Interview #9 with Joe Lanzisero

A Young Drummer with Two Sketchbooks

Growing up Joe was a passionate musician and dreamed of being a famous drummer alongside his band. He was also an artist and spent much of his time drawing, sketching, and creating puppets and characters. 

When we started talking about drawing we quickly realized some of similarities including that we each carry a sketchbook (or two!) with us at all times. Joe and I proceeded to nerd-out over it sharing sketches, talking dimensions, and types of paper. We found that we both carry two sketchbooks in what I describe as one for Type A and one for Type B, or as Joe better put it, Right Brain and Left Brain.

We both feel that this strategy encourages us to strengthen the relationship between both the creative and analytical sides of ourselves. Having a sketchbook is a wonderful way to document our lives and record our deepest and most creative thoughts.

“Life should be a non-stop learning experience.” “Every time I travel, I am stretched and come back as a bigger and better person.”

A CROSSROADS

Just before college Joe faced what felt like a crossroads at the time. He could go to Cal Arts to continue drawing and animation or pursue his passion of drumming. He (temporarily) put drumming on hold as he went to be a part of the first graduating class from the now famous Character Animation Program. His classmates included John Lasseter, Brad Bird, John Musker and Tim Burton. 

(Don’t worry, he showed me his drumset in the background of the zoom call; he’s still jammin!)

MENTORS

Navigating through college I’ve discovered a lot more questions about myself than I have found answers. Something that has helped many young and lost folks like myself is having mentors.

Joe describes having many mentors ranging from his peers at Cal Arts (with a healthy dose of competition) to then having mentors at Disney within varying departments.

One of Joe’s most memorable mentors has a background in the air force and taught Joe how to utilize both sides of the brain and develop his sense of self.

"Mentors are people with human qualities that you should hold on to.”

ANIMATION AND IMAGINEERING AT DISNEY

Joe reminisces about his time working with the Animation and Imagineering teams at Disney and what incredible opportunities they were.

He describes working in animation to be a very clear and linear design process with a goal of producing the same outcome every time. When he moved into Imagineering at Disney that design process drastically changed.

There were a lot of major differences and challenges that made Imagineering so exciting for Joe. Both Joe and I agreed that Imagineering is similar to architecture in that “no two projects are ever going to be the same.”

Joe started with Disney Imagineering as a concept designer and eventually moved up to working in management roles and ultimately leading as a Creative Executive. He became really focused on understanding how everyone’s piece of talent was contributing to the greater goal.

Through all of his positions at Disney, there was a common thread: creative problem solving. No matter what level he was at, there was a unified goal that everyone was working towards. As he moved into an executive level, he became more focused in getting everyone to efficiently apply their piece to the greater vision. Joe emulates creative problem solving in all aspects of himself.

“Walt Disney would say to be students of life. Be like a sponge. Go out into the world and soak up everything.”

SMALL COMPANIES VS THE GIANT HAIRBALL

Many young professionals like myself are curious to understand what it’s like to work for a company as big as Disney as well as what it’s like to work with a small boutique company or start up. Joe has done both.

Joe explained that with boutique companies you must be nimble, and sensitive to market changes. Small companies are the best at “making the most out of every penny” and understanding their budgets. Of course, these types of companies don’t have the deep pockets and the same opportunity that big companies like Disney do.

One of the greater challenges for Joe working as an executive for a large company was navigating the politics.

This meant spending a lot of time explaining to financial executives the reasoning behind their creative decisions. Executives were highly intelligent and cost-effective but often lacked the passion that Joe had for the parks. And, of course, with every new project, there was no precedent for what the financial outcome would be. That’s the beauty and challenge of working at Disney.

“Everything we did was prototypical. Seldom were two projects ever the same.” 

If you are considering working in a creative corporate atmosphere, Joe advises that you read Orbiting the Giant Hairball by Gordon MacKenzie.

The hairball represents a giant organization that starts out as a simple idea but keeps rolling and getting bigger and bigger and more of a giant mess. Success is knowing how to orbit that hairball, not getting caught up in the mess and stress of it.

WHAT CAN I DO NOW?

Many of the younger designers at Disney would ask him: how did you do it? I want to get to where you are! Joe’s answer was always the same in that he never sought after a particular role. He instead focused on the vision.

“I never set out to be a vice president. That was never my goal. My goal was to create and to have fun and have opportunities to try new things.”

Try to curb your frustrations and comparisons. Joe has seen many people get promoted for things that they just weren’t ready for. Is it worth it to get a promotion just to “flounder” or find that you are unhappy once you arrive?

“Don’t be something you aren’t just to move up the ladder.”

Joe and I wrap up our conversation by talking about the role of our side hustles and personal projects in our lives. Joe always has a project that he’s working on whether it be his goal of sketching every day or publishing a children’s book. He encourages young people to find what you are obsessed with and make in into your own private passion pursuit.

“Keep your eyes open. Always be curious. Always have your own personal passion project on the side.”