THE LEARNING JOURNEY
Matt Barry
I had the opportunity to attend the LTEN Learning Executive Forum ahead of the 2026 LTEN Annual Conference this past June. Having attended the session in Chicago last fall, I expected a strong development experience.
I didn’t expect it to feel quite so immersive.
Knowing our first day would take place at the Disney Institute, I could not wait to touch down and head to the most magical place on Earth for some learning. The experience was exactly what you’d expect: learning, with a Disney flair.
Their immersive learning center was casual, strategically lit and filled with low-fi Disney tunes playing over excited conversations before we began. The room itself supported the experience, allowing the facilitators to stay in the mix the entire time rather than step away to manage slides.
And the décor? Disney, of course, but stripped back to reveal the blueprints behind Cinderella’s castle alongside half of the real deal, or the statue of Mickey and Walt presented in the same fashion. We were about to get a look behind the scenes at how Disney approaches innovation.
Over the next few hours, we worked our way through the Disney Creativity and Innovation Framework. At times, it felt familiar, with themes like growth mindset reframed as a “What if?” mindset to get input and creative thinking flowing.
From there, business principles were layered in through a “Yes, if…” sensibility. Unlike “Yes, and,” which expands an idea, “Yes, if…” grounds it in business reality. It helps ensure a creative idea meets a business need while surfacing immediate dependencies.
The final element brought the framework together through “Leadership Orchestration,” empowering teams to think pragmatically about both business and innovation to move ideas forward.
We all know the best learning comes through hands-on experience, and while we did not get to do any “imagineering” or role play as “cast members” — what Disney calls its associates — we did get a behind-the-scenes look at how one of Disney’s newest attractions, Galaxy’s Edge and the planet of Batuu, came to be.
Scott Trowbridge, the imagineer tasked with bringing the idea to life for us, approached innovation with a simple question: Do you want to play Star Wars? He wanted to capture the feeling of the doorbell ringing, your friend standing there with action figures, asking you to play, and the answer being an immediate yes.
That simple emotional truth became the starting point for an immersive guest experience.
You arrive as a traveler, and the Batuuians are there to help. Each cast member controls their own persona. Some are engaging, while others hang near the edges. They customize their outfits to meet their needs and add to the story they’re living in.
When we arrived, our facilitator Jennifer immediately switched into Batuuian mode, complete with a different name tag, persona and genuine excitement to show us travelers around her world. The switch was sudden, memorable and a perfect example of how every detail contributes to the story.
I’d love to give you the play-by-play of flying the Millennium Falcon during Smuggler’s Run or tell you all about my treatment as a potential rebel spy during Rise of the Resistance, but our trip to Batuu had to be cut short as we had a graduation to attend.
Returning to our classroom, we closed out the session by receiving our diplomas from the dean of the institute himself: Mickey Mouse. It was a fitting end to a magical learning experience.
And yet, the magic continued the next day.
If day one showed the power of intentional experience design, day two showed the power of learning from the people facing similar challenges. The Learning Executive Forum’s other strength is peer learning.
We enjoyed a breakfast sponsored by our industry partners that led to rich discussions on the many avenues of learning and development. From measuring behavior change to selecting platforms to deliver learning, and AI, we were engaged, energized and swapping ideas openly.
Panel presentations rounded out the morning, bringing forward stories of success while giving us a structure to apply our new “What if, Yes … if” learning. Rather than simply listen, we were invited to think through how we might approach an opportunity ourselves, workshop ideas in small groups and report back to the room. It was a reminder that the forum is not only a place to hear from experts, it is also a place to learn with and from peers.
In a blink, it was done and we were off to the main conference.
I left energized and ready to continue engaging with my peers but also reminded that the best development experiences do more than introduce new ideas. They create the conditions for people to test them, adapt them and carry them back into their own work.
The next Learning Executive Forum may not come with Mickey ears and a trip to a galaxy far, far away. But it will no doubt include the magic of connection and learning together.
Matt Barry is chapter lead, U.S. field force training, for Astellas Pharma U.S. Email Matt at matt.barry@astellas.com or connect through linkedin.com/in/mattbarry55.