The Theory of Creativity | Duncan Wardle | TEDxAUK

You, who were a child here once, right, all of us, I bought my nephew a bicycle for Christmas about six years ago, it was Lightning McQueen's bicycle from cars, it was metal, it's like Lightning McQueen, the state of the God's uncle clearly and it was oh, remember when I was a kid, it's all about who has the biggest Christmas present in the box, so it was a huge box. He took it out, unwrapped it, opened the top of the box and took out the bike. What did he spend the rest of the day playing with? Because? it 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 rocket it was barbie's house at what point in your life now you could only see a box from the age of six to the age whatever you have today at some point in your life someone pointed the finger at you and told you that you are not creative and at some point in our life we ​​really believe that we are not creative and that is why we are one of the creative ones.

The behaviors I want to cover for a moment are that children are very curious and think expansively, over time we begin to think reductively because education teaches us to look for a correct answer and corporations because of our fear of failure, for what joy is a behavior that I would like. to talk I don't expect people to be playful every minute of every day, but I do expect people to be playful when looking for big ideas, so if I could invite you 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 the first word that comes to mind. Where are you and what do you usually do when the best ideas occur to you? Shower walking the dog riding a bike going to work what else to incorporate riding a mountain running so this is what we haven't heard and it's consistent with the 5,000 people I've trained around the world no one said the next two words at work close your eyes again I would like you to be as honest with yourself as you choose to be, the good news is that you don't have to share it with anyone.

I would like you to imagine the last verbal argument you had with someone, when you can see the argument, I will show it to you. I ask you to open your eyes and those of you, more empathetic people, can also open your eyes so that the arguments and hating on Fred Fred stop. I can't believe they copied my boss on that email. I will never ever work. with you again and I storm out of the office, slam the door, go to my local coffee shop, drive, arrive, have a cappuccino, sit down 5 or 10 minutes after finishing discussions, I'm more relaxed, which just showed up. in my head, what popped into your head, yeah, the killer line you wish you had used during the argument, or if I had said that, oh, I should have said, oh, um, what's the perfect line?

Did it ever occur to you during? the argument always fights, what's really annoying afterwards is that it's the perfect line, you have nowhere to go because being in an argument is the same as being at work and you hear yourself say and when you're sending emails you're scheduling presentations you're in a meeting presentation you are talking to someone you are 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 You come up with that killer phrase during the discussion and you don't come up with that great 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, which is the 13% of your brain that you use to make quick decisions, good decisions, decisions As informed, it works the right way, but the door between your conscious and subconscious brain is firmly closed and you cannot access the 87% of your brain, which is subconscious on every bike. ride you've ever been on every food you've ever eaten every texture you've ever felt every person you've ever kissed, even the ones you choose to forget, that keep showing up on Facebook, everything in it, they're all there. back as unrelated Stimulus that could create 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 great idea and it's That's why I had it. an energizer when you walked in all I was hearing was laughter the moment I laughed, I know metaphorically that you were back in the shower and I was able to start the ideation session, so there is something amazing, as well as amazing, to this reflective theta, Has anyone heard the expression? when the coin falls that Eureka moment I have the great idea I practiced it Thomas Edison used to sit in an armchair at night he would put a coin between his knees a tin tray on the floor and he would fall asleep his muscles would relax the penny would fall hitting the can would wake him up and he would write whatever he was thinking he has more inventions on patents in the United States than any other inventor Salvador Dali would fall asleep against his easel when he fell asleep he would fall and he would wake up and draw whatever he was dreaming of of course, I want to know what he was smoking before he went to bed, but I'm not a failed artist by any means if you're one of those people who has his best ideas. when you are about to fall asleep or about to wake up, keep a notebook next to the bed, then those Delta dreamers it's 2:30 7:00 in the morning and you can solve world peace but you can't remember it in the morning, like this The best brain state for

creativity

at work is an incredible alpha and how do you get there by running an energizer?

You're just trying to metaphorically meet people in the shower. Edward de Bono said that your brain was like a mountain and inside each one. new drop of rain that falls on your head is that one of the experiences of life and over time currents of recognition appear you learn to read and write you learn to count you learn to sing and over time that becomes a river in a torrent if you are I went to Edinburgh University you started with Disney 30 years ago you work with Disney around the world 30 years mostly in PR 25 years Disney PR how broad, how fast flowing and how deep do you think my river of thought at Disney very much like yours and your experience is what allows you to make quick and informed decisions.

