Walt Disney Knew A Thing Or Two About Ideas. Use His Framework To Make Sure You Aren't Killing Ideas Too Early

Ideas are fragile.

Some have the potential to grow into skyscrapers while others should stay in our heads.

But how do you know which ideas have potential and which ones don’t?

Disney's creative process

According to Disney, trying to answer this question too early in the life span of an idea isn’t helpful.

Instead, Disney preferred to let ideas pass through three stages:

The Dreamer stage. Let the ideas flow. No matter how “good” or “bad” they seem.

The Realist stage. Is the idea possible? What are some action items?

The Critic stage. Where are the holes? Is the idea worthwhile or not?

The problem with how most ideas get generated

Often, when coming up with ideas (especially in a team setting), we try to do all 3 stages at once.

Some ideas aren't ready for the critic stage right away. Some ideas need breathing room. They need to bake for a little while and grow enough to be ready for the critic stage.

How many (potentially great) ideas got abandoned before they were ready because we forced reality on them too soon?

A better process would be to create a system that requires you (or your team) to think through each stage separately.

Adapting Disney's process to your work

You could break up your idea generation into 3 sessions: a Dreamer session, a Realist session, and the Critic session.

Each stage would have the sole purpose of fulfilling each role. You can achieve this by setting ground rules before each session. Or you can focus on inviting the right people at the right time.

Some people naturally fall into one category or the other. Understanding your team (or yourself) and introducing ideas to the right people at the right time can make a huge difference.

By breaking up the process of generating and evaluating ideas, you give your ideas the best chance to grow.

Give it a try and let me know if it works for you!