Learn from the Mouse
We went to Disneyland Paris earlier this summer. It is an inspirational and challenging place for an entertainer. I wasn’t performing, I was there as a punter, but I was struck by the sheer excellence of everything Disney do and the attention to detail.
Plus, Plus, Plus
One of my fellow Magic Circle magicians, Jez Rose, used to work in production for Disney. He told me about their concept of “plussing the show”. They are always asking, “How can we make this better?” When you go to a Disney park, you can see the extraordinary effect that this approach has.
It means that they are always improving, always striving to be the best they can be.
Black Boxes
It reminds me of Matthew Syed’s book “Black Box Thinking”, in which he references the airline industry, always seeking to learn from past mistakes (via black boxes) in order to improve the safety of the industry as a whole.
Done is Better than Perfect
I would suggest that we can all enjoy better work and life by adopting this approach ourselves. We must be careful to avoid perfectionism, that way leads to frustration and inaction. But we can aim to be always improving. Done is better than perfect, but aim to do it better each time.
Tweak Every Week
Can you improve in your work? If you perform, write or produce anything regularly, how can you tweak it to make it better? Always self-evaluate, praise yourself for what went well and honestly analyse what you could do better next time.
You can also apply this to your life. Can you make you daily routine more effective? Can you change you exercise patterns to give you more energy? Can you make adjustments to your diet? Could you alter the way you travel around to make you more productive? Could you make subtle changes to the way you interact with family and friends to improve the quality of you relationships?
Get Better, Live Better
As we seek to constantly improve we will inevitably come across new ideas and new people. This will make life more interesting and more exciting.
What can you do to plus your show?