Q 469. What is the Disney Creative Strategy? Highlight its advantages and disadvantages over De Bono's Six Thinking Hats.   

 

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Disney Creative Strategy is the one of strategies in which our dreams convert into execution or better to say successfully execution. This concept was inspired by Mr W Disney and since than became popular and followed by many business leaders. Ideas through dreaming are very similar like having brainstorming to identify number of the problems when we clubbed multiple dreaming altogether and than apply PDCA for the continuous improvements and practical meanings. This strategy is divided into 03 stages: 1. Dreamer 2. Realist 3. Critic In the next session, we will see all stages in details: 1. Dreamer: We all have dreams that may be good, bad, others. Having dreams are not an issue but not to chase them would definitely left question on you and shows your characteristic like lack of grit, determination, enthusiasm etc. If you have meaningful dream than try to convert into reality despite odds are not with you but you can give at least a genuine try to make it possible. Hence, that is the idea behind Disney Creative Strategy. First step to ask their employees to share their dreams and jotted down all the ideas into one sheet. Second Step to screening the multiple ideas and find potential ideas like we do in the problem solving methodologies through multivoting method. The very purpose to filter out ideas to stay focus on critical potential ideas and validating the ideas through process knowledge and data support and scoping of ideas would increase your success rate also. Once that activity is performed, we are ready to move on next step and at that point we are clear about our need, desire and associated solutions. 2. Realist: This step is the real challenge in the Disney Creative Strategy as we need to convert our dreams into reality. If you saw dream and don't act on it than all went in vain. Now, we have shortlisted dreams and our aim to evaluate action plan on them to make them happen at the work place. We need to formulate  RACI for the every shortlisted dreams and a solid action plan to execute. So at that point we are pretty much clear about what is our action plan with timeline and method to assessment of the Ideas. 3. Critic: In the first 02 stages, We have dreams and shortlisted potential dreams or ideas and make action plan with timeline and its evaluation method. 3rd stage is Critic in which we need to have proactive approach if anything goes wrong in plan or action. Like we use PDPC(Process Design Program Chart) as advanced QC tools to check What could go wrong in process? same we did in this stage. In such scenario, we should have risk mitigation plan and associate counter measures and robust plan to be successfully implementation of Ideas into reality.

                 In 1994, Robert Dilts proposed The Disney Creativity Strategy (also known as Disney Brainstorming Method or Disney Creativity Method) that created this 100 billion kingdom. This is an effective roadmap for the incubation of many products and projects for thirty years. The Disney strategy use three step approach to identify project goals, clear paths, and avoid risks as shown in the Venn diagram below.

 

 

Disney’s Creativity Thinking Process
                    Disney’s strategy works based on 3 roles — to generate ideas, evaluate ideas, construct and criticize a plan of action structured in three thinking styles: dreamers, realizers, and critics.

 

                    This creative process unlocks the mind’s capabilities to dream and form unexpected ideas and solutions for existing problems, which may not be applicable in reality. This method emphasis on the balance between the dream and reality in order to enhance the viability of the solution proposed.

                    The three creative thinking styles are – dreamers, realizers, and critics.

• In the first mode, the group uses divergent thinking to conceive creative and radical ideas, to brainstorm ideal solution.
• In the next mode, the group takes a realizer viewpoint. Here, the ideas left by the dreamers are reviewed through convergent thinking by the pragmatic realists and they select the best idea to create an action plan. 
• The final viewpoint is that of critics, where they review the plan made by the realists in order to identify weaknesses, obstacles or risks.

 

The dreamer

Any creative idea starts with a dream, devoid of the realism and practicality. In conventional meetings, this dreaming style is halted by reality. The first stage allows the team to share their dream without no restrictions or criticism, thus creating a pool of creative ideas. 
Following questions are asked by the dreamer:
1.    What do we want?
2.    What is the solution?
3.    How do we imagine the solution?
4.    What are the benefits of applying this solution?

 

The realist

The team switches the place and mode to think in a more logical style. Now, the attendees pretend that the dream is possible and start putting plans to turn the imaginary ideas into an achievable action plan. This is a constructive approach and it includes questions such as the following:
1.    How can we apply this idea in reality?
2.    What is the action plan to apply the idea?
3.    What is the timeline to apply this idea?
4.    How to evaluate the idea?

