A Whole New World

Have you seen the Disney film Aladdin? One of our favourite scenes from that movie is where Aladdin and Princess Jasmine are riding on the magic carpet, flying above the city of Agrabah.

And in our Play Sessions we give our leaders a task to sit on a carpet and pretend to be flying through the sky.

Now most adults can justify the task "go for a walk." Or even "go outside to listen to birdsong." Many are happy to do our "blowing bubbles on the high street" task.

But sitting on a blanket pretending to fly on a magic carpet while listening to A Whole New World?

That requires a much bigger suspension of adulthood. (Which means it may unlock something deeper. If you're willing to play along.)

So - All Aboard the Magic Carpet Ride.......

The obvious lesson: imagination is a muscle

Children don't struggle with this exercise at all. You tell a seven-year-old:

"You're on a magic carpet." and they're gone.

Within seconds they're soaring over deserts, cities and oceans.

Adults usually respond differently:

"This is silly." What they're really saying is: "I've forgotten how to imagine." And anyway: "everyone will laugh at me."

Imagination isn't something we lose. It's something we stop practising.

Every act of leadership begins with imagination

This is where it gets interesting.

Before someone creates a business concept, changes a system, writes a book or starts a movement, they must first imagine a reality that doesn't yet exist.

They mentally visit a future before anyone else can see it. The "Vision" in the pitch deck. The "Future State" in the target operating model.

That's exactly what Jasmine and Aladdin are doing in that song. They're not simply flying. They're seeing possibilities beyond the boundaries they've inherited.

The whole song is essentially: "What if there is more than this?"

Which is a very powerful question for us all. And especially when you're building a business, or leading a team, or driving a change programme.

The lesson of perspective

One of the most beautiful lines in the song is: “No one to tell us no.”

A theme of the song is the idea of nobody telling you where to go, or that you're only dreaming.

It's not actually about rebellion.

It's about perspective.

From high above Agrabah, everything looks different. The problems look different. The possibilities look different. The world becomes bigger.

Many people get trapped because they spend all day at ground level, staring at the immediate challenge.

The magic carpet asks:

What can you see from 10,000 feet that you cannot see from here?

That's a leadership question.

And a life question.

The voice lesson

We think that Jasmine is one of Disney's most interesting characters from a voice perspective.

Throughout much of the story, other people are telling her:

• who she should be
• who she should marry
• what she should want
• how she should behave

The entire narrative is about reclaiming agency.

Finding her own voice. Choosing her own path.

Which makes this exercise unexpectedly aligned with our whole PowerVox philosophy.

Because a more powerful voice is rarely about volume. It's about authorship and clarity and confidence.

Permission to dream again

This might be the deepest layer of this exercise. Many adults become extraordinarily practical.

Efficient. Responsible. Capable.

But they slowly stop dreaming. Not because they lack imagination. Because dreaming feels indulgent.

The magic carpet exercise creates a tiny protected space where practicality is suspended.

For three minutes, nobody needs a business case. Nobody needs evidence. Nobody needs a strategic plan.

You can simply ask:

If there were no constraints, where would I fly?

That's a surprisingly revealing question.

The nervous system lesson

Music is important here too.

A Whole New World is a song designed to evoke wonder.

The melody rises, the harmony opens, and everything about the composition creates a feeling of expansion. When people experience awe and wonder, they often become:

• more creative
• more open-minded
• less defensive
• more connected to possibility

Which means the song isn't just background music.

It's part of our experiment in the Studio today. Listen to the music - the rise and fall, the layering of the instruments, the way the vocals fluctuate between yearning and hope, possibility and perspective, determination and awe.

The Play-Sessions Research Note

Field Observation #014: The Magic Carpet Experiment

Participants were instructed to sit upon a blanket and imagine travelling across the world aboard a flying carpet.

Initial reactions included:

"This is ridiculous."

Followed shortly by:

"Actually this is quite nice."

Researchers observed temporary increases in imagination, possibility thinking, wonder and spontaneous smiling.

Preliminary evidence suggests that adulthood may be significantly over-prescribed and imagination remains available upon request.

While you were flying over the world...

What did you notice yourself wishing for?

Because that answer may have very little to do with Disney and quite a lot to do with what your inner child is trying to say to you. ✨🧞🪄

It's about remembering that there was once a version of us who believed that impossible things might still happen. And that's a voice worth listening to. It's the voice that will make change happen in the world around you.

We hope you've enjoyed this blog post. If you're interested in working with PowerVox you can email us [email protected]. Learn more about The Greenhouse at https://www.powervox.co.uk/the-greenhouse. To find out more about PowerVox Play Sessions, visit https://www.powervox.co.uk/studio-play. You can also follow us on social media, using the handles at the footer of our website.