Overview

It is very easy to assume that Imagineers are born and not made.  But that is not actually true.  Imagineers are primarily made and only slightly born.  So becoming an Imagineer is not as hard as you might think, and is primarily up to you.

High Imagineering Not Based on High Intelligence Quotient

As you first think about it, it seems logical to assume that to be an outstanding Imagineer you would have to have a very high IQ.  However, this does not turn out to be the case.  Michael Michalko, a highly acclaimed creativity expert, has written an interesting set of notes on this subject titled How Geniuses Think.  In that story he notes that Marilyn vos Savant, with the world’s highest IQ of 228, has contributed very little to science or art, whereas Richard Feynman, considered to be the greatest scientist since Leonardo da Vinci, came up with an IQ of only 122.  Your IQ is not a very important number and in particular it has very little effect on your potential for high success in Imagineering.

Achievement of Imagineering is Primarily Made not Born

A large number of groups have studied the question of whether the top innovators tend to be born or made.  They all conclude that imagineering is primarily something that we develop rather than being born with.  The ratio of what we have to develop versus what we are born with is some-where between three-quarters and two-thirds.

The Elements in Imagineering are a Blessing, Not a Curse

There is a very large number of elements in what it takes to be an Imagineer, both in regard to creativity and in regard to completivity.  That might seem to make Imagineering very difficult.  However, realize that these elements are for the most part small and quite easy to learn.  To be a good Imagineer does take some work, but the steps are mostly small and not that difficult. Imagineering comes in small pieces.

You Have to Want to and You Have to Do It

Of course, all the above possibilities mean nothing unless you want to be a successful innovator and are prepared to put in some effort.  As Walt Disney often said: “Let’s stop talking about it and start doing it.”