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

Bill Capodagli–Caring for Employees

http://o.canada.com/2012/10/02/1003-disney-fakery/

Bill’s Upcoming Keynote for the Oregon State Chamber–Dreams and Dreamers: How to Innovate like Walt Disney and the Pixarians

http://www.oregonstatechamber.org/

Thanks to SCN and Kym Reinstadler for a Great Interview!

http://scnforyou.com/the-disney-way-another-option-for-you/

Pixar–A Case for Collaboration

Too many companies encourage competition with "employee of the month" or "team of the year" programs. Eliminating competition from the workplace is one of the hardest concepts for most managers to grasp. We are a society that rewards competition through our athletics, classrooms, achievements, etc. Alfie Kohn, author of The Case Against Competition, conducted extensive research on the results of competition in the workplace. After over five years of collecting data, he concluded that the most successful organizations embrace a culture of cooperation. Pixar president Ed Catmull stated that he often has discussions with his counterparts at other studios. The heads of other studios claim that the reason Disney and Pixar are so successful is that they get ALL the BIG IDEAS ideas. But Ed claims that it’s not about the BIG IDEA that will generate a hit such as Toy Story or Up…it’s about the thousands of ideas that come from EVERYONE on a project to produce a magical result!

Roy Disney once said, "When values are clear, decisions are easy."

Do all of your employees understand the organization’s mission and values AND how their roles fit into the entire “show?”  It’s imperative to define job scope and guidelines for performance.  One of our clients created performance guidelines for all employees. These guidelines did not define procedures, but rather identified areas of known failure or ideas that were tried in the past, but failed. As long as employees avoided repeating past failures, they were free to exercise their own initiative and creativity, make decisions and achieve results that were in line with the organization's values. Rule of Thumb: Go heavy on guidelines and light on procedures.

Bill Talks with WGN Radio Host Bill Moller

 

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

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.”

“Dreams and Dreamers” SHARE Keynote Review

 

On Monday, August 8, SHARE President, Janet Sun took the stage to welcome SHARE attendees and introduce keynote speaker Bill Capodagli of Capodagli Jackson Consulting.

Bill surprised attendees by riding into his presentation on a scooter, which he then gave away to an audience member. This set the tone for a discussion on the importance of building a creative workplace and embracing your inner childlike spirit. Bill’s engaging presentation addressed many of the findings from his latest book, titled Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Corporate Playground, which is the definitive account of Pixar’s creative culture. Bill’s approach to the workplace served as a glimpse into the opportunities that can arise from a professional culture where mutual respect, trust, collaboration and fun can produce phenomenal results.

SHARE was proud to host over 1,000 Enterprise IT professionals in Orlando, Florida, August 7 – 12, 2011, for a week filled with deep-dive discussions into the latest industry developments, engaging networking events and new professional connections. SHARE attendees selected from over 500 technical sessions offered during the week, engaged with over 40 industry exhibitors in the Technology Exchange Expo and mingled with fellow IT users to discuss mutual interests and solutions.

BILL CAPODAGLI’S VIDEO FROM THE 13TH World Human Resources Congress in Montreal

Finally….we have a link to clips from Bill’s Sept, 2010 keynote in Montreal:

http://www.portailrh.org/StudioRH/fiche4.aspx?p=444886

Words of Welcome from Canada’s Prime Minister

I am pleased to extend my warmest greetings to everyone attending the 13th World Human Resources Congress, organized by Quebec’s Ordre des conseillers en ressources humaines agréés.

The human resources management sector has certainly been affected by the deteriorating global economic environment in recent months. This slowdown is suited to a period of reflection, encouraging us to explore new avenues adapted to current realities. The holding of this event is of particular relevance, providing a unique opportunity for human resources specialists from throughout the world to address these issues.

This three-day congress will enable participants to share with their colleagues and discuss innovative measures to help recovering economies face today’s challenges. I have no doubt that this conference will touch on new approaches and markets that will help stimulate the economic recovery and strengthen the critical human resources management sector.

On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to congratulate the organizers on their outstanding work. I wish all the participants a very productive congress.

The Prime Minister of Canada,

Steven Harper

Orange Leaders Embrace Innovate the Pixar Way

Excerpts from the What is Orange blog…How do you emphasize MILESTONES?

