Page 45 - Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company

26 The Disney Way

Something of what this change-management initiative has meant to
British Petroleum can be discerned from one small incident. Prior to the
overhaul, a team of high-powered geologists and engineers at the company’s
U.S. exploration headquarters in Anchorage, Alaska, produced a monthly
report for the president that analyzed seismic data and estimated potential
oil reserves at the Prudhoe Bay field. It was a complex, time-consuming task
that took energy away from other vital duties.
As part of the new atmosphere of empowerment, the scientists and
engineers scrutinized the process, evaluated its costs, and discovered that an
inordinate number of worker-hours were being devoted to it. Then they asked
why. Was the monthly process really vital to the interests of the company? Or
was it being done just in case the president happened to ask for an estimate of
the latest oil reserves? They made their case to the president, who agreed that
since the report was, at best, an estimate, an assessment every three months
was entirely sufficient. The savings in time and money were considerable.
Although the revitalized BP is still evolving, old habits have been
eliminated, and the refrain “we have always done it this way” is rarely, if
ever, heard these days. In June 1998 Industry Week reported that British
Petroleum expects 20 percent more oil from its oil-production opera-
tions in Alaska. Officials reported that reduced costs and technological
advances have made expansion on the North Slope feasible. Moreover, as
the Prudhoe Bay example illustrates, management is upholding its end of
the bargain by supporting empowered employees who make smart, solid
recommendations. And as for the bottom line, John Browne, BP’s group
chief executive, speaking to the financial community recently, recounted
sustained improvement in cost reduction and volume increases in the five
years from 1992 through 1996. During that period, Browne said, profits
grew by more than $3 billion.

Tracking Good Ideas

Dream Retreats offer the fastest and most productive way to achieve flex-
ibility and openness within a company’s ranks. But once people become
accustomed to acknowledging their own creative powers, you must imple-
ment a system outside the retreat setting that encourages them to bring their
ideas to management.
Mike Cryan, president of Windsor Capital Group, clearly understands
the value of harnessing the ideas of his management team. Windsor Capital