Bill Capodagli to Keynote Global Center for Health Innovation Conference

https://disrupted.healthcare/

The Disney Way in Grand County, CO

http://www.skyhidailynews.com/news/15893186-113/bringing-disneys-management-secrets-to-grand-county

Pixar Brings the Magic of Walt Disney Back to Disney: Part 2 - True Love

by Bill Capodagli

President of Disney and Pixar Studios, Ed Catmull, and John Lasseter, Chief Creative Officer of the Studios have scored the highest accolade for Disney Animation – Best Animated Feature Film – with their smash hit Frozen.  This is their first such award since it was created in 2001.

The overall message in Frozen is that an act of true love conquers all.  In the final moments of the film, The Snow Queen of Arendelle – Princess Elsa – accidentally freezes the heart of her younger sister, Princess Anna.  Sadly, unless Anna’s heart is thawed by an "act of true love", she will become frozen forever.

A few scenes later, Anna realizes that her beloved Prince Hans is ready to kill Elsa, and refuses to let this happen.  As she hurls herself between the two to save her sister Elsa, she instantly freezes solid.  Anna’s decision to sacrifice herself to save her sister is indeed an "act of true love."  At last, Elsa’s pain turns to joy as Anna begins to thaw right before her eyes! 

Early in Pixar’s history, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter had made a decision that may have sacrificed the very existence of Pixar.  During the creation of Toy Story, their partner, Disney (this was prior to Disney’s acquisition of Pixar in 2006) wanted Woody to be sinister and the movie to be darker.  Remember back…this was Pixar’s big break!  Until Toy Story, Pixar was struggling to keep its doors open.  The project was the opportunity of a lifetime…Disney would produce, co-finance, and distribute the film.  

Based on Disney’s demands, John and his team began to make the film darker and darker.  Then one-day, John said he realized that he wasn’t making the film of his dreams and that he was allowing the Disney executives to steal his passion.  Finally, John and his team decided to push back and challenge their demands.  When the Disney executives realized John’s indignation, they told him to pack up and move his entire team to Disney’s Burbank Studios.  But, John begged for just two more weeks to fix all the things that the Disney executives felt were wrong with the film.  John and his team literally worked around the clock, but they resurrected the original storyline.  Disney was truly amazed, and the results were magical! 

In the same spirit as Princess Anna, John threw himself in front of the Disney “bullies” in order to save the story of Woody and Buzz that he wanted to tell.  Without that act of “true love”, I doubt that Pixar would have been able to produce their string of phenomenal blockbuster hits, nor would they have had the opportunity to bring the magic back to Disney Animation with the Academy-award winning Frozen. 

Pixar Brings the Magic of Walt Disney Back to Disney: Part 1 - The Brain Trust

By Bill Capodagli 

In 2006, newly appointed Disney CEO Bob Iger bought Pixar for $7.4 billion.  Talk about risk taking! Rather than impose the stogy, top down, bureaucratic culture of Disney Animation on Pixar, he not only allowed Pixar to remain a separate unit but graciously handed the leadership of Disney Animation to Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, the executives behind Pixar’s phenomenal success.

So what’s the “secret sauce” of Pixar’s success?; how do they continue to catch lightning in a bottle?; and how did they begin to change the Disney culture?

One of the essential ingredients of Pixar’s success is collaboration.  Pixar president Ed Catmull said, “When technology and art come together magical things happen...Walt Disney understood this.”  One of the ways that Ed and John encourage collaboration is something they call the “Brain Trust.”  Typically, these sessions occur every 12 weeks or whenever the director wants to convene a meeting to make story suggestions as a project develops. After presenting the film in whatever form it may be in, directors, writers, and artists engage in a honest discussion about what they liked and didn’t like.  But the key to the Brain Trust is that there are no formal notes taken and no directives given to the director.  It is totally up to the director and his or her team to decide what to do with the input.

