RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

I just finished Marty Sklar's book "Dream It! Do It!"  Marty spent over 50 years as a creative director for Disney.

His book is filled with great insights and ideas you can use in your Children's Ministry.  This week I'm sharing them with you.  Welcome to Day 4.

More Leadership Lessons from Mickey
1. Be optimistic - if you are not positive, who else will be?

2. Courage and confidence are major cross streets on the road to success.

3. Make curiosity your search engine.

4. Learn to love your next assignment - be passionate about whatever you do.

5. Provide time to explore - but deadlines are great motivation and discipline.

6. Take time to teach - mentors are mensches.

7. Forget the politics - it's not an election!

8. Traditions are important - but change is the great dynamic.

9. Team and work are four-letter words - but together they spell "winner."

10. Remember: the last three letters of trend are E-N-D.

Join us tomorrow for more ideas and inspiration from Disney.

I just finished Marty Sklar's book "Dream It! Do It!"  Marty spent over 50 years as a creative director for Disney.

His book is filled with great insights and ideas you can use in your Children's Ministry.  This week I'm sharing them with you.  Welcome to Day 3.

Leadership Lessons from Mickey
1. Create and maintain a climate of trust.

2. Be responsive and make decisions - that's what leaders do!

3. Empower your teammates - it takes many hands to bake a success.

4. Create opportunities for new birds to fly.

5. Remember: experience is not a negative.

6. Make sure yours is not the only voice you are listening to.

7. Celebrate diversity and different points of view.

8. Never rest on your laurels - the next at-bat is your most important.

9. Take a chance - support risk-taking.

10. Provide plenty of blank paper.

Join us tomorrow for more ideas and inspiration from Disney.

I just finished Marty Sklar's book "Dream It! Do It!"  Marty spent over 50 years as a creative director for Disney.

His book is filled with great insights and ideas you can use in your Children's Ministry.  This week I'm sharing them with you.  Welcome to Day 2.

Marty created "Mickey's Ten Commandments."

1. Know your audience.  Identify the prime audience for your attraction or show before you begin design.

2. Wear your guest's shoes.  Insist that your team members experience your creation just the way guests do.

3. Organize the flow of people and ideas.  Make sure there is a logic and sequence in your stories and in the way guests experience them.

4. Create a visual magnet.  Create visual "targets" that will lead guests clearly and logically through your facility.

5. Communicate with visual literacy.  Make good use of color, shape, form, texture - all the nonverbal ways of communication.

6. Avoid overload - create turn-ons.  Resist the temptation to overload your audience with too much information and too many objects.

7. Tell one story at a time.  Stick to the story line; good stories are clear, logical, and consistent.

8. Avoid contradictions - maintain identity.  Details in design or content that contradict one another confuse an audience about your story or the time period it takes place in.

9. For every once of treatment, provide a ton of treat.  You can educate people - but don't tell them you're doing it!  Make it fun!

10. Keep it up!  Maintain it.  Everything must work.  Poor maintenance is poor show!

Join us tomorrow for more ideas and inspiration from Disney.  

I just finished Marty Sklar's book "Dream It! Do It!"  Marty spent over 50 years as a creative director for Disney.

His book is filled with great insights and ideas you can use in your Children's Ministry.  This week I'll be sharing them with you.  Enjoy day 1.

• There are two ways to look at a blank piece of paper.  It can be the most frightening thing in the world, because you have to make the first mark on it.  Or it can be the greatest opportunity in the world because you get to make the first mark - you can let your imagination fly in any direction and create whole new worlds.

• Curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.  We're always exploring and experimenting.

• It takes courage to accomplish things.

• When we go into a new project, we believe in it all the way.

• One of Walt's strengths was that he let the talent always know he cared for them.

• Walt had a way of seeing a little bit beyond what you had done.  He would say, "That's kind of interesting.  What if..." and you would leave the room more inspired than when you came in.  That's leadership.

• Walt emphasized the team concept by his own actions.  Everyone was equal in a story meeting - He just rolled up his sleeves and he was one of the group.

• Walt's genius was his ability to plus an idea.

• Colors play an important role in a guest's experience.

• Disney makes many mistakes.  Who doesn't?  But when he flies, he flies.

• Guests taught Walt and his staff many lessons. 

• Mediocrity will stunt anyone's career growth.

• Walt never hesitated to interweave age and experience with youth and exuberance.

• Disneyland was designed to have family appeal.

• Disney always had one foot in the past, because he loved the nostalgic, and one foot in the future.  He was constantly seeking and integrating new technologies that improved what he did. 

