038 McNair Wilson on creative habits

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Can creative habits help you in your BoldIdea? McNair Wilson says “you bet!” McNair Wilson has spent a lifetime being creative and wants everyone to know that creativity isn’t a skill that you are born with or without—it’s one that every human being has and should utilize to its fullest potential.

Who is McNair Wilson? McNair Wilson is a former Disney Imagineer, writer, designer, and artist. He has led the concept design for five major theme parks, and his team even conceived the Tower of Terror, one of Disney’s most popular attractions. McNair has spoken to thousands of people in dozens of countries across the world, helping businesses like Apple and Chick-fil-A and their teams step out of the creativity box that they have built around themselves. A member of seven theater companies, McNair has given thousands of performances over 40 years and uses his experience to help train speakers and business leaders including Michael Eisner, Jerry B. Jenkins, and our own Leary Gates. McNair’s most recent book and first of a three-part series, Hatch!: Brainstorming Secrets of a Theme Park Designer, walks through the four most common creative habits and how to cultivate them.

McNair Wilson’s mission is to make sure everyone—everyone—knows that they are and can be creative. In fact, we all are as children—up until we learn what a “professional” is, and then we start closing doors on ourselves. His four creative habits will help listeners everywhere step out of their self-made box and start thinking and living creatively.

Quotes:

“Creativity is merely the natural human abilities of curiosity and imagination put to use.” – McNair

“Creativity is often rearranging the old to appear and function a different way.” – McNair

“Creativity is factory installed and is the spiritual distinction between humans and all other life forms.” – McNair

“I identified 4 habits of creativity: take risks, challenge assumptions, stay curious, and see differently. And a fifth element: encouragement.” – McNair

“The most creative people I’ve ever been around have the gift of encouragement.” – McNair

Action steps:

• God has given you a natural ability and an imagination—the only things you need to be creative.
• There are four basic creative habits: 1) take risks, 2) challenge assumptions, 3) stay curious, and 4) see differently. And a fifth element, McNair adds: the gift of encouragement.
• Something comes alive when we see the possibility of things and not the limitations of things.

Resources mentioned:

• Official website: teawithmcnair.typepad.com/tea_with_mcnair/
• McNair Wilson’s TEDxTeachers talk.
• McNair Wilson on Facebook and Twitter.
• Hatch!: Brainstorming Secrets of a Theme Park Designer by C. McNair Wilson