Business901 Features The Disney Way

http://business901.podbean.com/e/making-the-disney-way-your-way/

Introducing The Disney Way 3rd Edition!

In the 3rd edition (release date - March, 2016), we feature organizations that are predominantly in start-up mode or have revamped their strategies to become more customer-centric.  The line-up includes six entities that have recently launched their businesses or have reinvented their cultures: TYRA Beauty, zTailors, Science Center of Iowa, Joe C. Davis YMCA Outdoor Center/Camp Widjiwagan, the Grand County Center of Grand Lake, Colorado and McLean County, Illinois Unit (School) District No. 5. There are also three well-established organizations who are striving to continuously improve: ACTS Retirement-Life Communities, Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and California State University, Channel Islands.  Two additional organizations, Flanagin’s Bulk Mail Service and The Village Toy Center, demonstrate how the Dream, Believe, Dare, Do principles apply in a small community business.  And, finally, a case study of how Ottawa County, Michigan, one of the most progressive state administrative divisions in the US, has used each element of The Disney Way as a starting point to create an amazing culture over a period of three years.  

At the end of chapters 2-12 is a riveting example of how one of the featured organizations has put into action the lessons of the chapter.  Chapters 12,13, and 14 are brand new chapters that showcase the following: Chapter 12 - Love - The Real Pixie Dust, which explains the importance of love for employees, customers, products, and yourself; Chapter 13 -  Ottawa County, Michigan -  Disney's Success Credo Transforms County Government is the detailed account of their phenomenally successful customer-centric journey; and Chapter 14 -  Producing a Customer-Centric Culture – An Implementation Strategy is a roadmap for implementing the Dream, Believe, Dare, Do principles in any organization.

Throughout the book, you will also find “Questions to Ask” and “Actions to Take” chalkboards. These will provide you with ideas for living the Dream, Believe, Dare, Do principles and sustain outstanding rewards in doing so.  At the end of each chapter, an Internet link to Chapter Chats with Bill is provided in which co-author, Bill Capodagli, discusses additional insights regarding the materials.

This book tells the story of how passion for employees, customers, and products translate into immeasurable success for Walt Disney and other great leaders.  Their stories come to life through examples of real drive, courage, humanity and a compelling thirst to make a difference within their own organizations.  These leaders possess a charismatic quality that so naturally inspires others to challenge themselves.   In the same vein, they rely on the power of everyone on the entire team to journey together and unlock the future possibilities that they believe are endless. 

Our wish for 2016 is that the inspirational stories in this updated and expanded 3^rd edition of The Disney Way will challenge you to examine your Dream, Believe, Dare, Do results and provide new readers with a framework to soar beyond the limits of traditional management through these four powerful principles.  From entry level recruits to CEOs, from private companies to public agencies, Walt Disney's principles continue to redefine the nature of business in our age and revolutionize the art of management.

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

Funeral Business Advisor Reads The Disney Way

http://www.funeralbusinessadvisor.com/?p=7419

Bill Capodagli–Caring for Employees

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

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

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

Disney Way Dream Retreat Sample Reviews–ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions

“I worked for the Dominion Virginia Power for 29 years with most of that in management. This retreat was by far one of the best ones I have attended! Thanks!!!”

“Mr. Capodagli provided a lot of insight and he gave a different view on how to look at things. Also, the stories of what made/makes some of the companies referenced from the book (The Disney Way) successful, gives me something to aspire to within our own company. I want all of our clients to know CFS as the greatest in the business just like the Four Seasons is known in their industry.”

“I enjoyed the storyboards.  Although this was a similar activity to the Affinity Diagram, I think the storyboards work better because there is discussion allowed amongst the group.  It was amazing to see how we all identified the same issues/barriers within the organization.”

Bill Capodagli - Michigan Disney Way Cultural Initiative

http://www.dowagiacnews.com/2012/04/25/it-takes-whole-community-for-real-change/

Bill Capodagli Contributes to Business Edge News Magazine

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

Bill Talks with WGN Radio Host Bill Moller

 

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

Junior Chamber International–Manila–Using The Disney Way in Training

Excerpts from a letter from Brian Balagot – 2011 Director for Individual Development, Junior Chamber International Manila (www.jcimanila.org); Certified National Trainer, Junior Chamber International Philippines (www.jci.cc)

“Greetings:  I am a Certified National Trainer for Junior Chamber International (JCI) – Manila, and a man whose life was changed by your book. I learned so much from reading it, and it has helped me to grow my business because of the way I applied the skills you mentioned there. From The Disney Way, storyboarding has helped me bring the members of my project team together so that we can solve complicated issues by painting a picture of the current situation together. It’s helped me to bring people on the same page because even the silent members get to participate in discussions, and we get to hear their great ideas. At the same time, I was able to personally apply them in Junior Chamber International, and lead the organization to become more efficient in what we do.

