Walt Disney is of course known for the empire he built. He was able to transform dreams into reality like no other. He often used an NLP technique for this, which has since been named after him as the Walt Disney Strategy.
The Walt Disney Strategy
Because Walt Disney had the ability to turn dreams into reality, the developer of NLP, Robert Dilts, modeled Walt Disney’s thinking strategy. He called this the Walt Disney Strategy. This method can be used to achieve personal renewal, to bring more creativity and innovation in teams or to use in brainstorming sessions.
Walt Disney
Walt Disney had the ability to explore and view ideas from different perspectives. He looked for synergy from these different perspectives. He started by creating a dream or a vision of a movie and/or all its characters. The next step he took was to see if this was feasible. He weighed everything up against each other, such as available resources, time, resources, etc. He collected all the necessary information needed to realize the film, or make the dream come true. In the third role he looked from the perspective of the customer, the moviegoer. He asked critical questions about whether the film was interesting enough, whether it was entertaining enough, was the film too long, too short, were the characters interesting enough and did they add something to the film, etc.
Three different positions
Above you read that Disney used three different processes to achieve this. These three processes are called The Dreamer, The Realist and The Critic. In the role of the dreamer, unprecedented ideas and goals are generated and formulated. There are no boundaries in this phase. The realist then checks whether all parts of the ,dream, could be converted into reality. What is needed, what resources do you use for this, which people do you need? The realist asks himself these questions and uses them to try to get an idea of the end product. The critic will test, filter and refine all these ideas. Always remember that the critic is not criticizing the dreamer or the realist, but the plan. In meetings, Disney always used one of these roles, but his employees were unaware which role would predominate. Disney tried to bring balance to the meeting and often chose the role that was underrepresented in a meeting.
How do you apply this strategy?
Phase 1, the dreamer
Actually create three different places. For example, by placing three chairs. A chair for every role. Identify a problem or goal you want to work on and start in the dreamer’s seat. Let your imagination run wild here. Leave reality, problems and risks for what they are. They are not an issue here. Brainstorm as if failure is not possible.
Phase 2, the realist
Now sit in the realist’s seat. Now think carefully about the plan the dreamer has in mind and ask the question to what extent that dream can be realized. What does it then take to achieve this? You don’t look at risks and obstacles here, but you still assume that the dream will become reality.
Phase 3, the critic
Now step into the critic’s seat. The critic looks at what can go wrong. What is missing? What are the problems and obstacles we will encounter? What or who can stop us? Does this plan deliver sufficient results? Is it interesting enough, etc.?
Then all phases are completed again and you do this until none of the roles have any additions left. If all three roles are satisfied with the plan, you can continue to work on it to realize it.