Walt Disney Imagineering Team Building

Working together to make something beautiful

Over the years in any place I have worked I always try to keep morale up and be a positive influence in the office. One year when my wife was attending a culinary college to be a pastry chef, I would bring in her daily assignments to share with the office. We had cakes, cookies, puff pastries, and chocolate sculptures. It was kind of nuts, but it made people happy! I even got my own table to put everything on. It was one of those things that made people smile, no matter how stressful their day was going.

Then when Photoshop was really starting to take off, yes this was a long time ago, so many people in the office that normally wouldn’t use Photoshop in their day-to-day work really wanted to learn how to use it. So, I started a lunchtime Photoshop basics class to teach anyone who wanted to attend. I would prep a little exercise that could be easily digested with a demo in 30 to 40 minutes. We would laugh and enjoy each other’s company for a bit before the day got crazy again.

As the years went on, the work load increased, the deliverable got shorter, and these types of events became few and far between. So, when a friend who taught wood carving said he was going to be in town and offered to come to our office and let us play and learn how to execute wood carving, I jumped at the chance. In advance of this learning session, I worked with him to design something that would be relevant for us to carve. One of my coworkers is a phenomenal character artist and drew up a form-rendered Mickey in the pose of our new WDI branding. I composed the design and size based on the wood he was bringing.

When he showed up, people were a bit timid and afraid to make a mark on the wood. He was great and showed people how to do it. Pretty soon instead of one person working, there were two, then four, then six and more waiting to try!

It was just great seeing everyone gathered together doing what Imagineers do…

Make something beautiful together as a team!

• Team Building •