Junior Chamber International is an international organization of citizens who simply want to make where we live a better place to live in by training ourselves to actively take care of our community. We learn about the problems in the city where we live, and then we work with the Local Government Units or the Private Sector to create projects and raise funds that will solve the problems in society. We do this because we want a better future for the people who we love – especially our progeny. We recognize that sufficient training in management and leadership skills can help us become more effective active citizens. When we are more effective in active citizenry, then our projects will have a greater impact in society; and the safe and prosperous future of our loved ones becomes something more certain.

Storyboarding helps a lot here. I am certain that many people will benefit from your ideas – especially if they choose to let themselves become empowered with these skills by applying them in the work that they do.”

The Disney Way Inspires The Quality Coach

Monday, 08 August 2011

The Search for Leadership

A dream is a wish your heart makes. Jiminy Cricket

As our leaders put the finishing touches on a just in time deal to raise our country's debt limit last week, I found myself longing for a different kind of leadership. Wondering, is it too much to ask for leaders who listen to one another and maybe even listen to those of us who elected them? Or, leaders who disagree with one another, and still show a little respect. Leaders who would actually accept responsibility instead of placing blame. What would it be like to put party interests aside and focus on what's truly best for our country and its' citizens. Or, to have leaders who could see beyond the next election cycle? I wish I may, I wish I might.........

Alas, no amount of wishing, magic, or pixie dust helped. Apparently, S&P was not impressed either.

Looking for inspiration in all the wrong places, I finally decided to visit The Quality Coach Library where lo and behold, I found one of my favorite books on leadership, The Disney Way, by Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson. Named Fortune Magazine's Best Business Book in 1999, the ideas in this book will surely cause you to "whistle whilst you work." I began to feel a touch of hope as I reconnected with the Disney story and the legendary leadership that launched and sustained the Wonderful World of Disney.

Walt Disney spent his early years on a farm in Marceline, Missouri, about 100 miles east of Kansas City. In between farm chores, Walt would lie in the grass and gaze up at the sky or watch insects and butterflies flit overhead. The story suggests that it was during this time, the young Disney formed beliefs and values from which he never deviated. He believed that "When values are clear, decisions are easy."

Walt Disney also believed that every individual has two choices... Either we wait and hope that something or someone will provide the motivation needed to act, or we take control of our own dream and work to see it through. Obviously, the latter became the foundation for Disney.

What are you waiting for? A sprinkling of pixie dust? Perhaps we don't need a title to be a leader. In fact, in our wonderful country, we all have the opportunity to lead our own life. Dream. Dare. Believe. Do. That's the Disney way.

My only hope is that we never lose sight of one thing.....that it all started with a mouse. Walt Disney, 1954

And now, for your coaching challenge, should you choose to accept it.

What have you been daydreaming about? What's the one thing you can do this week to move your dream forward? Do it! We would love to hear about it, if you dare to share.

The Quality Coach!^®, celebrating over 20 years of coaching great leaders and great teams.

"because every business is a people business"

jeanne@thequalitycoach.com

http://www.thequalitycoach.com

WALT DISNEY'S "PLUS-ING" ALIVE AT PIXAR

Walt Disney originally coined the term plus-ing as a way of making something the product or idea better. One of our favorite examples of Walt's plus-ing happened late one year at Disneyland. Walt had decided to hold a Christmas parade at his new park. Knowing that the parade would cost several hundred thousand dollars, Walt's brother Roy and the accountants tried to convince him not to spend the money on such an extravagant event. Their rationale was that park guests were already coming for the Christmas holiday, and no one expected a parade. Walt responded, "That's just the point -we should do the parade precisely because no one's expecting it. Our goal at Disneyland is to always give the people more than they expect. As long as we keep surprising them, they'll keep coming back. But if they ever stop coming, it'll cost us ten times that much to get them to come back." Pixar's president Ed Catmull and chief creative officer John Lasseter have long been inspired by Walt Disney, and plus-ing has become a way of life at Pixar.

