who here was a child once right all of us I bought my nephew were bicycle that
for Christmas about six years ago it was the Lightning McQueen bike from cars it
was metallic it was like Lightning McQueen God uncle status clearly and it
was a you remember when you were a kid it's all about who's got the biggest
Christmas present in the box so it was a huge box he brought it out unwrapped it
tore open the top of the box took the bicycle out what did he spend the rest
of the day playing with why could be anything he wanted it to be it was
anything you wanted it to be it was a fort it was a castle it was a rocketship
it was a Barbie's house at what point in your life could you now only see a box
from the age of six to the age of whatever you are today at some point in
your life somebody's pointed a finger at you and told you you're not creative and
at some point in our life we actually believe we're not creative so one of the
creative behaviors I want to cover for a moment is children are very curious and
they think expansively over time we begin to think reductively
because education teaches us to look for one right answer and corporations for
our fear of failure so playfulness is a behavior I'd like to talk about I don't
expect people to be playful every minute of every day but I do expect people to
be playful when they're looking for big ideas so if I could invite you just to
close your eyes for a moment I'm going to ask you a question I don't want you
to think about it I just want you to shout out the first word that comes into
your head where are you and what are you doing usually when you get your best
ideas shower walking the dog bike ride commuting what else embed mount on a
mountain running so here's what we haven't heard and it's consistent with
the 5,000 people I've trained across the world nobody said the following two
words at work
close your eyes again I'd like you to be as honest with yourself as you choose to
be the good news is you don't have to share it with anybody
I'd like you to picture the last verbal argument you were in with somebody when
you can see the argument I'll ask you to open your eyes and for those of you more
empathetic people you can open your eyes as well so the arguments over and you
hate Fred Fred I can't believe you blind cop in my boss on that email I'll never
ever ever work with you again and I storm out of the office I slam the door
I go over to my local coffee shop I Drive I get there I get a cappuccino I
sit down 5 or 10 minutes after the argument is over I'm more relaxed what
just popped into my head what popped into your head
yeah the killer one-liner you wish you'd use during the argument the or if I'd
have said that oh I should have said Oh almost the perfect line has it ever come
to you during the argument always fight the needs afterwards really annoying is
it's the perfect line you've got nowhere to go
why because being in an argument is the same as being at work and you hear
yourself say and when you're doing emails you're scheduling presentations
you're your internet presentation you're talking to somebody you're scheduling a
meeting and you hear yourself say I don't have time to think and when you
don't have time to think you can't come up with that killer one-liner during the
argument and you can't come up with that big idea why because your brain believe
it or not has four brain states the one we live in most of the day is what I
call busy beta that's 13% of your brain that you use to make quick decisions
good decisions inform decisions get to work the right way but the door between
your conscious and subconscious brain is firmly closed and you can't access 87
percent of your brain which is subconscious every bicycle ride you've
ever been on every meal you ever eaten every texture you've ever felt every
person you've ever kissed even the ones you choose to forget that keep popping
up on Facebook every now and they're all back there as unrelated
stimulus that could create of unforced connections to build new ideas but when
the door between your conscious and subconscious brain is firmly closed when
you hear yourself say I don't have time to think you can't have that big idea
and that's why I did an energizer when you came in all I was listening for was
laughter the moment I got laughter I know metaphorically you were back in the
shower and I could start the ideation session then there's amazing apart from
amazing out for this thoughtful theta has anybody heard the expression when
the penny drops that Eureka moment I've got the big idea it was practiced by
Thomas Edison he used to sit in an armchair at night put a penny between
his knees a tin tray on the floor and he would fall asleep his muscles would
relax the penny would drop hit the 10:00 wake him up and he would write down
whatever he was thinking he has more inventions in patents in the United
States than any other inventor Salvador Dali would fall asleep against his easel
when he fell asleep he'd fall over and he would wake up and sketch whatever he
was dreaming of course I want to know what he was smoking before he went to
bed but not an unsuccessful artist by any stretch of the imagination if you're
one of those people that gets their best ideas when you're about to fall asleep
or about to wake up and keep a notepad by the bed then there's dreamy Delta
it's 2:30 7:00 in the morning and you can solve world peace but you can't
remember it in the morning so the best brain state for creativity at work is
amazing alpha and how do you get there by running an energizer you're just
trying to get met up people metaphorically back in the shower Edward
de Bono said that your brain was like a mountain and within each new raindrop
that falls on your head is that one of life's experiences and over time streams