Posted on http://www.whatisorange.org   5/5/11 by Bre Hallberg

Milestones come and go whether we’re prepared for them or not. So, why not spend a little bit of time planning for those moments in life AND preparing the parents of the kids in your ministry for the milestones that they’re going to encounter?

This month we’ll be discussing how church leaders can better partner with parents to become more actively involved in key events that mark milestones in their kids’ lives. And on a personal note, we’re going to be talking about how to make the little stuff in life count, and be intentional about celebrating even the smallest milestones.

We know that you lead in several ways at any given time. You lead yourself, you lead volunteers, you might lead a staff, and you often lead up. So, here’s what we have in store for you to accomplish each of these tasks:

PERSONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT
How does this happen every single week? Sunday just won’t slow down. But don’t allow that to interfere with the investment you make in yourself as a leader. Go ahead and grab your number two pencil to mark some personal time each week this month to invest in your own leadership development—20 minutes should do it. We’ve already got a plan for you, so making the time is the first step to accomplishing it.

BOOK REVIEW:
Innovate the Pixar Way by Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson
Pixar isn’t exactly known for “little things,” but they certainly ARE known for their creativity. And one of the keys to this creativity is finding unique ways to celebrate the workplace— making even small details a big deal. Capodagli and Jackson share this unusual approach with readers so that you can also celebrate and create in your own work environment.

REAL LIFE:
Pixar
Back to the big screen! We’re going to be taking a very practical look at how Pixar celebrates, brainstorms and creates. Check out the details behind their work environment and staff culture that make this company so unique. Then, discover how you can apply those to your ministry environment.

About Orange Leaders

It’s a gathering of leaders who are passionate about engaging churches and families to influence the faith and character of the next generation. They focus their web content around the concept of Orange. 

Orange is a secondary color, created when you combine two primary colors—red and yellow.

Orange is what red and yellow can do when they combine efforts. If you paint only with red, you will get what only red can do. If you paint only with yellow, you will get what only yellow can do. But when you paint with red and yellow, you’ll get new possibilities, fresh solutions and vibrant outcomes.

They believe the warm heart of the family can be represented by the color red, and the bright light of the church can be represented by the color yellow. When these two entities combine their efforts for the sake of the spiritual growth of the next generation, the result is Orange.

Disney Way “Magical Moments” Account of WDW’s Customer Service

 

It’s a Wonderful World

The micro details of customer service are what separate the winners from the losers in business

April, 2011

by Kathleen Martin

The first day she wore a Cinderella ball gown everywhere. But in the days that followed, disguised in sneakers and a T-shirt, people could still tell, just by looking at her, that she was a princess. “How are you this morning, Princess?” they’d say, bending down low in front of her.

My four-year-old daughter couldn’t have been happier. She beamed at the wait staff, at the people collecting garbage from the streets, at the shopkeepers. We were at Walt Disney World Resort, where it seemed everyone was transformed: into royalty, into Jedi Knights, into parents with unlimited patience. The Disney employees—people for whom the incredible magical production is, well, work—were also most curiously happy.

The entire week we spent there was populated with smiling helpful employees called “cast members” who raced to anticipate the needs of guests without exception. “The food looks good, but the desserts…I really don’t like carrot cake,” admitted my husband, when a staff member at a quick-serve restaurant saw him looking at the menu options. “They serve chocolate cake at the restaurant a little way down the street,” the waiter responded. “Why don’t you order your food, and I’ll run down there and get you some.”

Despite our protests that it wasn’t necessary, he did exactly that. Within 10 minutes, he had arrived back at our table, cake in hand. He had wanted our lunch to be perfect, and thanks to him, it was.

I needed to find out what was in the employee Kool-Aid.

“I really like my job,” said more than one person. Others said, “They spend a lot of time training us on the traditions of Disney; they let us make decisions to make things better for our guests; they put up our picture if they catch us doing something extra to help a guest, particularly if it’s a child; they try and make it fun for us.”

Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson, the authors of The Disney Way, have built their careers on studying Disney. “Walt Disney insisted that every employee is the company in the mind of the customer,” they write. “Because Disney insisted that customers be treated like guests, great customer service has become a standard feature of the total package the Disney Company offers. And wrapped up in that package is a gift of creativity—in product, service, and process—that makes even jaded adults smile with childlike delight.”

Posted in several places around Disney World parks is this quote from Walt: “I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing, that it was all started by a mouse.” In other words, what he created came not from something cataclysmic or untouchable but from something common, coupled with a well-exercised imagination and a fine attention to detail.

In his best-seller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell describes a simple method, called the Broken Windows hypothesis, which New York’s Police Department used to fight violent crime. They relentlessly addressed small problems, such as broken windows and graffiti and people trying to skip out on subway fares. Crime rates dropped. They discovered that minor, seemingly insignificant quality- of-life crimes were tipping points for violent crime.

Perhaps something similar applies in business. If we relentlessly address the details—the seemingly insignificant aspects of customer service, for example— I think our businesses will become more successful. It’s the simple things that astounded me at Disney World, which are missing from so many of my daily customer-service experiences.

If cast members were talking to one another when I approached them, they stopped instantly and turned their attention to me. Every time. Although thousands of people cycled through restaurants I visited, I rarely saw garbage on the floor or an empty table that wasn’t quickly being cleaned.

One night, when we waited briefly in line at a restaurant, a cast member came over and sat down next to my children. She asked them about their day and drew them pictures of Mickey Mouse on napkins. I discovered later that her shift had already ended, and she had stayed those few extra minutes to make them feel important.

The experience was unforgettable, and it’s not rocket science. It’s possible for any company. As Walt would say—it’s just a dream away.

Kathleen Martin is a freelance journalist based in Halifax. She can be reached at masthead@ns.sympatico.ca

Progress Media.ca’s site is designed to help business owners and CEOs grow their businesses more effectively.

Kennedy Center Learns Secrets from Innovate the Pixar Way

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Kennedy Center Meeting: A Glimpse of the Future

I recently attended the annual meeting of the John F. Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education program. Purdue Convocations and the Lafayette School Corporation (LSC) are partners in this program that pairs arts presenters and school systems to present top quality professional development training to area teachers. This is the fourth year for the local partnership. Cindy Preston, a second grade teacher at Edgelea Elementary attended representing LSC.

The meeting focused on a look into changes in education and how we can meet the challenges of 21st Century learning. Two major challenges to arts education are funding and keeping up with the rapid pace of changing technology.

The keynote speaker, Bill Capodagli, author of The Disney Way and Innovate the Pixar Way, emphasized the importance of leadership and innovation in moving an organization forward. He pointed out how less structured work environments led to more productive and creative employees in several companies who chose to try a new approach to their corporate environment.

Futurist Garry Golden, whose work is to help people learn how to anticipate and lead change, forecast an even greater leap forward in technology in the next ten years. He told the group that we are now entering a learner-oriented era in which learning is not so much institution, or teacher, - driven, but will be more about what we learn from those around us. It will not be so much about what is delivered as it will be about our own self-directed efforts. He predicted that soon almost everyone will have a hand-held electronic device and more and more content will be delivered through these devices.

Learning is making the leap from formal to informal. He also predicted the emergence of what is termed, “Third Place”. These are locations that are not home and not work where people gather to interact or gather information, like cafes, malls, parks, etc. This calls for new ways of communicating.

Arts education researcher Eric Booth helped attendees look at the work of author Daniel Pink’s book Drive and how the arts and arts education can help deliver what our culture needs and wants – innovation, creativity, discovery, increased curiosity and engagement, authentic learning, sustainable rigor, and most specifically, intrinsic-motivation.

Posted by Laura Clavio, assistant director of Convocations

Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations is among the oldest collegiate performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30–40 performances of widely varying genres: Broadway-style shows, theatre, dance, children’s theatre, world music, jazz, and chamber music, along with rock, pop, country, and comedy attractions. www.convocations.org

Innovate the Pixar Way Featured in Credit Union Magazine

Dare, Do, Dream - How to innovate like a Pixarian.

By Bill Merrick

March 25, 2011

Pixar Animation’s John Lasseter faced a Herculean task as he embarked on the production of the movie Toy Story 2: How could he possibly make it as good as the original?

