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Collaborative Innovation

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Disney alum Paul Williams once shared the brainstorming method developed by Walt Disney. Disney used to separate the act of coming up with and executing ideas into three distinct steps (and associated mindsets): The Dreamer, The Realist, and The Spoiler.

As Paul wrote:

“By compartmentalizing the stages, Walt didn’t let reality get in the way of the dream step. The realist was allowed to work without the harsh filter of a spoiler. And, the spoiler spends time examining a well-thought idea… something with a bit more structure.

“When we brainstorm alone and in groups – too often – we tend to fill the room with a dreamer or two, a few realists, and a bunch of spoilers. In these conditions, dream ideas don’t stand a chance.”

The Dreamer mentality specializes in blue sky thinking without constraints, the Realist mentality puts practical structure to the ideas, and the Spoiler asks the hard questions and kicks the tires. We need all three mindsets. But we need those mindsets at the right time and in the right way.

Walt Disney would go so far as to dedicate different physical rooms to each mindset. These rooms helped prompt what mindset was required at each stage. They helped ensure that innovation remained both creative and practical.

I’ve been thinking about these stages and mindsets in the context of AI. Several studies (including new research at Wharton) have shown that while Generative AI can help boost the quality of individual ideas, they can also limit the diversity of ideas. There can be a “Great Same-ening,” as Ian Whitworth once put it.

As the Wharton study’s authors wrote:

“The true value of brainstorming stems from the diversity of ideas rather than multiple voices repeating similar thoughts…

“Diversity is often overlooked, but it needs special protection. If you don’t solve for it explicitly, you won’t get it.”

Part of the challenge and opportunity of incorporating AI into innovation is deciding what collaborative roles we want humans and AI to play. Assigning roles like The Dreamer, The Realist, or The Spoiler could be a way to start.

AI alone won’t create a culture of innovation.

New Cartoon Collaboration with Intuit Mailchimp

I’m excited to share a new cartoon collaboration with Intuit Mailchimp on marketing do’s and don’ts in the holidays (like “Christmas Creep” in this first cartoon).

(It may seem early, but August is crunch time for marketers starting to plan their holiday season.)

This is a new report called “Holiday Shopping Unwrapped: Marketing Strategies for the Moments that Matter.” Along with Canvas8, Mailchimp created this uncommonly useful handbook on how to make the most of Festive Moments in the calendar.

Based on expansive survey results and deep expert opinion, this research helps unlock the code on the ebb and flow of holiday shopping. It will inspire marketers to tailor their approach for different audiences and mindsets throughout the whole busy season.

We thought cartoons could help the proverbial eggnog go down. So I’ve used all this research as source material to create cartoons capturing some of the main insights and takeaways.

Cartoon From The Archives

Here’s one from way way back (2007) on the theme of this week’s cartoon on Collaborative Innovation:

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Thank you for all of your support (and cartoon material)!

-Tom

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About Marketoonist

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of me, Tom Fishburne. I first started drawing cartoons as a student in the Harvard Business School newspaper (not quite as well-known for humor as the Lampoon) and later started this newsletter from a General Mills cubicle in 2002. The cartoons have followed my career ever since. I poke fun at the ever-changing world of marketing and business because I believe that laughing at ourselves can help us do our best work.