In these first two chapters of “Khrushchev’s Shoe” by Roy Underhill, I became more aware of why many organizations use a lot of hands on activities when trying to implement new experiences and information into their customers. For example, this past summer I went on vacation with my family to Branson, Missouri where we decided to visit the Titanic Museum. This museum had a lot of interactive activities that guests could participate in and to keep them entertained and fascinated about this tragic, yet historical event. Guests at the Titanic museum, upon boarding, were given a name and a story about an actual passenger on the ship and were given a guided tour by crew members that helped run the ship. Guests were also able to touch an iceberg, were challenged to see how long you could keep you hand in waters that were faced by Titanic passengers after it sunk, were able to steer and fuel the ship, and were also challenged to walk up platforms that showed how steep the ship got into the air before it broke off and sank to the bottom of the ocean. At the end of the tour, guests found out the fate of their character and were told the stories of the survivors.
As you could imagine, it was a lot more fun and interesting when you were able to actually take part and have an experience where you felt like you were there when the Titanic sank. All the hands-on activities were much better than just walking around and looking at pictures and reading stories about the passengers on the ship. This experience is one of the many that organizations use to attract and keep guests from coming to back. Museums, as well as other attractions, clubs, classes, sports, and meetings, use similar hands-on activities to enhance experiences and to keep their guests, students, and workers entertained and to give them challenges to face.
While reading into Chapter 2 of Underhill’s book, one particular name came to mind. Walt Disney. Disney was a very creative man and no doubt witnessed all 5 steps of the creative process thousands of times. While in the first step of the process, Disney probably gathered ideas and information from his surroundings as well as inputs from his family and friends. The second stage is most likely where he draws up plans of how he wants to make this idea come to life. He would finally find time to rest in stage 3, the incubation stage. After all the planning and designing of his newest addition to one of his parks or a new movie, he finally has time to rest and relax. The insight stage is where he would see his creation evolve into a scale model and he would test its capabilities in the final step.
In these first 2 chapters, I learned that it takes a lot of planning and thought in order to make dreams become a reality. It is also best to use hands-on activities to engage your customers and to create an experience that they can enjoy and remember for years. These chapters give me something to remember as I plan on entering the real world and market ideas to potential employers.