Also the biggest barrier to innovation is your own experience. Have you ever tried to cross a very fast, very wide and very deep river without the boat or the rope? It's very I was working for Ford right before the holidays. Ford's biggest challenge is that they know how to make a car. They have 150 years of experience. They know where the wheel goes. Google and Apple just moved and never did. they made a car before that's their advantage they know they don't need a steering wheel our river of experience our river of thought is a huge barrier to innovation and

creativity

one of the things I encourage you to think about about a naive expert and Bring them into every session you do.

They asked me to do a session because they won't solve your challenge for you, but they will say something at the end. The embarrassing question you're too proud to ask. They'll dismiss the bold idea that you're too proud to throw it away you don't even have your gift bags you have a pencil and paper but I'm not sure we have time for that right now but if I gave you seven seconds right now to draw a house I know what you're going to do. draw. I asked the architects. I invited all the architects to design a new shopping and entertainment complex, but I also invited the executive chef of Hong Kong Disneyland, he is my naive expert.

I asked everyone The architects drew a house seven seconds later. I got my house, the same one you would draw. Yes, as a door it has a point. Why do they always have a point? Why is the door always in the front in the middle? Why do they always have a point? the windows always have crosses on them why the roof is always a triangle because our river of experience tells us that this is what a chef's house should look like; However, unlike the Imagineers, he had drawn dim sum architecture that none of us had seen before. dim sum dish with a steam ball and a shrimp ball and everyone laughed because they realized that they had stayed in their river of thinking about what a house should be like the chef gave them permission to get out of their river of thoughts and consider bold architecture if any company in the world can consider bold architecture, it will be the Walt Disney Company.

On the way out the door, someone stuck a sticky note over the picture that clearly said Disney, Authentically Chinese, Seven Years Later, the strategic brand positioning for Shanghai Disney. Resort has become distinctly Disney, authentically Chinese, so when you're trying to solve a challenge, I would invite you to take on the role of the naïve expert if you bring them in because they don't know what you're working on and again they won't. They will rarely solve the challenge for all of you, but they will say something that will shake 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 of the outlier when Walt Disney in 1940. As anyone saw Fantasia on film, Fantasia was never a box office hit and Walt was, but in 1940 the guy was so creative that he wanted it to be misted in the movies for the drip, drip, drip, a little bush now, as I wanted heat pumped into the cinema. Overnight at Bear Mountain and the theater owner said no, Walt, that's too expensive and your movies are only in the theater for six months. Those were the days so bright.

This is what Walt did. He listed the rules for showing his film in a movie. the theater is dark it's dirty I have to go at the set time I have to sit in a seat I have to watch the previews I can't control the atmosphere he listed all the rules as quickly as he could and then said what if what if? He could control the environment, that was very radical. What if in 1940 Walt didn't own any movie theaters? I will imagine a world in which I might as well not own movie theaters. And what would happen if he took my movies out of theaters?

Well, if I take them out of the movies, they can no longer be two-dimensional, they will have to be three-dimensional, and if they are three-dimensional, they will need a place to live. Well, if they have a place to live, when we walk among the characters, well, if we have characters that walk, the princesses cannot. live next to the pirates because people wouldn't be immersed in the story, oh I'll need different lands, fantasy land, adventure, oh I know, I'll call it. Disneyland, the greatest creative solution of the 20th century, about ten years ago, the two biggest barriers to coming on vacation to Disney, which I can't afford and want to wait until my kids are the right age, a new barrier emerged. nowhere in 2008 with a small Seattle online bookseller called Amazon oh how could they threaten Disney?

A new Barrett emerged. I don't want to wait in line anymore. Amazon told me I didn't have to do it. They gave it to me immediately when I want us to list all the rules for going to a Disney theme park. You have to buy a ticket. You have to queue. You have to see a character. You have to go to an attraction. You have to book a hotel. You have to stay. in a current o bom bom bom bom bom bom and we take on a role, you have to queue if we had started with how we could make more money, we would have iterated and not innovated, but because we changed the challenge and turned it into What was the biggest barrier? important to the consumer?