Never, ever accept "good enough"...there's always room for improvement.

Roy E. Disney, Walt's Nephew Dies at Age 79

Yesterday, Roy Edward Disney died of stomach cancer. Although he lived in the shadow of his famous uncle and father Roy O. Disney, he never wavered in his commitment to protect their legacy of creating arguably the most powerful entertainment empire of all time. As chairman of Disney animation, Roy E. Disney helped guide the studio to a new golden age of animation with an unprecedented string of artistic and box-office smashes that included The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. He was executive producer of Fantasia/2000, the sequel to the 1940 Disney classic, and the 2004 Oscar-nominated Destino, based on a 1945 collaboration between Walt Disney and Spanish painter Salvador Dali.

In the years after Walt's death in 1966 and his father Roy's death in 1971, Roy E. became disillusioned the Walt Disney Co., which he likened to "a real estate company that happened to be in the movie business." The company had let its feature animation film business, once the cornerstone of the company, go into a freefall. The company, Roy would later say, had lost its "creative drive."

As we write in The Disney Way..."After Roy's (Walt’s brother) death, the financial and creative growth of the company came to a standstill. During the 18 years between Walt's death in 1966 and Michael Eisner's entry as CEO in 1984, a simple question would be asked among the ranks before any decision was made: ‘What would Walt do?’

In 1984, Roy (Walt’s nephew) convinced the board to hire Michael Eisner as CEO and Frank Wells as president and COO. Eisner and Wells were consummate decision makers and quickly began to transform the sleepy little movie studio into a global entertainment enterprise now worth over $50 billion.”

Upon taking over as chief executive, Eisner asked Roy what he wanted to do. Disney responded that he wanted to revive the company's sagging animation division where morale was at an all-time low.

Fortunately, Eisner granted Disney his wish. It was Roy who persuaded Eisner and Wells to invest about $10 million in a digital ink and paint system developed by Pixar. As you can read in Innovate the Pixar Way, the early Disney-Pixar relationship laid the foundation for the soon-to-be-made fortunes of both organizations in the world of computer-generated animation. Although Michael Eisner is credited with much of the Disney turnaround in the 1980s-1990s, Roy was one of the first to realize that Michael Eisner had morphed into what we term a "hero to zero" in The Disney Way. In Chapter 12 of The Disney Way, we describe the events that we believe led to Eisner's demise. For a complete history of the “fight of the century” that prompted Roy to remove himself from the company’s board of directors, you can also read James Stewart’s Disney Wars.

In Pixar’s Blog of August 19, 2008, it is written….
“I need not remind anyone familiar that the latter part of Eisner's employment was marked by extremely bad decisions that deeply threatened the company. The suit-produced movies. The sequels-mill atmosphere. Eisner endangered Disney and its shareholders by letting his great personal dislike (to say the least) of then Pixar CEO Steve Jobs cloud his business sense, putting the relationship with Pixar into serious jeopardy. Had Disney shareholders not revolted, Disney/Pixar would almost definitely have been history, leaving Disney in a very tough situation. Fortunately they did, being led by Roy E. Disney, –who coincidentally now chairs the Disney Legends committee– and, natch, the rest is history.”

Clearly, Roy Disney was passionate about protecting "the happiest place on earth." When Bob Iger stepped in as president in late 2005, he invited Roy to return to the board of directors in an emeritus role and as a consultant.

Chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, John Lasseter commented, "I really credit Roy Disney completely with the renaissance of Disney animation, beginning with Little Mermaid and all the way through that great amazing series of classic Disney films."

A year ago, we were on the Disney Magic sailing the eastern Caribbean and Roy happened to be onboard promoting his film, Morning Light - the story of a real-life crew training who competed in the 44th Transpacific Yacht Race aboard a TP52 class yacht, Morning Light, owned by Roy. After we watched the film’s debut in ship’s magnificent Walt Disney Theatre, we had a chance to hear Roy speak during the Q & A session and also had the opportunity to meet him afterwards. We found him to be gracious and unassuming… following his own passions, yes, but still remaining a true force in the entertainment empire built by his famous uncle and father. Roy’s passing marks the end of an era. But the values that Walt, brother Roy and nephew Roy so passionately upheld will hopefully guide The Walt Disney Company for years to come.