Page 24 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Walt's Way 5

in that package is a gift of creativity—in product, service, and process—that
makes even jaded adults smile with childlike delight.
Accomplishing such magic obviously requires the contributions and assis-
tance of a talented, dedicated, and loyal staff as well as an army of suppliers and
other partners. Extensive training, constant reinforcement of the Disney culture
and its values, and recognition of the valuable contributions that employees
and partners make combine to keep people turning out one fantastic show after
another as they strive to meet the exacting standards Walt established.
It is this consistency of direction, obsession with customer service, com-
mitment to people, and creative excellence that make The Walt Disney
Company a standard by which others might be judged and an exemplary
enterprise from which others can learn.

A Consummate Dreamer

Walt Disney was so successful as a businessman that people are often startled
to learn that he was a lifelong dreamer who started out as a commercial
artist. But it was precisely his unfettered imagination, coupled with a bent
for experimentation that propelled him to the pinnacle of success. Far from
being a hindrance, dreaming was the wellspring of Disney’s creativity.
The story is told that, as a schoolboy in art class, Walt was assigned to draw
flowers. In what might now be seen as a quintessential touch, and, indeed, the
precursor to many of Disney’s animated characters, young Walt embellished his
work by sketching a face in the center of each flower. His teacher was less than
impressed by the boy’s deviation from the norm, and, lacking a mirror like the
one the wicked queen had in Snow White, failed to recognize the creative genius
whose dream world would make him one of the most famous artists in history.
Perhaps because he himself was the greatest of dreamers, Walt encour-
aged both his artisans and his hundreds of other employees to unleash their
imaginations too. He knew that a reservoir of creative power often languishes
within a company’s ranks simply because no one ever bothers to tap it. Rather
than hire someone for one specific purpose and forever pigeonhole that per-
son—as is the norm at too many companies—Disney not only welcomed
ideas from all of his employees, he actively sought to turn them into reality.
From dreams spring ideas, and from ideas comes innovation, the lifeblood
of any company. Walt Disney instinctively knew, however, that an unshakable
belief—in one’s principles, in one’s associates and employees, and in cus-
tomers—is necessary before ideas can successfully evolve into innovation.