When Walt Disney was in his later years, a young boy visited the Disney studio and asked one of the great innovators of our time, “What do you do around here?”  Mr. Disney humbly replied, “I think of myself as a little bee, going around here and pollinating ideas.”

There are few organizations as effective as The Walt Disney Company in cultivating invention and innovation.  And The Disney Institute, the professional development unit of the company, shares Disney best practices to help other organizations transform and develop into better organizations.  Companies typically request the services of The Disney Institute to conduct training sessions with managers who supervise front-line employees.

According to Bruce Jones, director for the 25-year old institute, innovation is a priority for most companies.  But their challenge, he says, is that many company cultures do not recognize and reward worker creativity – and as a result, they typically have low employee morale and engagement.   

“Disney encourages managers to spend 60% to 70% of their time in the field looking for employees who are doing things right.”  The institute recommends that employees who fit this description receive an on-the-spot recognition card for her or his contribution.  The card can be of intangible or tangible (points for redeemable merchandise, for example) value – but to employees, says Jones, the recognition by itself is extremely important.

In addition to finding good ideas, Disney trainers emphasize looking for ideas that are “repeatable.”  As Jones observes, “An idea inside your head is great, but once it’s in a bunch of heads, it’s really valuable.”

Of course, not all ideas are great.  Managers are encouraged not to ridicule a goofy (“absurd” would also work, but his is about Disney . . . ) idea.  They are advised to simply note that the idea “might not be practical now” – one day the time may be right.  After all, who could ever have imagined that a mouse would one day become an American icon?

 

Putting the Ideas into Action

  1. Begin from a starting point that assumes there are great ideas “inside the heads” of all your people
  2. See yourself as a facilitator encouraging people to express their ideas freely
  3. Reinforce their new habits by publicly recognizing their contributions
  4. Pay close attention to “repeatable” ideas that can benefit the entire organization
  5.  Provide significant recognition to individuals whose ideas prove to be repeatable