How to Get Your Inner Dreamer, Realist, and Critic to Play Nicely Together

"I dream, I test my dreams against my beliefs, I dare to take risks, and I execute my vision to make those dreams come true."

– Walt Disney

Walt Disney was known for his creative genius, and his approach to the creative process has become legendary. At the heart of his method was the understanding that creativity requires three distinct perspectives - the Dreamer, the Realist, and the Critic. Each of these perspectives plays a unique role in the creative process.
Everyone has a Dreamer, Realist, and Critic within them, and learning how to manage and align these parts can help unleash your full creative potential. Managing these three players is crucial the Inner Game of creativity, as each of them has a vital role in the creative process. So it's important to get them to play nicely together and collaborate effectively if you’re going to achieve success. So, here's what you should know about the Dreamer, Realist, and Critic and their roles within you.
The Dreamer is the big picture, blue-sky visionary part of you that generates inspiring new ideas and possibilities. The Dreamer provides inspiration and direction; and its vision drives innovation and creativity.
The Realist is the part of us that evaluates and plans how to turn the Dreamer's ideas into reality. It brings practicality and logic to the table to ensure that the Dreamer's idea is doable, realistic, and practical. The Realist evaluates the time, resources, and action steps necessary to successfully implement the idea.
The Critic is the part of us that questions and evaluates the Dreamer's ideas and the Realist's plans. It uses critical thinking and analysis to identify potential problems, challenges, flaws, and weaknesses. The Critic scrutinizes the idea and plan to make sure they meet the criteria of the goal and are robust enough to succeed.
When these three parts work collaboratively together, they can generate innovative ideas and turn them into reality. They each bring a unique and valuable perspective to the table, and by balancing them, we can make the most of our creative potential.
However, if one (or more) of these parts tries to dominate, our creative process can become imbalanced and dysfunctional. As researcher and author Robert B. Dilts explains in his book, Strategies of Genius, “Creativity as a total process involves the coordination of these three subprocesses: Dreamer, Realist, and Critic. A Dreamer without a Realist cannot turn ideas into tangible expressions. A Critic and a Dreamer without a Realist just become stuck in a perpetual conflict. A Dreamer and a Realist might create things, but they might not achieve a high degree of quality without a Critic. The Critic helps to evaluate and refine the products of creativity.”
[– Robert Dilts, Strategies of Genius, pg. 163]
Dilts goes on to say, “One of the biggest problems is that the Critic doesn’t just criticize the dream. The Critic criticizes the Dreamer. It is different to say, ‘That idea is stupid,’ than to say, ‘You are stupid for having that idea.’”
[– Robert Dilts, Strategies of Genius, pg. 191]
Now that you've gotten to know a little bit about these three players, do you get an initial sense of which one might dominate your creative thinking process? The Dreamer? The Realist? Or, the Critic? Consider a recent creative project that you worked on. How did you experience your inner Dreamer, Realist, and Critic? Did they play nicely together, or did one overshadow the others?
Your ability to win the Inner Game of Creativity will depend on achieving a collaborative balance between these three parts. It takes awareness and practice to recognize when these parts are imbalanced and to bring them back into alignment. By doing so, we can tap into our full creative potential and bring our ideas to life.
For this first step on your success path, you won’t need to worry about balancing these three players. We’ll be harnessing the characteristics, perspectives, and strengths of each role, one at a time, to help you develop your creative vision/goal, connect to your purpose, and develop your plan for success.
Note: If you want to learn more about the Disney Method, you’ll find step-by-step instructions for how to use it in the Toolkit resource section of this book.