FotFactory - NLP and Popular Psychology Disney

INTRODUCTION - DISNEY

Walt Disney has generally been described as a creative, artistic genius. Think of the films, the cartoons and the theme parks. He produced the first film length animation: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He created Mickey Mouse.

Disney used a particular strategy to encourage creativity: the Disney Creative Strategy. It has been studied at length by NLP expert Robert Dilts.

His staff were rotated around three different rooms:

Room1 - The Dreamer
Every dream, creative idea or hunch was developed without limitation. No criticism was used in this room.
What is possible?
If there was a genie what would you make?
What would it look like?
What excites you about the idea?

Room 2 – The Realist
Here people would consider what would be required to make the dream be turned in to reality. In Disney’s case this was where the storyboard for the film would be developed. How could that idea be made possible?
What resources will you need?
What things might get in the way?

Room 3 – The Critic
The strengths and weaknesses of the idea are looked at in detail here. It’s the idea that was criticised, NOT the person who came up with the idea.
Why should we use that idea?
What would make it better?
What would a customer think about it?

If the idea managed to get through room three without objection, then it would be used, otherwise Disney would cycle back to Room 1 and the whole process would start again.