• We made sure we watched the faces of our guests. 

• We didn't think small. 

• Create great stories...present them in unique ways...make it entertaining and fun. 

• It's not a "I" business...it's a "we" business.  So many hands touch a project that no one can say "I did this." 

• The most important thing that goes into creative success is having people who can come up with the great ideas.  But the next most important thing is often overlooked: having people who will enable those great ideas and support those creative people. 

• Imagineers are driven by the success of the project rather than their ego, stature, and future contract negotiations.

Join us tomorrow for more ideas and inspiration for your children's ministry from Disney.

I'm reading a new book called "Dream It! Do It!  My Half-Century Creating Disney's Magic Kingdom."

It's written by Marty Sklar.  Marty is a Disney legend and Imagineer.  I am picking up so many great ideas from this book about connecting with children and families and leadership.

Yesterday I shared the first 25.  Here's 25 more...

Be optimistic - if you are not positive, who else will be?

Courage and confidence are major cross streets on the road to success.

Make curiosity your search engine.

Learn to love your next assignment - be passionate about whatever you do.

Provide time to explore - but deadlines are great motivation and discipline.

Take time to teach - mentors are important.

Forget the politics - it's not an election.

Traditions are important - but change is the great dynamic.

Team and work are four-letter words - but together they spell "winner."

Remember, the last three letters of trend are E-N-D.

Speak up.  Great teammates raise issues before decisions are made.

Never be afraid to ask questions.  That's how we learn our parts - onstage and backstage.

Make your experience count.  That's why you're on the team.

Help the rookies succeed.  You were "new" once, too.

Understand your role - everyone has a job to do.

Never fear failure - winners sometimes fail, too!

But - know when to take a chance and always let your leaders know you're doing it.

Play by the rules.  If you disagree, work to change them after the game.

Share the joy of success - you didn't do it by yourself.

Support your teammates - at Disney, there's only one name on the door.

There are two ways to look at a blank sheet of paper.  It can be the most frightening thing in the world,  because you have to make the first mark on it.  Or it can be the greatest opportunity in the world, because you get to make the first mark - you can let your imagination fly in any direction, and create whole new worlds.

Never lose your faith in family entertainment.

When we go into a project , we believe in it all the way.  We have confidence in our ability to do it right.  And we work hard to do the very best job possible.

I go from one area of the studio to another and gather pollen and sort of stimulate everybody.  I guess that's my job. - Walt Disney

Don't let making a living prevent you from making a life.

I'm reading a new book called "Dream It! Do It!  My Half-Century Creating Disney's Magic Kingdom."

It's written by Marty Sklar.  Marty is a Disney legend and Imagineer.  I am picking up so many great ideas from this book about connecting with children and families.  Here's the first 25...

Know your audience.  Identify the prime audience for your attraction or show before you begin your design.

Wear your guests' shoes.  Insist that your team members experience your creation just the way guests do.

Organize the flow of people and ideas.  Make sure there is a logic and sequence in your stories and in the way guests experience them.

Create a visual magnet.  Create visual targets that will lead visitors clearly and logically through your facility.

Communicate with visual literacy.  Make good use of color, shape, form, texture - all the nonverbal ways of communication.

Avoid overload - create turn-ons.  Resist the temptation to overload your audience with too much information and too many objects.

Tell one story at a time.  Stick to the story line; good stories are clear, logical, and consistent.

Avoid contradictions - maintain identity.  Details in design or content that contradict one another confuse an audience about your story or the time period it takes place in.

For every ounce of treatment, provide a ton of treat.  Educate people, but don't tell them you're going to do it.  Make it fun!

Keep it up!  Maintain things.  Everything must work.  Poor maintenance is a poor show.

Create and maintain a climate of trust. 

Be responsive and make decisions - that's what leaders do!

Empower your teammates - it takes many hands to bake success.

Create opportunities for new birds to fly.

Remember - experience is not a negative.

Make sure yours is not the only voice you are listening to.

Celebrate diversity and different points of view.

Never rest on your laurels - the next at-bat is your most important.

Take a chance.  Support risk taking.

Provide plenty of blank paper. 

Creative people thrive on "yes if."

One of Walt's strengths in his relationship with talent was that he made it clear he cared about us.

He taught the team concept by his own actions.  Everyone was equal in a story meeting - Walt just rolled up his sleeves and was one of the group.

Walt was open to everyone's thoughts.  He was a referee.

Disney makes many mistakes; what artist doesn't?  But when we fly, we really fly. 

Stop by tomorrow for 25 more ideas.