Daunted by high expectations and intense media interest in the sequel, Lasseter vowed not to let his standards slip, consultant and author Bill Capodagli told the 18th Annual CUNA Marketing & Business Development Council Conference.

Lasseter took several steps to ensure the quality of Toy Story 2 remained high.

First, he selected employees who were as passionate about the film as he was, and who exhibited these traits:

• Proficiency. People who are very good at what they do and who exhibit remarkable tenacity.
• Depth. People who have a wide variety of interests outside the workplace.
• Communication and collaboration. People who will work with others to achieve a common goal.

“Pixar goes to great lengths to make sure employees are a group of creative people who are, first and foremost, collaborative teammates,” Capodgli says. “That means they try to accomplish a common goal based on a lot of different skills. Team is everything.”

Lasseter also:

• Focused on quality. All Pixar employees were allowed to take four hours of education per week in classes ranging from drawing to self-defense. When asked why accountants should learn to draw, Lasseter replied, “We’re teaching them to be more observant.”

"Quality is the best business plan," he once said.

• Embraced fun. One day, Lasseter brought his son’s scooter to work and rode it around the building. The following weekend, some Pixar staff scoured local garage sales for used scooters and brought several to work the next week.

“The scooter became Pixar’s symbol of fun,” Capodagli says, noting that such efforts boost an organization’s creativity and create a fun work atmosphere.

• Embraced risk-taking. As children, we learn by exploration and discovery: We try something, fail, and try again, Capodagli explains.

“Organizations need to do that,” he says. “They need to embrace risk and try new things, but be able to make adjustments so they ultimately can be successful.”

Lasseter ultimately achieved his goal: Toy Story 2 earned $120 million more than the original and became a classic among animated films.

“Pixar’s ‘dare, dream, do’ philosophy is alive and well,” Capodagli says. “You need to dream like a child, believe in your playmates, dare to jump in the water and make waves, and unleash your childlike potential.”

It All Starts with a Dream

Last week, I had one of the most gratifying experiences of my professional career. During a time when everything you hear on the news is so negative…government fighting with unions; unions fighting with school districts; school districts fighting with teachers, I felt like I had been transported to another world. What a breath of fresh air to work with a community that is not playing blame games and not paying lip service to problems. No, they are actually doing something as a unified community to institute change!

A few months ago, I received an email from Dr. Mark Daniel, superintendent of the Dowagiac Union Schools in Dowagiac, Michigan. He had a “dream” for his school district – a way of teaching that was student-centered and had the values of Disney. Soon, I was engaged in a conference call with a team of four leaders from the Dowagiac community: Mark Daniel; Joy Strand, CEO of Borgess-Lee Memorial Hospital; Larry Seurynck, President of the Board of Education; and Kevin Anderson, City Manager. This unlikely team that became a steering team all shared the “dream” of improving customer service in their respective organizations, but most importantly, of becoming a customer-centric community. I was amazed at their commitment to one another, and their passion for embarking upon a journey with so many unknowns.

We discussed a way to bring these uniquely diverse entities together to introduce and begin the process of adopting “The Disney Way” principles. In my 30+ years of consulting, the approach I proposed for a community-wide cultural change might have seemed daunting to the team. I know how difficult it is for even one organization to change their culture, so at first, I was thinking that the chances of several organizations coming to consensus on a culture was slim and none. But, as I came to discover…the Dowagiac steering team was more unified than some teams after years and years of development! When Mark Daniel called to schedule dates for our engagement, I felt a rush of enthusiasm about being involved in what was to be the launch of something very special in our great state of Michigan.

We began the week-long kickoff with my 90 minute keynote – “If Walt Ran Your Organization” – that was open to the entire community (650 attended, 10% of the Dowagiac population). The subsequent three days were filled with staff interviews and workshop training in which teams from four entities (school, hospital, city government and the Dowagiac community) worked hard, played hard and discovered many “ah has” together. The energy, passion and spirit exhibited by each of these teams is hard to describe…I wish all communities had a “dream” that touched so many members. Each of the Dowagiac teams is now in full swing developing their own “dreams” with great gusto.

