Page 168 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Chapter 8

Practice, Practice, Practice

The growth and development of the Walt Disney Company is directly
related to the growth and development of its human resources—our
cast. 52
Walt Disney

ctors, musicians, athletes, and others who perform in public must
train and practice. Otherwise, they risk embarrassing themselves
A and incurring the displeasure of spectators. Of great importance,
too, is the teacher or coach who tells the musician that he or she is hitting the
wrong notes or advises the athlete about batting stance, running form, and so
on. Without such helpful criticism and the benefit of the more experienced
mentor’s knowledge, a performer’s career is likely to be short-lived.
So it is in business. To perform at their best, a company’s employees must
be thoroughly trained, and they need the help of more experienced staff mem-
bers. Moreover, to maintain their competencies, training can’t be a one-shot
thing; it must be ongoing.
Perhaps because of his background as an artist, Walt Disney fully under-
stood the essential part that training and practice play in the development of
an individual’s talents. Add in his well-known penchant for perfection, and
it’s hardly surprising that he adamantly insisted on rigorous and continuous
training for all of his “cast members.” After all, common sense dictates that
everyone, from the backstage crew to the performers out front, must be thor-
oughly rehearsed in order to put on the really “good show.” But like so much

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