Page 26 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

Walt's Way 7

Disney’s strength as an imaginative and principled creative force grew
from his willingness to take risks, to experiment, and to invest his resources
and his time in new ventures. From the beginning, he searched for innova-
tive ways to give his audiences the best of all possible entertainment fare. He
pioneered a new art form in making Snow White, and he did it in the face of
nearly unanimous ridicule.
“No one will sit through a 90-minute cartoon,” people told him. But
Disney ignored the naysayers and clung tenaciously to his dream, confident
that he could produce a film that would appeal to both adults and children.
His willingness to buck accepted wisdom and take a risk paid handsome
dividends: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was released in 1937,
grossed $8 million, an astonishing amount when you consider that at the
time movie tickets cost only pennies. It received a special Academy Award,
and some consider it to be one of the greatest films ever made. Snow White
has been equally popular in reissue, with a box office take that places it in the
top 50 all-time highest-grossing films.
In just a dozen years, roughly 1930 to 1942, Walt Disney managed to
transform animation from a marginal segment of the entertainment industry
to a new art form. He used technical innovations to create a seamless mix-
ture of story, color, and sound. Knowing that great visions require great, but
calculated, risks, Disney dared to follow his instincts.

Turning Dreams into Reality

Walt Disney’s stellar accomplishments might suggest that he had no diffi-
culty in taking whatever action was needed to bring his dreams to fulfillment.
It was not always easy, however, particularly when a lot of skeptics stood in
the way. But Disney knew that dreams are sterile things unless the dreamer
can do what it takes to make them come true.
When his fertile mind produced an idea, he set about transforming that
idea into a concrete product, service, or process. If his methods of executing
his vision were sometimes unconventional or broke the accepted rules, so be
it. The point was to put on the good show.
For example, when Disneyland was being built in the early 1950s, Walt
himself was often on site checking every detail. He spent countless hours
with the creative and knowledgeable staff he had hired, putting his personal
stamp on everything from landscape design to attractions to music.
But then he did something rather unusual: He asked everyone who was
working on Disneyland, from electricians to executives, to test each ride as it