Page 153 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

134 The Disney Way

has ceased to satisfy contemporary needs, many of our clients have come to
us and asked, “What shall we do?”
A few times we’ve encountered companies that talked a good line when it
came to making changes, only to discover that all management really wanted,
in effect, was to throw up a smoke screen. They planned to go through the
motions of change by attending meetings with us, but they had no intention
of even attempting to implement the suggested actions.
In some ways, however, such behavior is not all that surprising, because
it takes courage to accept the fact that you must change. Some companies are
never able to do it, and, ultimately, they slip quietly beneath the waves. But
others, such as British Petroleum, manage to summon the resolve to do what
must be done. As previously discussed in Chapter 2, management admitted
that its resources were fast being depleted and that a complete structural
overhaul was needed. Circumstances may have forced management’s hand,
but it still took courage to risk making the fundamental change required to
survive.

Shake Up Your Hiring Policies
When a client is truly serious about adopting a management style that encour-
ages appropriate risk taking, one of the things we usually recommend is a
change in hiring policies. We suggest looking for people who are not wedded
to conventional business paradigms—people who may appear to be a bit radi-
cal for the prevailing atmosphere at the company but who possess vision and a
willingness to try to bring that vision to life, even if it means that they might
not succeed. Seek out those whose breadth of experience may indicate that
they’ve taken an alternative or unique path to your door. The value of having
people who are not carbon copies of the leader can’t be overstated.
Before Michael Eisner became chairman and CEO of Disney in 1984,
he spent eight years as president of Paramount Pictures, a period in which
the studio had a string of hits and critical successes. Yet he was rejected for
the top job at Paramount because he was thought to be “too childlike.” In
the years since, Paramount has had its share of successes while undergoing a
couple of ownership changes. Its performance pales, however, in comparison
to that turned in by Eisner in the first decade of his tenure at Disney.
There is little to be gained from empowering employees whose careers
have been geared to obedience and suppressing their individuality as they
move politely and gingerly up the corporate ladder. If you want to banish the