ABOUT CHRIS
HIS STORY“We don’t learn creativity, we lose it. To find it again is to reclaim our life’s play, courage, & curiosity.”
—Chris Chapman
Chris’s purpose is to help people reach their full creative potential. His vision is to enhance humanity’s creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Today, his mission is to grow imaginative teams and ideas through empathy-driven design and the psychology of collaboration—placing him and his clients at the frontier of collective creation.
At a young age, Chris was selected for a test program called Creative Learning Resource, designed to prevent elementary school children from losing creative collaboration skills—a formative experience that inspired his life’s work.
After attending Art and Design School at Illinois State University, he worked his way up at Disney Parks, from serving ice cream to becoming a designer and art director in Theme Park Development. He noticed a persistent divide between creative and business teams, which he transformed into an opportunity for connection and collaboration. His impact eventually led to his appointment as Disney's Global Creativity and Innovation Director.
In this role, Chris partnered with senior executives across Disney, applying a "learning through doing" approach to foster collaborative creativity and human-centered innovation. His trainings were paired with his leading of brainstorms, workshops, and innovation projects. His influence extended across Disney Parks, Walt Disney Imagineering, Pixar, Disney Studios, ABC Studios, and Disney Interactive. The teams he led spanned marketing, human resources, sales, finance, legal, operations, art, story, product, and experience design.
After 15 years at Disney, Chris founded Imaginology to help companies collaborate more effectively in inventing together. More than consultants, Imaginology is a new kind of agency that develops both people and ideas through workshops and design sprints tailored to each business. His recent partnerships span a diverse range of professionals, from Oscar-winning producers and animation directors to Fortune 500 leaders, food and beverage, academic researchers, psychologists, and even surgeons.
Deeply understanding self and others improves collaboration in our personal and professional lives.
Transform collaboration by fostering understanding and decreasing conflict.
Lead healthier, more energized, and effective teamwork in all areas of life.
Ignite creative problem solving and innovation.
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Studies show that how we collaborate—whether in our workplaces, homes, or online communities—is not just breaking down; it's hurting our health and well-being. Chris's Empathy Design 2.0 revolutionizes how we work together by solving problems more efficiently while reducing conflict and stress. This approach enhances collaboration by respecting diverse mindsets and perspectives and prioritizing everyone's well-being, not just the end beneficiaries.
Empathy Design 2.0 fills a critical void in traditional teamwork techniques by challenging the formerly celebrated goals of Design Thinking's "end user obsession" and the outdated use of compromise. Instead, it moves us towards a win-win environment where participants gain a profound understanding of each other's needs and motivations. This understanding decreases frustration and enhances creativity, leading to superior outcomes in both our personal and professional lives.
Other keynote topics: Creativity, Innovation, Leadership, Design Thinking, A.I., Creative Problem Solving, Human Centered Design, Storytelling in Business.
Daring Play Talks
Empathy Design 2.0: The Collaboration Revolution, Are You Ready?
“Chris consistently showcased extraordinary creative design skills, what I most appreciated was his attention to client service and understanding of the complete business landscape.
Chris possesses an entrepreneurial courage to try new and innovative approaches to art and design that inspires the rest of the team to go beyond the safe and the ordinary. I wholeheartedly endorse Chris as an outstanding business partner.
— Terry Turner, Head of Consumer Products Cirque du Soleil