Creativity, Disney & the Imago Dei

Creativity can be enigmatic. Not only is it hard to define, but many people would not even consider themselves as creative. Yet, Scripture tells us that we have all been created in the image of a Creative God. Therefore, in one way or another, we are all creative.  So, how can we actually BE creative?

Scott Belsky in his book “Making Ideas Happen” gives an example of the creative process of Walt Disney.   Disney had a three-staged process in creating and developing feature-length films.  He used three different rooms to create, nurture and evaluate ideas.  Whether you use three actual rooms or not, these 3 stages can be helpful to the process of creating.

Room/phase 1: This is where true brainstorming occurs.  In this room, the team members are allowed to throw out any and all ideas.  There are no limits, no evaluation, no criticism–only ideas.

Room/Phase 2: Here, the crazy ideas from room 1 are collected and organized.  The end result is a storyboard chronicling events and general sketches of characters.

Room/Phase 3:  Room 3 was also known as the “sweat box.”  This is where serious evaluation and assessment comes in.  The entire creative team would critically analyze and review the project with no restraints.  Because the end product of Room 2 was created in community, one person was never the focus of criticism.

Regardless of whether you are a youth worker creating a program, a parent planning a family vacation or a student working on a project, these 3 steps in the creative process are a great way to harness our God-given creative power.