John Sammers Tip #1

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This week, we are going to look at an imaginative and successful way to solve problems and achieve goals creatively. This has a lot in common with Future Pacing (Pt 3).
The great Walt Disney had his share of disappointments before establishing the most successful animated film based empire the world has seen. He soon worked out that, in order to survive and prosper, his creativity needed to be unfettered, his realistic side undistracted and his critical side dispassionate . He also worked out that if one person tried to be all of these at the same time it could lead to further problems unless they created a practical system to allow people to unleash their full potential in each area.

If you're in a rush scroll down to the summary.

A big part of NLP is modelling excellence and here we explore an explicit map of the successful thinking strategies of Walt Disney. He explored each new idea from different perceptual positions. A colleague once remarked '....there were actually 3 different Walts: the dreamer, the realist, and the spoiler. You never knew which one was coming to your meeting.'

For this exercise, you will need to establish 4 separate physical positions. A meta position (neutral state), your dreamer's position (where you have all your great ideas), your realist position (where you feel you can plan effectively) and your critic position (where you can dispassionately look at any problems without being influenced by any of the others' goals.). It is recommended to have three different spots and postures. My dreamer sits back, my planner is often standing and my critci is straight-backed (and frowning). One of the problems we have when attempting to creatively solve problems is that we do it all from one place and it gets a little confusing.

Anchor the appropriate strategy to each physical location - a different place wher you feel comfortable in the assigned role (eg. I have a creative chair and a business chair)

Think of a time you were able to creatively dream up or fantasize new ideas without inhibitions; step into (or sit in the chair etc.) your Dreamer position and relive that experience. If you don't believe you've ever been that creative, think of someone you know who is and imagine them stepping into your dreamer position through you. Now step back to meta and break that state - e.g. shrug your shoulders, shake each leg.

Now identify a time you were able to think realistically and devise solid plans to put your idea into action; step into Realist and relive that experience. Step back to meta and break state

Finally, think of a time you constructively criticized a plan - i.e. offered positive criticism while still identifying the problems. Make sure you are far enough away from your other sides so as not to interfere with their processes. Step into Critic and relive that experience. Step back to meta and break state.

Pick an outcome you want or a problem you want to solve. Be clear and step into your dreamer position.

Think about achieving your goal or solving your problem as if you were a character in a animated movie - able to do anything without considering what could go wrong or how to achieve it. Allow yourself unhibited freedom here. Don't think, dream.

Step into your realist position.

See the 'dream' but this time associate by stepping into each character (including yourself) and experiencing the role they will play in solving your problem or achieving your outcome. Include how they will respond. Your partner might not appreciate selling everything up to live a totally green lifestyle, for example. See this as a process - exactly like a storyboard of a film. You are realising the dreamer's vision; making it work. It will definitely help to have a sequence of images.

Step into your critic position.

Find out what's wrong with this plan/storyboard. What is missing or needed? How realistic is it to ask your high-flying city partner to give up work and look after the kids so you can pursue your career? When you have looked at all the problems in solving the problem or achieving your desired outcome, turn them into questions for the dreamer.

Step back into the dreamer and address the new questions and complete the process again

Come up with creative solutions for the problems that have been raised by the critic and when you have creative answers, move into the realist and create the storyboard that demonstrates the plan to achieve the dreamer's solution to the identified problems. Keep cycling this way until there are no more criticisms or problems.

Be sure to connect your whole self with each position. The Dreamer sees, the Realistic acts, the Critic reasons.

Summary

1) Establish 4 perceptual and physical positions for different parts of yourself; the Dreamer, the Realist, the Critic and a neutral position. Keep them well apart!
2) Anchor successful experiences of each of the roles into each of the positions. E.g. Step into your Dreamer position and think of a time you successfully used your imagination uninhibitedly. Repeat in each position.
3) Think of a goal you want to achieve or a problem you want to solve and move into the dreamer position. Think of a creative soltion to that isssue and see it as a movie.
4) Move into the realist and create a clear, step-by-step storyboard for achieving the dream.
5) Move into the critic position and constructively criticize the storyboard, identifying it's shortcomings. Turn these criticisms into questions for the dreamer
6) Cycle through the positions again until the critic can't see any further problems!

Best,
John Sammers
The Rock 'n' Roll Coach
john@rocknrollcoach.com

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