of recognition appear you learn to read and write learn how to count learn how
to sing and over time that turns into a river a torrent if you're me you went to
Edinburgh University you started with Disney 30 years ago you work with Disney
around the world 30 years most of it in public relations
25 years Disney public relations how wide how fast flowing and how deep do
you think my river of thinking is on Disney very same as yours and your
expertise it's what enables you to make quick and
informed decisions it's also the single biggest barrier to innovation is your
own expertise have you ever tried to cross a very fast very wide very deep
river without a boat or a rope it's very hard I was doing some work for Ford just
before the holidays Ford's biggest challenge is they know
how to make a motor car they've got 150 years worth of experience they know
where the steering wheel goes Google and Apple have just moved in they've never
made a car before that's their advantage they know they don't need a steering
wheel our river of experience our river of thinking is a massive barrier to
innovation and creativity one of the things that I would encourage you to
think about a naive experts and bringing them into every session that you run I
was asked to run a session for they won't solve your challenge for you but
they will say something last the embarrassing question that you're too
proud to ask they'll throw out the audacious idea that you're too proud to
throw out I don't in your gift bags you've got a pen and paper but I'm not
sure we've got time for it now but if I gave you seven seconds right now to draw
a house I already know what you're going to draw I asked the architects I or
invited on all the architects design a new retail dining and entertainment
complex but I also invited in the Executive Chef of Hong Kong Disneyland
is my naive expert I asked all the architects to draw a house seven seconds
later I got my house the same one that you would draw all right it has a door
it has a dog why do they always have dog but why is the door always at the front
in the middle why do the windows always have crosses over them why is the roof
always a triangle because our river of experience tells us that's what a house
should look like the the chef's however unlike the Imagineers he had drawn dim
sum architecture which none of us had ever seen before
it's a dim sum dish with a steam ball and a prawn ball and everybody laughed
because they realized they'd stayed in their river of thinking of what a house
should look like the chef gave them permission to get out of their river of
thinking and consider audacious architecture if any company in the world
can consider audacious architecture it will be the Walt Disney Company on the
way out the door so but he slapped a post-it note over the
picture he said distinctly Disney authentically Chinese seven years later
the strategic brand positioning for the Shanghai Disney Resort became distinctly
Disney offensively Chinese so when you're trying to solve a challenge I
would invite you to the role of the naive expert is you bring them in
because they don't know what you're working on and again they won't solve
the challenge for you or rarely will they but they will say something that
would get you out of your river of thinking and thinking differently the
other role is to play the role of the outlier Walt was the genius at the
outlier when Walt Disney in 1940 has anybody seen Fantasia the film so
Fantasia was never a box-office hit and Walt
was but 1940 the guy was so creative he wanted it too missed in the theater
during drip drip drip little a Bushnell's he wanted heat pumped into
the theater during night on a bear mountain and the theater owner said no
Walt that's too expensive and your your movies only in the movie theater for six
months those were the days so lit this is what Walt did he listed the rules of
showing his movie in a movie theater it's dark it's dirty I have to go to set
time I have to sit in a seat I have to watch the previews I can't control the
environment he listed all the rules as quickly as he could and then he said
what if what if I could control the environment that was a very radical what
if in 1940 Walt didn't own any of the movie theaters will imagine a world
where I might well I don't own movie theaters so what if I took my movies out
of the theater well if I take them out of the theater they can't be
two-dimensional anymore they'll have to be three-dimensional what if they're
three-dimensional well they'll need somewhere to live well if they have
somewhere to live when we walk around characters well if we have walk around
characters the princesses can't live next to the Pirates because people
wouldn't be immersed in the story oh I'll need different
fantasyland adventure oh I know I'll call it Disneyland the biggest creative
solution of the 20th century fast-forward about ten years ago the two
biggest barriers to coming to Disney on vacation what I can't afford it and I
want to wait till my children of the right age a new barrier emerged out of
nowhere in 2008 with a little online bookseller out of Seattle called Amazon
oh how could they possibly threaten Disney a new berry emerged I don't want
to stand in line anymore Amazon's told me I don't have to they
give it to me immediately when I want so we listed all the rules of going to a
Disney theme park you have to buy a ticket you have to stand in line you
have to see a character you have to go on a ride you have to book a hotel you
have to stay in the current or bum bum bum bum bum bum and we took one role you
have to stand in line if we'd started with how might we make more money we
would have iterated not innovated but because we switch the challenge and
