expression, every reaction."

"He should get far enough away from his story to take a second look at it... to see whether there is any dead phase...to see whether the personalities are going to be interesting and appealing to the audience."

"The thing that makes us different is... Giving it "heart"... We developed a psychological approach to everything we do here. We seem to know how to "tap the heart." Others have hit the intellect. We can hit them in an emotional way. Those who appeal to the intellect only appeal to a very limited group."

Brainstorming - IDEO

IDEO is so big on brainstorming they've got their own seven rules on their web site;

1. Defer judgment
2. Encourage wild ideas
3. Build on the ideas of others
4. Stay focused on the topic
5. One conversation at a time
6. Be visual
7. Go for quantity

Brainstorming - Marty Sklar

"Everyone starts with a blank sheet of paper..." "Here, what if actually means why not?"

"No one's going to stomp on you because you came up with a strange, weird idea..."

"These ideas are then shared with a handful of Imagineers who gather to bounce them around. We call this brainstorming." Usually, when a session begins, there are no certainties. To us, that simply means anything is possible."

"A brainstorming may last hours, days, even weeks." "The only rule during this time: there are no rules." "Every aspect is questioned, admired, debated, and turned upside down and inside out until that first sketch can take a daring leap off the napkin and grow into larger, more refined drawings and paintings. The brainstorming subsides when the basic idea is defined, understood and agreed upon by all group members. It belongs to all of us, keeping a rich heritage left to us by Walt Disney. Teamwork is truly the heart of Imagineering.

Storyboarding - IDEO

A central way that IDEO fleshes out the details of a design is to develop detailed storyboards or scenarios of a person using the new device.

Storyboading - Marty Sklar

"Our next step involves a little more imagination - and a lot more blank paper - as we define the details of the idea, and determine how it can best emerge to tell its story in a three dimensional world. Sketches are pinned onto large storyboards. Dozens of them are added, taken away, switched around, re-drawn, crumpled up and tossed out, then fetched from the trash can, un-crumpled, and put back up."

Modeling - (Prototyping) d.school @ Stanford
The d.school is so committed to modeling and prototyping they have an entire class (MS&E 488) and Lab devoted to it. It's a key step in every iteration of the process.

Modeling - Marty Sklar

Clay is molded, foam is carved, and cardboard and plaster are cut and glued together to bring the idea into three dimensions. Several generations of study models are built and rebuilt. First draft scripts undergo second and third revisions.

Persistence - Walt Disney

"Get a good idea and stay with it. Dog it and work at it until it's done, and done right."

“When we consider a new project, we really study it - not just the surface idea, but everything about it. And when we go into that new project, we believe in it all the way. We have confidence in our ability to do it right. And we work hard to do the best possible job.”
"New ideas are continuously nourished as long as they have a shot at reality. If the spark of an idea is strong, it will never fade away. Even if it travels only far enough to appear on that first piece of paper, there it will patiently remain until the time is right for it to re-ignite."

Persistence - IDEO

In The Little Book of IDEO, the very first slide which appears is "Be Optimistic," close behind is Take Ownership.

Some Preliminary Conclusions

I typically allow the reader to draw their own conclusions regarding my blog postings, but in this case, I'm going to say that I found a significant level of correlation between the two methods.

Some may say the similarities are co-incidental. That may be true, but if it is, I suspect it's because at their cores Design Thinking and Imagineering are both about the same thing; Creativity that connects with the user/guest at a deep emotional level.

In my blog posting Making Walt Cry, I quote Walt on this point.