Prior to Disney’s formal acquisition of Pixar, a team from Disney visited  Pixar headquarters just to observe a Brain Trust in action.  The next day, that very same Pixar Brain Trust traveled down to Disney to observe Disney’s very first Brain Trust meeting! Even though it took two years for the Disney Brain Trust process to be totally integrated in the Disney culture, they loved the principle from their very first experience.

So, the Brain Trust groundwork was in place for the production of Frozen.  Collaboration – the heart of the process – was also in place.  When a problem arises, directors from various projects jump in and eagerly help one another.   The Disney culture has changed.  The magic of Walt Disney is back!

Bill Capodagli–ESKOWORLD Keynote Review

http://www.flexpackmag.com/articles/85846-eskoworld-2013-exceeds-expectations

Disney Way in Ottawa County - An Update

FOUR C’S STRATEGIC INITIATIVE UPDATE
The second round of Ottawa Way – Disney Way Customer Service training was completed last week. Bill Capodagli, co-author of The Disney Way facilitated the training and was assisted by Laura Mousseau and Misty Cunningham. A lot of positive feedback has resulted from the training. Each month for the next year another 90 employees will go through the training. A total of 1,100 will be trained.

This phase of customer service training is intended to cause a cultural shift in that employees of all 33 departments, offices, courts and agencies will have experienced the same training and have a unified focus on the County customer service story, vision and customer codes of conduct. I had some interaction with the group by introducing the Four C Strategic Initiative on the first day and history leading to who we are on the second day.

I also sat in the “hot seat” with Treasurer Brad Slagh and Marcie VerBeek, Human Resources Director at the end of the second day to take whatever questions the group had. A very fair question was, “What comes next? Do the employees being trained wait for a year to begin implementing the cultural change, until all employees
have been trained? When will specific customer training tools be developed? Did the leadership really buyinto the training they received in November, because no changes have been implemented? Is it really okay to begin living this customer service vision?“

Great questions! Anyone who has been through the training can begin following the customer codes of conduct immediately. Almost every one of these can be positively impacted by each employee individually. The leaders didn’t implement change because we are working on a cultural shift not the program of the month. I committed to circling back with the leaders to explain some of the concerns expressed and to discuss how this will all roll out over the next year.

We are making one more call for members for the Customer Service Team and will get this group going soon. They will provide a communication link and forum for all who have gone through the process already and will research and recommend specific tools for
customer service. The cultural change will happen as more employees go through the training and practice the
customer codes of conduct.

Al Vanderberg, County Administrator, Ottawa County, Michigan

Property Management Association of West Michigan–Bill Capodagli–Keynoter and Author

http://www.pmawm.com/newsletters/DIRECTIONSMay13.pdf

Bill Capodagli–Disney Way Author Gives Advice on Writing a Book

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mountaintopuniversity

DISNEY WAY KEYNOTE FOR ESKOWORLD in Phoenix!

http://www.esko.com/en/EskoWorld/Keynote

Bill brings The Disney Way to the “Mountaintop” this Friday–join in!

http://www.mountaintopuniversity.com/eBlast/08_15_12/event.htm

The Disney Way Webinar Happening in May

Event Details:

Who: Disney management expert, Bill Capodagli

What: Creating Magical Customer Service - The Disney Way Webinar

Where: On-line

When: Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 from 2:00 - 3:30 PM EDT

Cost: $49.00

Sign up: http://tinyurl.com/7b75oco - Learn how to implement The Disney Way Customer Service Model in the comfort of your own office or conference room.

For additional information: Contact Lynn Jackson, Producer, dreamovations@aol.com

Bill Capodagli Contributes to Business Edge News Magazine

http://www.businessedge.ca/blog/?p=82

Bill's Interview with Shawn Hanks at Premiere Speakers

http://premierespeakers.com/bill_capodagli/blog/2012/04/03/how_to_dream_more_like_walt_disney_video

Bill Capodagli–Upcoming Guest on the television show: First Business

On March 21st, WGN's Bill Moller will be interviewing Bill Capodagli for the television show First Business which is carried by 100+ stations in North America and seen in 46 countries. The focus of Bill Capodagli's segment will be "the genius of Walt Disney." Stay tuned for air dates!