How could I do it? The boldest question in 2008 was: What if there were no lines? I thought the operations team would have come to the table and hit me, so we asked: Well, what if there was? There were no lines for the reception. What if there wasn't a first line lined up to enter the park or to meet your favorite character or your attraction or to buy merchandise or buy food? In 2015, we put the Disney Magic Band to the test, it's a small plastic band. it is placed on your wrist it has an RFID chip inside it six months before your arrival you can reserve your favorite attractions it is the key to your door it is your ticket to the theme park it is your reservations for your favorite attractions and characters they meet you and greet you you touch an object of merchandise once goes to your house a hotel room you touch it twice it goes to your house I save my food on my phone quickly I enter the restaurant the restaurant knows I'm here I touch the table 47 the food comes to me fresh as a result The average guest has two free hours a day What do people do every time What do you do with your free time Do you spend money Be careful about retirement It's a permanent weekend Not only that, but guests tell us data in real time 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 has an hour wait, but her daughter's favorite character is Cinderella and she hasn't met her yet, but Cinderella is two hundred feet away. Can I text mr. Smith, but then he makes long-term decisions. I know that if I put Buzz Lightyear onfive feet, fifty units an hour, if I put it at two feet, I sell 2,000 units an hour, so again, by giving something of real value to the consumer in return, The biggest revenue generator of any idea we've had in the last few 20 years without the need for capital investment simply playing the role of the atypical narrator Walt was the master storyteller, he used words like no one else.

If I asked you, I actually would. If he were to build a car wash in Kuwait, what would he need to put in water? What more brushes? What else? I didn't open the car wash. What happens if we open a car spa? What could I put in a spa? What could you put in a spa? Yes, masseuse, wax, buri, own, good, barista music, suddenly, in less than 60 seconds. You have abandoned your river of thinking what should be in a car wash and have considered what could be in a spa for cars. All I did was restate the challenges that Walt Disney made on July 17, 1955 instead of creating employees.

Walt created cast members for a role in the show they wear a costume, not a uniform, they work on stage or backstage. He created the best customer service in the world and they still exist today. All he did was restate his challenge about six months ago. I was in New York. in an office and I was waiting downstairs at the reception and I was chatting with the young lady behind the desk for about 15 minutes while I waited for my appointment and I went up and told the gentleman, I said boy, his receptionist is the nicest. Lovely empath, I'm going to steal her and take her back to Disney and he was like, oh, that's funny.

I told him why he said we don't have a receptionist at Sun-God, who the hell was he talking to you? But the last 15 minutes, um. I said well, I think her name was Sarah, she had a cream colored blouse and a floral skirt. Old Sarah from Ligo said she's our director of first impressions. All that was done here was to reexpress her challenge and she was given the power to own the space, probably the most important one. behavior of all bravery, we are not encouraged to be brave at work, but I will tell you that with the arrival of artificial intelligence on the market, if we are not brave, if we are not curious and if we are not playful, I really believe that when it comes In the next decade creativity and intuition could be part of that.

Will our survival skills rise to the forefront to compete? How do you compete against? I met Sophia in India a couple of weeks ago. She is the person with the highest artificial intelligence in the world. artificially powered robot I think it's our fundamental 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 become increasingly competitive, but to do it you will have to do it. be incredibly brave and show bravery for the last 30 seconds I just need a volunteer to come let's sing don't break your 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 I didn't think I was going to get one um so this is what you can't watch until you can't watch until the count of three on the count of three you can watch Before you came this afternoon and you might not watch until the count out of three, we put a sticky note under one of your chairs and it's just too big, just like you are, and so on the count of three, yes. it's you I just want you to come and sing we have the lyrics for you so one two three okay people relax I wouldn't do that to you to start the session this afternoon who is the bravest animal in the jungle? humble butterfly, the three meter butterfly that was flying inside your stomach about 20 seconds ago, when was the last time you felt that way at work?

If you haven't felt this way in a while, you'll be unemployed in less than five years. There are too many disruptions in the market, you have to innovate, you have to be brave and I will end with my favorite quote, which is the opposite of bravery, it is not cowardice, it is conformity, thank you very much.