I believe that the change that is taking place in the Dowagiac Union Schools will be the most challenging, the most dramatic, and perhaps the most exciting for the community. You’d have to live under a rock to not know that our nation’s educational process is failing our students…our future! For every TEN high school freshmen entering school this year, only SEVEN will graduate in four years. Of those seven, FOUR will go continue on to college, but TWO will need to take a remedial reading, writing or mathematics class. I don’t know of any business that can survive with an 80% defect rate!

Nationally, the finger pointing continues regarding ways to improve our educational system…blame the unions; blame the teachers; blame the administration; blame the parents; too much spending; too little spending. The truth of the matter is that for over twenty-five years, we have thrown money at the problems, drugged students who have behavioral issues and labeled them as ADHD. But the way we teach – the process – has not had any measurable positive change in the past 100 years. We must attack the process not the people.

The leaders of the Dowagiac Union School District have decided to take a stand for real educational change. Revamping a tired, ineffective process begins with a “dream”...and I applaud what they have crafted:

“Imagine a place where Students have a passion for learning

….a place where the focus is student-centered

…a place where students achieve personal goals

…a place where our whole community is valued

…a place where children work together and learn from each other

The Dowagiac Dream for Education”

This week, I had the opportunity to be part of the Dowagiac Union School District’s presentation of their “dream” to all their employees. I also felt privileged to assist in facilitating customer service feedback storyboard sessions with middle school and high school students. When the students identified the “ideal” classroom as: 1. exploration and discovery; 2. interaction with the teacher and fellow students; and 3. fun, I knew they were beginning to build a great future together…a feat worth celebrating. It reminded me of the Millennium Celebration at World Disney World whose theme was Celebrate the Future Hand in Hand. Certainly, being with those students reinforced my passion for student-centered experiential learning, and gave me cause to celebrate!

My personal “dream” is that other communities will look to Dowagiac as a model of what is possible when fellow citizens from diverse organizations come together to “Dream, Believe, Dare, and Do.” Witnessing an entire community collaborate, break down barriers, and embrace change is what made my week so very special. The three-day workshop experience at Southwestern Michigan College (SMC) was frosting on the cake. Dr. Fred Mathews, SMC founder and CEO of 46 years, was our host and a member of what is now known as the “community team.” SMC is a great example of student-centered education and Fred is an advocate and resource for change in Dowagiac’s educational system. What a delight it was to get to know Fred and share ideas with him!

Keep up the good work Dowagiac! It is really an honor to be a small part of your exciting journey!

Bill Capodagli

SalesForce XP Publisher Mike Morrell Embraces Failure!

Failure Must Be an Option

By Mike Murrell

As published in: SalesForceXP - November-December 2010

The coaching staff of a high school football team I saw this year wore T-shirts on game nights that had "Failure is not an option!" printed in bold letters across the back. On one level, I understand the motivational tug of such a statement, especially when hammered into the heads of a bunch of teen-age boys who aren't fully aware of their potential.

It occurred to me, however, that a former high school coach who became one of the most successful coaches in the history of team sports at any level would have preferred that the shirts state, "Failure must be an option."

John Wooden embraced failure, not on a continuous basis, of course, but as a learning tool. There are dozens of books that document Wooden's philosophy on sports and life, and most of them include his sentiment that "if you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes."

That spirit of taking chances is what this issue's cover story is all about. When we talk about sitting down to assess the past year and, more importantly, plan for the one ahead, we don't expect that you can predict with any more accuracy than your competitors what the business environment in your industry will bring. Some things can be spotted from a distance and some can't.

Our hope, rather, is that the story reminds you-indeed, inspires you-to make this planning process a formal exercise. Your competition may be tackling this duty in a more routine manner with far less enthusiasm. More importantly, we want to embolden you to incorporate some risks into your 2011 strategies.

Normally, these end-of-the-year messages are chockablock with feel-good wishes for continued success in the year ahead. I certainly wish that for you. But most of us have experienced awfully turbulent times in our recent business endeavors and we've had to make tough decisions. Some of them may have been wrong, but you'd probably agree that you're smarter and tougher for making them.

A few more failures wouldn't be the worst thing to come your way. Be a doer. Make mistakes.

Mike Murrell, Publisher