Page 37 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

18 The Disney Way

Figure 2-1. Bill Capodagli at the castle that helped shape Walt Disney’s
dream of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in Disneyland—“Mad” King Ludwig’s
Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria.

He was such a vivid and persuasive storyteller that his listeners usually
found themselves swept up—like Ward Kimball on the Pinocchio project—in
a passionate endorsement of Walt’s vision. Long before concrete plans were
in place for the next movie or cartoon, before any budgets were prepared or
administrative and engineering problems ironed out, Walt had established a
team atmosphere around the forthcoming venture. Thus, he began nearly every
new project with eager and enthusiastic participants, an enormous advantage
in a process that often involved long hours of work seven days a week.
Storytelling can be a powerful tool for focusing an organization on a par-
ticular problem or project and for unleashing employees’ creativity by giving
them the power to dream. We have helped clients in a variety of industries
tailor the technique to fit their particular situations. As you come to under-
stand how this age-old art and other methods are used today by The Walt
Disney Company and by many of our clients, you will begin to see how dreams
can drive desired change.

Dream Retreats Inspire Creativity

The use of storytelling to rally all project members around a vision is still an
important element of the Disney approach, thanks to Walt’s formation in the