January 1, 2020.
It was the beginning of a new year, and most would say, a new decade.
Many people, and certainly most leaders, look at the beginning of a new year to look ahead to what might be – to dream.
Since it was a new year, many of those dreams might even be worded as “resolutions” – or goals – for 2020.
Of course, looking back to January 2020 from the vantage point of early 2021, no one on earth could have predicted what the year was going to turn out like.
In spite of that, no, even BECAUSE of the way the year went, the team at Auxano would like you to focus instead on clarity.
Clarity isn’t everything, but it changes everything.
To help you understand clarity from a different perspective, this issue of SUMS Remix departs from our usual format of a common problem statement, with solutions from three books and accompanying action steps.
Instead, we invite you to take a brief look into the lives of two of the most brilliant, creative, and clarity-practicing geniuses: Walt Disney and Steve Jobs.
Though born in different generations, and living vastly different lives, Disney and Jobs have influenced millions of people through the respective outputs of the companies they founded, the Walt Disney Company and Apple.
The first installment was a look at Walt Disney. The second installment of the four-part series is a brief excerpt from a select biography of Steve Jobs, giving you background on his excellent of use of “vision” and “communication.” The third and fourth installments will give you a brief excerpt from other books that illustrate these two concepts from each man, each with action steps to help you do the same.
As you look at some specific events of their lives through the lens of “vision” and “communication,” it is my hope that you will be inspired to live and lead 2021 with clarity.
When we think of Imagineering, we think of Disney theme parks. But Imagineering is a creative process that can be used for nearly any project, once you know how it works. Lou Prosperi distills years of research into a practical how-to guide for budding “Imagineers” everywhere.
The Imagineering Process is a revolutionary creative methodology that anyone can use in their daily lives, whether at home or on the job. Prosperi will teach you first how Disney uses the Imagineering Process to build theme parks and theme park attractions, and then he’ll show you how to apply it to your own projects, “beyond the berm.”
You’ll learn how to begin as the Imagineers begin, with an evaluation of needs, requirements, and constraints, and then you’ll delve into the six stages of the Imagineering Process: blue sky, concept development, design, construction, models, and the “epilogue,” where you hold your “grand opening” and assess the effectiveness of what you’ve built.
From there you’ll see the process in action through a selection of interesting case studies drawn from game design, instructional design, and managerial leadership.
At the end of your master class, you may not be a bona-fide Imagineer, but you’ll be thinking like one.
VISION APPLICATION
Before the launch of the Disney+ streaming service, the inner workings of the Imagineers of the Walt Disney Company were considered industry secrets, guarded closely, with only glimpses available from the occasional book by a retired Imagineer.
The Imagineering Story, a six-part “behind-the-scenes” series produced by Leslie Iwerks, the granddaughter of Walt Disney’s first partner and creative genius Ub Iwerks, leads the viewer on a journey behind the curtains of Walt Disney Imagineering, the little-known design and development center of The Walt Disney Company, to discover what it takes to create, design, and build the magic of Disney around the world.
For leaders who might have seen this series, or even just heard about it, there are additional resources that help apply the principles of the Imagineers to real-world challenges found in organizations just like yours.
I think for many of us the challenge lies in finding the right model of how creativity and the creative process work so we can apply it in our own fields.
There are seven pieces or stages in the Imagineering process. Five stages form the core of the process, while the other two serve as its Prologue and Epilogue.
Prologue: The goal of the Prologue is to define your overall objective, including what you can do, can’t do, and must do when developing and building your project.
Blue Sky: The goal of the Blue Sky stage is to create a vision with enough detail to be able to explain, present, and sell it to others.
Concept Development: The goal of the Concept Development stage is to develop and flesh-out your vision with enough additional detail to explain what needs to be designed and built.
Design: The goal of the Design stage is develop the plans and documents that describe and explain how your vision will be brought to life.
Construction: The goal of the Construction stage is to build the actual project, based on the design developed in the previous stages.
Models: The goal of creating models and prototypes is test and validate your design at each stage to help solve and/or prevent problems that may arise during the design and construction process.
Epilogue: The goal of the Epilogue is to present your project to your audience, allow them to experience it, and evaluate its success and effectiveness over time.
Louis J. Prosperi, The Imagineering Process
A NEXT STEP
Author Louis Prosperi has provided an Imagineering Process Checklist for leaders to use as a guide in applying the principles listed above in their organizations. Listed below are a few examples for you to consider.
Prologue: Does your team really know what they need to create?
Blue Sky: How can you help your team define their story (vision) and creative intent?
Concept Development: What don’t you and your teams know about your project yet?
Design: Are team members collaborating and communicating as they work on separate parts of the project?
Construction: How can you help your team as they “build” the pieces and components of the project?
Models: How can you help test your team’s design?
Epilogue: How will you evaluate the success of your project?
Using these examples as a guide, continue to develop a checklist to guide the development and implementation of your project.
Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix 135, released January 2020.
Part of a weekly series on 27gen, entitled Wednesday Weekly Reader
Regular daily reading of books is an important part of my life. It even extends to my vocation, where as Vision Room Curator for Auxano I am responsible for publishing SUMS Remix, a biweekly book “excerpt” for church leaders. Each Wednesday on 27gen I will be taking a look back at previous issues of SUMS Remix and publishing an excerpt.
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