Bill Capodagli–Featured Keynoter for Manufacturing Innovation 2012

 

Bill Capodagli will be a featured keynote speaker at Manufacturing Innovation 2012 (MI2012) in Orlando on May 9th. This 4-day event is produced by Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and brings together over 700 manufacturers, industry experts, and MEP field staff to gain valuable information on the latest trends and technologies facing U.S. manufacturers. This event is designed to truly bring the “voice of manufacturing” and “voice of government” to an open, educational and sharing environment that makes a measurable impact on U.S. manufacturing.

LAST MINUTE SIGN UP FOR THE DISNEY WAY WEBINAR!

 

Feb. 15^th from 2 – 3:30 PM EST

1. Register:

http://disneywaywebinar.eventbrite.com/?discount=FR2.15.12

2. We’ll send you an invite so you can connect to the webinar.

3. You’ll receive bonus materials and a date for the follow-up webinar for in-depth Q and A…FREE!

Bill Talks with WGN Radio Host Bill Moller

 

http://www.wgnradio.com/shows/billmoller/wgn-billmoller-bill-capodagli-feb11,0,4870775.mp3file

Spring Fever in January is Contagious!

The leaders of The Disney Way implementation in Dowagiac understood very well the integration and interplay of Dream, Believe, Dare, Do in their cultural change efforts.  And, now, after a year, they are on DO!!!

As you envision a Dream, Believe, Dare, Do implementation in your own organization, think in terms of a holistic approach and never give up.  Dowagiac is a great role model for any community who aspires to live The Disney Way.

http://www.dowagiacnews.com/2012/01/11/spring-fever-in-january/

Make a New Year’s Resolution to Reinvent your Company’s Policy Manual

1. Remove any policy that does not add value to the customer, supplier or team member. Replace old verbiage with "work hard and be clever."
2. Review the manual for "rules" that hinder the delivery of exceptional customer service. If you ever hear, "We cannot help you because it is against our policy," send up a red flag. Change this verbiage to "Use good judgment."
3. Identify any policy that infers that you do not trust team members. Specifically, examine your expense reimbursement policy. One company decided to allow employees to issue their own expense checks. They had guidelines for tax documentation that were followed by all. The result was the elimination of most of the accounting approvals and a reduction in overall travel expense. We have worked with companies in which senior managers have multi-million dollar budgets and are responsible for hundreds of millions of dollars of product production, yet they need numerous approvals to spend $500 to attend a workshop. Why? That’s the policy!
4. Use the words "have fun" in your policy manual. Pixar’s John Lasseter said, ““We worked really hard, but we also had so much fun, and it showed up in our work. We’d goof off,
   we’d laugh, we’d work together, and we’d look at
   and give feedback on each other’s stuff. And the
   creativity just sort of overflowed.”

DISNEY WAY WEBINAR–“Creating Magical Customer Service–The Disney Way”

Success isn't magic. It's systematic. It comes from passionate leadership and relentless pursuit of a long-term foundation for excellence. Behind the scenes at Disney is where the real vision begins. Disney excels because of its dynamic commitment to guests and to cast members.

On Wednesday, February 15th (2 – 3:30 PM EST), Bill Capodagli will share enlightening secrets to turn your customers into "guests" and into long-term relationships. You'll see how to foster a fun team atmosphere for your employees - one that energizes their talents and ideas. You'll also see "wow" in action and come away with a renewed passion for the possibilities within your own organization.
Walt Disney’s four-pillared success credo - Dream, Believe, Dare, Do - will work for any organization, any business, any industry of any size. Understanding the hows and whys will allow you to tailor your own pathway to success. You'll also see how other companies have applied The Disney Way with amazing results.

What's worked for Disney can work for you. It's that simple. If you're ready to take your organization to the next level, exceed your customers' expectations, and build a dynamic team…REGISTER TODAY on our HOME PAGE!!

Creating Magical Customer Service – The Disney Way is the opportunity you've been waiting for!