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).
Trusted by 65M+ users and leading companies
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.
Executive Summary Template
Works best for:
Leadership, Project Management, Documentation
Pique their curiosity. Get them excited. Inspire them to keep reading, diving further into your proposal details. That’s what a good executive summary has the power to do—and why it’s a crucial opening statement for business plans, project plans, investment proposals, and more. Use this template to create an executive summary that starts building belief, by answering high-level questions that include: What is your project? What are the goals? How will you bring your skills and resources to the project? And who can expect to benefit?
Affinity Diagram Template
Works best for:
Desk Research, Mapping, Product Management
You can use an affinity diagram to generate, organize, and consolidate information that comes out of a brainstorming session. Whether you’re building a product, working through a complex problem, establishing a process, or piecing apart an issue, an affinity diagram is a useful and simple framework that gives each team member the opportunity to pitch in and share their thoughts. But it’s not just ideal for brainstorms—this is a great template and tool when you need to reach consensus or analyze data such as survey results.
Design Research Template
Works best for:
UX Design, Design Thinking, Desk Research
A design research map is a grid framework showing the relationship between two key intersections in research methodologies: mindset and approach. Design research maps encourage your team or clients to develop new business strategies using generative design thinking. Originally designed by academic Liz Sanders, the framework is meant to resolve confusion or overlap between research and design methods. Whether your team is in problem-solving or problem space definition mode, using a research design template can help you consider the collective value of many unrelated practices.
Pros and Cons List Template
Works best for:
Decision Making, Documentation, Strategic Planning
A pros and cons list is a simple but powerful decision-making tool used to help understand both sides of an argument. Pros are listed as arguments in favor of making a particular decision or action. Cons are listed arguments against it. By creating a list that details both sides of the argument, it becomes easier to visualize the potential impact of your decision. To make your pros and cons list even more objective, it can help to weight each pro and con against the others. You can then present your decision with confidence, making a strong argument for why it’s the right one.
Milestone Chart Template
Works best for:
Project Management, Strategic Planning, Project Planning
When your team is collaborating on a large project, keeping track of the many tasks and multiple timelines can be a challenge. That’s why you need a milestone chart. These visual representations of important project events will make it simple for your team to stay on schedule and reach goals on time. And it’s so easy to get started — just determine the major milestones, use our template to create a milestone chart, and define the key dates and deliverables each milestone will require.
Event Planning Template
Works best for:
Planning, Workshops
Whether you’re planning a product launch, fully remote conference, or milestone event, the Event Planning Template will act as a visual checklist and map for all the details you need to consider before the big day. The Event Planning Template is an adaptable way to make sure the creative and strategic vision of your event doesn’t get lost in the details. By mapping out different sections - from the marketing plan, to the agenda, to snacks and swag for guests — you and your team can focus on the details most important to your functions, and collaborate as needed when overlaps occur.