Disney Creative Strategy Template
Fuel innovation with our Creative Strategy Template where teams can dream up ideas to generate new products or solutions to problems. This Disney Strategy is conducted in three magical phases (The Dreamer, The Realist, and The Critic).
About the Disney Creative Strategy template
What is the Disney Creative Strategy?
Walt Disney is famous for dreaming up and executing some of the most ambitious creative projects of our time. The Disney Creative Strategy was inspired by his approach to projects. This creative process bridges the gap between imagination and reality. Use the Disney Creative Strategy template to brainstorm ideas that balance dreams and their execution.
To prepare for a Disney Creative Strategy exercise, divide the room into four parts. The first part is for dreaming and imagination, the second is for realism and planning, the third is for critics, and the fourth is for out-of-the-box thinking. Dividing the room sets the stage for what is to come, preparing the team to switch from one framework to another.
How do you follow the Disney Creative Strategy?
Start with the dreamer’s style of thinking by allowing the team to share their ideas with no restrictions or criticism. Your goal is to generate many ideas without worrying about how feasible or realistic they are. Next, take on the realist’s approach. Move to another location and think in a more logical fashion. Start to create an action plan to bring your ideas to life. Finally, move to another location to adopt the critic’s mindset. Examine your ideas and consider barriers or weaknesses.
The 3 Stages of the Disney Creative Strategy
1. The dreamer: The first stage allows the team to unlock their creativity. Focus on letting the ideas flow without criticism or restrictions.
Ask yourselves: What do we want? How can we imagine a solution? What are some potential benefits of this solution?
2. The realist: Now switch to realist mode. Start from the premise that the dream is possible. Assuming that you can achieve it, figure out what steps you would need to take to do so.
Ask: how can we apply this idea? What is our action plan? What is our timeline? What resources would we need?
3. The critic: Once you have an action plan, it’s time to uncover potential roadblocks.
Ask: what could go wrong with this idea? What is missing? What are some potential weaknesses?
Get started with this template right now.
Research Topic Brainstorm Template
Works best for:
Desk Research, Brainstorming, Ideation
Coming up with a topic for a research project can be a daunting task. Use the Research Topic Brainstorm template to take a general idea and transform it into something concrete. With the Research Topic Brainstorm template, you can compile a list of general ideas that interest you and then break them into component parts. You can then turn those parts into questions that might be the focus for a research project.
User Interview Template
Works best for:
Desk Research, Product Management
A user interview is a UX research technique in which researchers ask the user questions about a topic. They allow your team to quickly and easily collect user data and learn more about your users. In general, organizations conduct user interviews to gather background data, to understand how people use technology, to take a snapshot of how users interact with a product, to understand user objectives and motivations, and to find users’ pain points. Use this template to record notes during an interview to ensure you’re gathering the data you need to create personas.
Cost-Benefit Analysis Template
Works best for:
Leadership, Decision Making, Strategic Planning
With so many day-to-day decisions to make—and each one feeling high-stakes—it’s easy for all the choices to weigh a business or organization down. You need a systematic way to analyze the risks and rewards. A cost benefit analysis gives you the clarity you need to make smart decisions. This template will let you conduct a CBA to help your team assess the pros and cons of new projects or business proposals—and ultimately help your company preserve your precious time, money, and social capital.
Infographic Template
Works best for:
Marketing, Desk Research, Documentation
As we bet you’ve experienced, data can get pretty dense and dry. But you need it to be compelling, memorable, and understandable. The solution? Infographics. These are tools that let you present information in a visually striking way and turn quantitative or qualitative data into stories that engage and resonate. Whoever you’ll be presenting to — customers, donors, or your own internal teams — our template will let you design an infographic that combines text and visuals to break down even the most complicated data.
How Now Wow Matrix Template
Works best for:
Ideation, Product Management, Prioritization
There are no bad ideas in a brainstorm — but some are more original and easier to implement. The How Now Wow matrix is a tool that helps you identify and organize those great ideas, as well as reinvigorates your team to think creatively and take risks (a taller order as you scale). Grab this template to create your own matrix, then rank the ideas you generated in a brainstorm as “How” (difficult to implement), “Now” (easy to implement), or “Wow” (both original and easy to implement).
Plus Delta Template
Works best for:
Software Development, Meetings, Retrospectives
The Plus Delta template is a simple but powerful tool for collecting constructive criticism from a group. The format encourages you and your team to focus on what went well, what you should repeat in the future, and what you should aim to change. To complete a Plus Delta template, simply make note of things that are working and things you would like to improve. You can then file these elements into two separate columns. Use Plus Delta to showcase wins and learnings for your team, stakeholders, employees, and bosses.