Duncan Wardle

Topics:

• Innovating in a Crisis
  The pace of change in the business environment has gone off the scale, with the covid-19 crisis forcing all industries to adapt to a totally new landscape faster than ever before.
  
  The ability to innovate effectively and decisively has never been more crucial, so our IoD London Young Directors Forum has teamed up with Duncan Wardle to share his extensive expertise from 25+ years at Disney with UK business leaders to help them envisage and action creative solutions to the challenges their companies face today.
• Theory of Creativity
  But wait, do you believe that you are not the “creative type”? That we should leave the creativity to the “Creatives”? For most, this has happened so many times that we end up actually believing it. For adults, not being creative is an accepted fate.
  
  With an education and corporate structure that encourages finding the single “right answer” to every question, we are trained to fall in line, and shut down that creative portion of our brain.
  
  But weren’t we kids once? Turning boxes into spaceships and pillows and blankets into forts and castles? What happened to that creativity?
  Fortunately, that childhood creativity did not dissipate – it’s just lying dormant, waiting to be brought back to life!
  
  During the Theory of Creativity™ Keynote, Duncan will share innovation tools developed from experience with thousands of global Fortune 500 companies and 30 years of experience with the Walt Disney Company, most recently as Head of Innovation & Creativity.
  
  By the end, your audience will walk away with a series of unique Creative Behaviors and Innovation Tools to leverage their creative minds, deliver revolutionary thinking and drive substantial results in all areas of your business.
  
  KEYNOTE TAKEAWAYS:
  • How to innovate by challenging the rules of your industry
  • Learn real-life examples of how to embed a sustainable culture of innovation and creativity throughout your organization
  • Learn tools on how to encourage every employee to think creatively
• Delivering Customer Experience Magic
  Duncan will share with your team famous real-world examples from behind the scenes from his time as the Head of Innovation and Creativity at The Walt Disney Company.
  
  Showcasing challenges brought on by direct and indirect competitors, Duncan will share real-life and timely examples of how ever-evolving organizations drastically changed consumer behaviors.
  
  As he shares the exact steps Disney and other companies have taken to turn problems into massive opportunities, he will dig into the new revenue opportunities and enhanced customer experiences.
  
  By the end of this interactive presentation, your audience will have developed a whole new understanding of customer experience, and you will be empowered with tools to reframe any challenges facing your organization, finding those unique opportunities to create some customer experience magic of your own!
  
  KEYNOTE TAKEAWAYS:
  • How to turn a product centric culture into a consumer centric one
  • How to leverage “high-tech” to enable “high-touch”, delivering record guest satisfaction
  • How to address the biggest consumer pain points and what that can mean for revenue
• Demystifying Design Thinking
  What if you could learn a series of practical Design Thinking tools that you could actually use to create ideas that are embedded in consumer truth and drive business results? Duncan creates a deeply engaging, immersive presentation that not only answers these questions but also leaves the audience with a series of practical tools to take on challenges in new and different ways.
• Embedding Innovation Into Everyone’s DNA
  Companies set on creating a culture of innovation will not only survive, but they will thrive! This goes far beyond having an “Innovation Department.” Now is the time to instill a culture of innovation among EVERY member of your team.
  
  During Duncan’s time as the Head of Innovation for Disney, a company known for redefining pretty much every industry they touch Duncan’s decades of success weren’t merely a matter of luck or chance.
  
  His results were a direct reflection of his ability to create a thriving, innovative culture, and to ensure that everyone on his teams were put in a position to let their inner creativity run wild.
  
  In the Embedding Innovation into Everyone’s DNA Keynote speech, Duncan will share the exact steps and strategies used to create such an environment.
  
  Participants will learn how to create safe spaces for taking creative risks, ensure everyone on your team is empowered and thinking like an entrepreneur, and transition from the ideation stage into action.
  
  He’ll also share a creative problem-solving tool which will prime your organization to discover innovative ideas each and every time you set out to tackle a challenge.
  
  KEYNOTE TAKEAWAYS:
  • A fresh outlook on daily tasks
  • An approach to tasks with new levels of creative thinking
  • A mindset that allows innovation to flourish at work