 

The Critic

The critic thinking mode tends to discover the limitations of applying the idea and how to overcome it. Now, the team provides a constructive critique for the idea in order to find the weak points and solve it in the final solution. Following questions are asked by the critics:
1.    What could be wrong with the idea?
2.    What is missing?
3.    Why cannot we apply it?
4.    What are the weaknesses in the plan?
5.    How to Create Disney’s Creativity Strategy in Team Afford?
6.    Why does this strategy work?

 

Disney used the same strategies to keep his staff coordinated towards a particular project.  He literally moved each of his staff between 3 rooms. Each room had a different function.

 

Room 1 Was The Dreamer Room – 

 

 

Room 2 Was The Realist Room – 

 

 

Room 3 Was The Critic Room – 

 

 

                   We can use readily available Disney Creative Strategy templates available in the visual collaboration platforms, such as Miro or Klaxoon.

 

Advantages of Disney's Creative Method Vs De Bono's Six Thinking Hats:

1. It is a step by step approach where it starts with Dream, Reality check & Criticism, where as, Six thinking hats doesn't follow step by step approach.
2.No confrontation of ideas or difference of opinion, as every one will be going through each phase together. In Six thinking hats method, people can still disagree strongly and there can even be conflicts about different perspectives.
3. This uses both divergent and convergent way of thinking whereas Six thinking hats use only convergent way of thinking.
4. Six thinking hats is a time consuming activity compared to Disney's method.

 

Disadvantages of Disney's Creative Method Vs De Bono's Six Thinking Hats:

1. There is a Blue Hat which will manage the ideas generation process in Six thinking hats, which is missing in the Disney's method.
2. Six thinking hats is more of a pragmatic approach where as in Disney's method a lot of time is spent on impractical ideas and how to make them realistic.

Disney Creative Strategy is a simple brainstorming process to generate new products, services or solutions to problems. Each of the 3 phases (Dreamer, Realist, and Critic) is conducted distinctly with no overlap.

 

The Disney Creativity Strategy is also popularly known as Disney’s Brainstorming Method or Creativity Method was proposed by Robert Dilts in 1994. The Disney strategy comprises 3 steps helps to identify project goals, clear paths and avoid risks as shown in the image below.

 

 

1.       In the first thinking style, teams or individuals act as Dreamers to brainstorm ideal solutions by using divergent thinking to perceive creative and drastic ideas. In this group, thinking can be without limitations to propose the most astonishing product or the solution to a problem

 

2.      From Realist viewpoint, teams or Individuals acts as logical thinkers and apply convergent thinking to review the ideas left by the dreamers to select the best idea and construct a strategy for it

 

3.      Finally from Critics viewpoint, teams or Individuals review the plan prepared by the realists in order to recognize weaknesses, impediments or risks to improve the plan. Once the Critics are finished, teams may go back into the realist role again for the 2^nd round of planning before returning to the Critic role for another round of feedback

 

 

• The dreamer without a realist cannot turn ideas into tangible terms
• The critic and a dreamer without a realist just become stuck in everlasting struggle
• The dreamer and a realist might create things, but might not achieve a high degree of excellence without a critic. The critic supports to evaluate and improve the products of creativity

 

Advantages and disadvantages of Disney method over De Bono's Six Thinking Hats:

 

Advantages: 

• Disney method the sequence is constant and structured brainstorming & thinking by teams and individuals with more focus and effective to deliver innovative but practical solutions, whereas the Six Thinking Hats can be used in any appropriate order, probably lead to low focus thinking and discussions  

Disadvantages: 

• Disney method may lead to increase conflict due to shift of roles and prolonged meetings, where as De Bono Six Thinking Hats recognized to reduce conflict, ensure a rounded view, speed up the meeting, faster and better decisions. It has been used in board room meetings and business discussions
• De Bono Six Thinking Hats helps teams to get better implementation buy-in because everyone would have participated and shared their inputs

While all the published answers are correct, answer from P Balakumaaran has been selected as the winner because of the detailed explanation and a better comparison with De Bono's Six Thinking Hats.

 

P.S. Sometimes in Disney Creative Strategy, we also have one more category - Outsiders.