Disney Creative Strategy employs three mindsets—Dreamer, Realist, and Critic—to foster innovation while protecting creative ideas from premature criticism.
Three rooms, three mindsets. Dream it, plan it, stress-test it.
The Dreamer paints a bold vision. The Realist builds a concrete plan. The Critic finds the weak spots. Disney’s genius was separating these modes — we do the same.
- Protects creative thinking from premature criticism
- Each mindset sees the full output of the previous one
- The Critic tests the plan, not the dream
When to Use
When you need creative ideas AND a reality check. Perfect for innovation challenges, new initiatives, or any situation where “yes, but…” kills ideas before they have a chance. The separated rooms ensure dreams get their space.
How It Works
Three distinct mindsets examine your topic in sequence:
- The Dreamer: No limits, no “but.” Paints a bold, inspiring vision of what could be
- The Realist: Takes the dream and asks “how?” Builds a concrete, actionable plan — assuming the vision IS possible
- The Critic: Stress-tests the plan. What could go wrong? What’s missing? What assumptions are risky?
Each mindset builds on the previous — the Realist works with the Dreamer’s vision, and the Critic examines the Realist’s plan.
What You Get
A complete innovation cycle: an inspiring vision, a concrete plan to realize it, a critical assessment of risks, and a synthesis that integrates all three perspectives into actionable next steps.
Related Methods
- Pre-Mortem Analysis — when you want the Critic’s perspective in even more depth
- Six Thinking Hats — when you want more structured separation of perspectives
- W³ — What? So What? Now What? — when you want to reflect on something that already happened
/libertee:disney "your challenge"