The CEO of a large investment firm was handed several clippings from a financial magazine. He laid the pages on a table and with all identifying information obscured, he was asked to select the advertisement from his institution. After analyzing the graphics and copywriting for a few minutes, he realized that the only real difference between the ads that his company was running, and those of his competitors, was their logo. Without their logos, they were completely interchangeable. He could attach his logo to any of the ads, or to none of them, and it would not have made any difference
This is the problem with classic “inside the box” thinking – Everything’s the same. As I’m sure you’ve already surmised, on this nonprofit imagineering blog, we aren’t going to touch anything inside the box. If you’re looking for “fundraising best practices” and “social media strategies” that analyze what everyone else in the industry is doing, and offer suggestions to help you rise to their level, you’ll need to look elsewhere (I suggest you do – there absolutely is value in having that knowledge under your belt).
The goal of this blog isn’t to help you be as good as the top organizations by mimicking them – it’s to train you to think for yourself in ways you never have before – in ways no one ever has before – and come up with brand new ideas that don’t conform to any lists of best practices. We’re not here to design a better print ad – we’re here to gain the courage to slash print ads from our marketing budgets and find entirely new ways to connect with our people.
In fact, we aren’t even going to be thinking “outside the box!” As Disney Historian Jim Korkis said, “Walt would say, ‘No! Don’t think outside the box! Once you say that, you’ve established that there is a box.’ Walt would refuse to accept the existence of the box.”
So, let’s rip the box to pieces to use as kindling, and focus on what we’re really talking about here: Disney-level creativity.
Nonprofit Innovation
I’m going to introduce you to an entire world of creative thinking and discussions about what true innovation is (here’s a hint: “Innovation” doesn’t mean what you think it means). We aren’t just going to look at the lives of innovators, like Steve Jobs, Thomas Edison, and, of course, Walt Disney, we’re going to take a deep dive into how innovation happens, and what stands in the way of our creativity. We’re then going to use that knowledge as a base on which to build, as we discuss Disney’s Imagineering process, and see how we can use those practices in our operations.
This nonprofit imagineering blog is especially written for those of you in the non-profit world – specifically small and mid-sized organizations, such as synagogues, schools and community centers. Others will certainly find value in my words, but we’ll focus on the challenges we face and the possibilities that exist in our niche. Why that niche? Because after working in this niche for 20+ years, and reading countless books on the topics we’re going to cover, it’s my area of expertise. Be sure and look out for my next books on the topics of tv watching and procrastinating – other fields in which I excel.
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