Page 289 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

270 The Disney Way

That’s not to say, however, that there is no illusion. Disney is still in the
business of creating magic, and the artfully crafted African savanna created
out of Florida scrub has its quotient of illusion. But the very nature of a
venue populated by 1,000 animals means that the experience can’t be tightly
orchestrated in typical Disney style. If reviews are any measure, however, this
daring new mix of reality and entertainment is meeting with typical Disney
success.
A willingness to take calculated risks on innovative ideas means nothing if a
company doesn’t have what it takes to follow through in the execution of those
ideas. Disney has maintained its founder’s firm belief that execution requires
extensive training, planning, communicating, and paying attention to detail.
The renowned Disney training program still turns out cast members
who are thoroughly prepared for their roles. So successful is the program,
in fact, that Disney now markets its methods to other organizations. And if
planning and attention to detail are wanted, one need only look at the eight
years of planning and $800 million worth of attention to detail that went
into the Animal Kingdom—details so convincing that the South African
ambassador to the United States was quoted in Time magazine as saying,
“This is the bush veldt. This is my home.” 112
The newly anointed “keeper of the keys,” Bob Iger, is not shy about
accepting a challenge. Within the first six months of his role as CEO, he nego-
tiated a deal to purchase Pixar and announced that Disney will partner with
Apple to provide downloaded video content for Apple’s popular iPods.
But perhaps nothing so thoroughly evidences the strength of Disney’s
execution as its unrivaled talent for synergy. As an analyst once told Kathryn
Harris of the Los Angeles Times, “This is a great company in an operating
sense . . . they’ve gotten everything out of the mouse but the squeak.” 113
Thus, a new film begets an absolute deluge of new marketing possibili-
ties, from domestic and international home videos and network and foreign
television runs to pay-per-view and cable offerings.
And that’s just the beginning. Next comes new theme park rides and char-
acters, new products for Disney retail partners (toys, clothing, books, games,
records, CD-ROMs), new television spinoffs, iPod downloads, and program-
ming ideas for Disney’s radio networks. Animated features become live-action
films—like 101 Dalmatians—or Broadway stage shows such as The Lion King,
Beauty and the Beast, and soon, The Little Mermaid.
Once the company decides to pursue a new idea, it immediately com-
municates that information to every segment of the company that might be