Here is a look at another item in My Imagineering Library, this time a book entitled HATCH: Brainstorming Secrets of a Theme Park Designer by C. McNair Wilson.
The following review was originally posted on Amazon and Goodreads:
A Great Book About Brainstorming and Creativity
An insightful and engaging look at the brainstorming process by a former Disney Imagineer that will help anyone improve their brainstorming and creativity process. This is a book you will WANT to share with others (but buy them their own copies – you won’t want to let this one leave your library).
I had been looking forward to this book for a while, following the author on Facebook and Twitter, and even offering suggestions for cover design from time to time (only when the author solicited opinions), and was excited to finally get to read it.
The book starts with an explanation of the author’s “7 Agreements of Brainstorming”. In general, these sync with other “rules” of brainstorming (such as the “there are no bad ideas” and others used by Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI)), but this book drills into more detail on all of the rules outlined. I especially like the emphasis the author puts on separating “creative thinking” and “critical thinking”, which while it seems like common sense, is not common practice in my experience. Probably my favorite of the agreements is #7: Critical Thinking, because it provides an answer to one of the questions I’ve had about the Imagineering process – namely, how they move from generating lots of ideas (Blue Sky) to selecting the ideas to flesh out and develop (Concept Development).
Following the 7 Agreements, the book then explores other topics related to the brainstorming process, including the use of storyboarding, assembling teams, dealing with budgetary matters, setting up a suitable environment for brainstorming, and doodling/visual note-taking.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in creativity or the creative process in general. The examples in the book span a variety of situations (theme park design, community theater, birthday party planning, and others) and provide excellent case studies of how to apply the principles described in this book. You won’t be sorry you added this to your library.
The Imagineering Toolbox 