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Disney Paper

Walt Disney developed an innovative strategy for coordinating creative work. He divided the creative process into three rooms or stages: 1) Room 1 where wild, unrestricted ideas were dreamed up; 2) Room 2 where ideas were organized into a storyboard; 3) Room 3 or "sweat box" where the project was critically reviewed before returning to Room 1 for further development. This ensured creative ideas were evaluated and the best were produced. The strategy involves distinct roles of dreamer, realist, and critic that rotate through the development process.

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146 views6 pages

Disney Paper

Walt Disney developed an innovative strategy for coordinating creative work. He divided the creative process into three rooms or stages: 1) Room 1 where wild, unrestricted ideas were dreamed up; 2) Room 2 where ideas were organized into a storyboard; 3) Room 3 or "sweat box" where the project was critically reviewed before returning to Room 1 for further development. This ensured creative ideas were evaluated and the best were produced. The strategy involves distinct roles of dreamer, realist, and critic that rotate through the development process.

Uploaded by

Taffarel Micaloski
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The Walt Disney Strategy

The Walt Disney Creativity strategy


Walt Disney is a name in popular entertainment that needs no introduction. As a creative innovator in the cartoon industry he stands head and shoulders above subsequent figures. Apart from his boundless energy, there were specific elements in the way he organised his creative work force that tended to guarantee creative outcomes. When working on the early full length cartoons that made his name - Snow White, Pinocchio, Bambi and Fantasia, he used a revolutionary approach to keeping his staff co-ordinated in their thinking on a particular project. He moved the ideas round three rooms, each room had a different function: Room 1 The place were dreams were dreamed, ideas were spun out, no restrictions, no limits - just every sort of outrageous creative hunch or idea was freely developed Room 2 Here the dreams from Room 1 were co-ordinated and the story board created as events and characters fitted into sequence. (The idea of the story board now ubiquitous - was a Disney invention) Room 3 The "sweat box" - a small room under the stairs where the whole crew would critically review the project to date with no holds barred. The process was safe because it was the project not a particular individual that was being criticised. Then the idea would return to Room 1 to allow for the work on the project to continue. The cycle always involved the three rooms. The outcome was that either an idea did not survive Room 3 and was abandoned, or it met with silence in Room 3, which indicated it was ready for production. Robert Dilts studied Disney and distilled from his creativity this version of the Disney Strategy, which is a useful tool for practical creativity, either for individuals or groups.

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The Walt Disney Strategy

The Disney Strategy


This involves three distinct states : Dreamer - the person for whom all things are possible Realist - the person who sorts things out Critic - the person who picks up on the bits that don't fit The participant activates all three roles, in the indicated sequence. The three stages require distinct approaches: Dreamer Want to

Why are you doing this? What is the purpose? What are the payoffs? How will you know you have them? Where do you want to be in the future? Who do you want to be or be like? What range of topics do you want to consider? What elements of those topics do you want to explore?

Realist How to Establish time frames and milestones for progress with evidence and test procedures What will I be doing? How specifically will the idea be implemented? How will I know if the goal has been achieved? Who besides me is involved (time constraints)? When will each phase be implemented? When will the overall goal be completed? Where will each phase be carried out?

Critic

Chance to How do all the elements fit together? What elements appear unbalanced? What parts do not fit with the overall objective of the project? What parts of the project are underdeveloped? How possible is this within the time frame? Why is each step necessary?

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The Walt Disney Strategy

Guidelines for personal orientation for the Disney Strategy


Dreamer Dominant question Representational preference Approach Time frame Time orientation Reference What? Vision Toward Long term Future Internal - Self Match Realist How? Action Toward Short term Present External - Env. Match Critic Why? Logic Away Long / Short Past / Future External - Others Mismatch

Comparison

Physiology for the Disney Strategy Dreamer Head and eyes looking up Posture symmetrical and relaxed Head and eyes straight ahead or slightly forward Posture symmetrical and centred Eyes - down Head - down and tilted Posture - angular

Realist

Critic

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The Walt Disney Strategy

Disney Strategy for groups


The arrangement of the space you work in reflects the stage of the process you are engaged in.

Dreamer

Idea

The group sits in a circle with the idea "in the middle

Realist

Realist - group sits in a semi - circle

Critic

Critic - the group sits in a row, facing the idea / project - to keep the focus on the idea / project rather than the individuals involved.

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The Walt Disney Strategy

Developing the Disney strategy for personal use


G E - the guide - explorer following the Strategy

Steps 1 G asks E to identify a series of locations for the following: Dreamer - a visionary space Realist - a practical place Critic - a place that gets you space from the other two Meta - a neutral place (independent of the other three) G asks E to stand in each of the spaces and remember experiences they have had when they engaged in or saw someone else engage in the required activity Dreamer a time when you could dream or fantasise freely Realist a time when you could plan realistically, put ideas into action Critic a time when you could constructively criticise, as well as notice problems Meta when you had a sense of detachment from like an observer 3 G asks E to select an issue / problem / work area that they would like to explore. When E has identified an appropriate topic they tell G they have done so. G can then invite E to start the process. G asks E to stand in the Dreamer space, start to imagine the outcomes you would like as if you were a character in a movie. G to check that E is going for it" allowing themselves to think in an open and uninhibited way. G to make notes if so requested by E. When E has spent sufficient time doing this, G invites E to move to the next space. G asks E to stand in the Realist space and take the dream from Step 4 and story board it into a sequence of activities, noticing the logic of the arrangement. When E is happy they have done all the possible sequencing, G invites E to move to the next space. G asks E to stand in the Critic space and take the story board from Step 5 to find out what is missing or needed. Then turn the criticisms into how questions. G to make sure E criticises the plan not the Realist G to get E to acknowledge the satisfactory elements so far. When sufficient information gathered G invites E to move to either Meta or back to Dreamer with a clear idea what Dreamer is to consider. (If Step 6 has been a bit tough then a quick visit to meta to return a sense of balance before returning to Dreamer). Repeat Steps 4 to 6 as appropriate. E concludes by reviewing with B both progress and process 2

7 8

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The Walt Disney Strategy

Materials
Csikszentmihalyi, M Creativity : flow and the psychology of discovery and invention Harper Collins, 1996 Dilts, R. B. Tools for dreamers : strategies for creativity and the structure of innovation. Meta Publications, 1991. Strategies of genius : volume 1 Aristotle, Sherlock Holmes, Walt Disney, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Meta Publications, 1994.

Dilts, R. B.

Eliot, M

Walt Disney : Hollywoods dark prince : a biography Andre Deutsch, 1994.

Walt Disney Bambi, 1942 Walt Disney Fantasia, 1940 Walt Disney Snow White and the seven dwarfs, 1937

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