Creative Thinking - How to think outside the box
30 Jun 2025
Many of our clients ask how can they get their people to think differently, to think around problems - rather than simply taking the same route and expecting different results. This is where creative thinking plays an important role in the workplace.
The issues stopping lateral / creative thining
• When faced with a problem we tend to make assumptions.
• We make assumptions about how we think things should work, how things can be solved, and how people will react.
• Yet it’s by making assumptions that we stifle creativity and create barriers to effective problem solving.
If normal thinking creates normal results then to solve problems we need to think differently since creativity by definition is about moving away from the norm.
There are a number of exercises used to help people think creatively, and one of the most effective Lequin use in our creative thinking workshops is the Disney 3.
The Disney 3
Walt Disney was famous for his approach to problem solving and creative thinking. And because his mindset could change so dramatically from meeting-to-meeting, staff could never quite be sure just what to expect from him, only that his ideas and ability to solve problems were legendary.
The psychologist Robert Dilts investigated what made Walt Disney such an excellent problem solver. Through interviews with Walt Disney’s colleagues, Dilts identified three modes of thinking that Walt Disney switched between: the dreamer mode, the critic mode, and the realist mode. While many of use only use the ‘realist’ mode, rationalising why options can’t happen, Walt Disney cleared his mind of all assumptions and unhindered by conventional thinking he dreamt what could be before grounding his ideas.
The Disney 3 exercise
We use the following exercise in our 90-minute speed training ‘Creative Problem Solving’ workshops, which we recently ran at ASDA.
• Select a problem you want to deal with.
• Now choose three places in the room that you can move between e.g. in the Realist mode you may want to sit at your desk, and in the Dreamer mode by the window (and we often find participants in our workshops lie down as if they were dreaming in bed).
• Note: it’s important to physically move around as each new space will help you feel in a new place with a new mindset.
• Start in the Dreamer position…
1. Your Dreamer — think of a time when you were really creative and ideas flowed easily. Now step into your Dreamer position. You can try lying down or looking out the window. Come up with as many options as possible. Write them down. These questions can help…
• What outcome do we want?
• What assumptions are we making about solving the problem?
• What if there were no barriers – what if it were easy?
• What rules do you need to break?
In Lequin’s workshops, we find participations’ list of options for solving their problems far exceeds those created by traditional brainstorming methods.
Now move to the Realist position.
2. Your Realist — think back to a time when you were careful and realistic, then step into your Realist position. Take one or two of the solutions / ideas that most resonate with you (that you created in the Dreamer mode) and start to think about how to put them into practice. These questions can help…
• What resources – including who – do you need to put apply this idea?
• What objections might people have and how can you counter these?
• What timeline do you need to work to?
Now move to the Critic position.
3. Your Critic — think about being critical in both a positive and negative sense, as a school teacher or restaurant critic. Then step into your Critic position and start to further analyse the ideas / solutions from the previous stages. These questions can help:
• What’s missing?
• What could go wrong and why?
If your solution/ideas survive this trial by Critic then great – if not, then review your list of ideas from the Dreamer stage and move back through the Realist and Critic stages until you find one that does solve your problem.
Add your comment