turned it to what was the most important barrier for the consumer how might with
what if the most audacious question in 2008 was what if there were no lines
I thought the operations team would have come and come over the table and hit me
and so we asked well what if there was no lines for front desk what if there
was no front line a line to get into the park or to meet your favorite character
or your ride or to buy merchandise or to buy food fast forward to 2015 we piloted
Disney's Magic Band it's a little plastic band it sits on your wrist it
has an RFID chip inside it six months before you arrive you can book your
favorite attractions it is your door key it is your theme park ticket it's your
reservations to your favorite rights and character meet and greets you touch an
item of merchandise once it goes to your house a hotel room you touch it twice it
goes to your house I saved my food on my fast phone I walk into the restaurant
restaurant knows I'm here I touch table 47 food comes fresh to me as a result
the average guest has two hours free time of day what do people do with their
free time what do you do with your free time you spend money
beware of the retirement it's a permanent weekend not only that but real
time data the guests are telling every second of every day what they like
and what they don't like I know if mr. Smith is in line for Space Mountain and
he's got an hour long wait but his daughter's favorite character is
Cinderella and she hasn't met her yet but Cinderella sixty yards away I can
text mr. Smith but then long-term decision making I know if I put Buzz
Lightyear at five feet I sell 50 units an hour if I put him at
two feet I sell 2,000 units an hour so again by giving something of real value
to the consumer in return the single biggest revenue generator of any idea
we've had in the last 20 years with no capital investment required simply by
playing the role of the outlier storytelling Walt was the master
storyteller he used words like nobody else if I were to ask you actually I
will if I was going to build a car wash in Kuwait what would I need to put in it
water what else brushes what else soap what else
dry out yeah I need a dryer what else vacuum yeah people and cars that's a
good list okay well what if I didn't open the car wash what have we open an
auto spa what could I put in a spa what could you put in a spa yes masseuse wax
burry owned good one barista music suddenly in less than 60 seconds you've
gone from your river of thinking of what should be in a carwash and you
considered what could be in an auto spa all I did was reframe the challenges
Walt Disney did on July 17th 1955 instead of creating employees Walt
created cast members cast for role in the show they wear a costume not a
uniform they work on stage or backstage he created the best single guest service
there is in the world and he still exists today all he did was reexpress
their challenge about six months ago I was in New York in an office and I was
waiting downstairs in reception and I was chatting to the young lady behind
the desk for about 15 minutes while I waited for my appointment and I got
upstairs and I said to the gentleman I said boy your receptionist is the most
friendly empathetic lovely I'm gonna steal her and take about
Disney and he said oh that's funny I said why he said we don't have a
receptionist at Sun God who the hell was I talking to you for the last 15 minutes
um I said well I think her name was Sarah she had a cream blouse and a
floral skirt he goes Oh Sarah he said she's our director of first impressions
all here done was reexpress t' her challenge and she was empowered to own
the space probably the most important behavior of all bravery we are not
encouraged to be brave at work but I will tell you with artificial
intelligence coming into the marketplace if we're not brave and if we're not
curious and if we're not playful I actually believe when it comes to the
next decade creativity and intuition could be some of that they'll be our
survival skills they will rise to the front to compete how do you compete
against I met Sophia in India a couple of weeks ago she's the most world's most
artificial intelligent artificial engine robot I believe it is our core human
truth we are all creative and it will be that creativity that comes to the fore
and allows us to survive in a world that will be ever more competitive but in
order to do that you will have to be incredibly brave and so to demonstrate
bravery for the last 30 seconds I just need a volunteer to come up we're going
to sing don't go breaking my heart by Elton John and Kiki Dee you can choose
if you're going to be Elton or Kiki so all I need is a volunteer hmm didn't
think I was going to get one um so here's what so you may not look until
you may you may not look until the count of three on the count of three you may
look before you came in this afternoon and you may not look until the count of
three we put a post-it note underneath one of your chairs and it simply just is
a large one just as each you and so on the count of three if if it is you I
just want you to come up and sing we've got the lyrics for you so one two three
okay people relax I would not do that to you to start the session this afternoon
who is the bravest animal in the jungle not so the humble butterfly the ten-foot
butterfly that was just flying around inside your stomach about 20 seconds ago
when was the last time you felt like that at work if you haven't felt like
that for a while you will be unemployed in less than five years there's too much
disruption coming to the marketplace you have to innovate you have to be brave
and I will finish with my favorite quote which is the opposite of bravery is not
cowardice its conformity thank you very much