TOP5 SPEAKER on MANAGEMENT - BILL CAPODAGLI

Thanks to all of you who voted for Bill as Best Speaker at Speaking.com. They announced the "Top5 Speaker" honorees for 2010 and Bill has been awarded the Top5 Speaker designation in Management!

Fail Early, Fail Often and Learn Fast!

Last month, Pixar president Ed Catmull spoke to an enthusiastic audience at USC’s Ray Stark Theatre. (named for the legendary Hollywood producer of such hits as Night of the Iguana and Funny Girl)

The message? “Fail early, fail often and learn fast.” It’s great advice for those of us who are making New Year’s resolutions! Whether it’s personal development, diet plans, or creating new products and services, there’s always the possibility of frustration and failed goals. It’s what we do with that failure that’s the key.

Ed Catmull endeared himself to the attendees by delving into the particulars of a Pixar “failure” – allowing a novice director to direct a Pixar short film costing $2 million rather than giving him or her the reigns of a feature film that could have cost up to $180 million! Ed said, “Our take on it was that it was better to have a train wreck with model trains than with real ones.”

People typically view problems and failures as unwanted events. We admit, it’s counter-instinctive for people to accept failure, much less court it by taking risks. When failure occurs, don’t ignore it – learn from it and try again. Why not give a prize for the dumbest mistake of the month! Then don’t be surprised if the lesson it teaches triggers some major success. It’s better that team members ask forgiveness for errors than beg permission just to try. Don’t forget that the first steamboat was initially dubbed, “Fulton’s Folly.” And, behind Walt Disney’s back, people referred to Snow White as “Disney’s Folly.”

As we write in our new book, Innovate the Pixar Way, Randy Nelson, Dean of Pixar University, explains, “You have to honor failure, because failure is just the negative space around success."

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.

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INNOVATE THE PIXAR WAY - INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHORS

'Innovate the Pixar Way' — West Olive is home to business consultants, authors of new book
By BEN BEVERSLUIS
The Holland Sentinel
Posted Nov 28, 2009 @ 08:15 PM
Ottawa County, MI —
First came The Disney Way, Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company, a Fortune Magazine Best Business Book of 1999.
Now Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson are the authors of Innovate the Pixar Way: Business Lessons from the World’s Most Creative Corporate Playground, released Friday.
The two are spreading Pixar’s West Coast message across the United States from our very own West Coast of Michigan. They live and write in West Olive. And in April, their book will be featured as the keynote business presentation for the Holland Area Arts Council.
Below, they talk with The Sentinel about themselves, their book and business in West Michigan.

Question: You have a national presence in the business world, but live in West Michigan. Tell a little about yourselves — who you are, what you do and, mostly, how in the world you ended up here?

A: Bill — I grew up in the Chicago area and earned degrees in economics and mathematics from Illinois State University. I spent five years in the insurance industry and over 30 years in management consulting. From 1981 to 1984, I consulted for Sealed Power (now SPX) in Muskegon. During that time, I was living at the Spring Lake Holiday Inn five days a week, and fell in love with the area. Lynn and I met when, as members of the faculty of the University of Southern Indiana, we launched their business consulting initiative. At that time, we began teaching The Disney Way principles to an international client base. In 1993, we formed Capodagli Jackson Consulting. In 1995, when we began to write The Disney Way, we searched for a tranquil getaway to do our writing. Bill brought Lynn back to West Michigan to witness firsthand the beauty and peacefulness of the area, and she was instantly captivated. That year, we purchased our home on the lake in West Olive.

Q: Which Pixar characters are each of you?

A: Bill — Doc from Cars; Lynn — Sally from Cars They both embraced an environment of mutual respect and trust at Radiator Springs.

Q: You earned a national spotlight with the 1999 best-seller The Disney Way. How did that book change your lives?

A: Prior the writing The Disney Way, we helped clients create collaborative, customer-centric, innovative cultures. We would work with executives and teams over a period of two to four years to help them transform their organizations. After the success of the book, our business shifted from 10 percent speaking engagements and 90 percent long-term consulting engagements to 90 percent speaking engagements and 10 percent consulting. Our speaking engagements vary from 30-minute keynote presentations to three-day seminars on leadership, customer service and innovation.

Q: The Disney Way, now Innovate the Pixar Way. Sounds kind of “left coast.” And yet your roots are firmly planted here in the Midwest. Talk about any difficulties — or advantages — of that perspective.

A: One of our discoveries during our vast international team development experience is that the shared values of people from different nations greatly outweigh their differences. Similarly, we have found through working with teams from all around the U.S. that they have more in common than the stereotypic perception would lead you to believe. It makes no difference whether a person is from India or Brazil or Los Angeles or Holland, Michigan, all human beings want to be respected, trusted and their ideas valued.

Q: The world already has untold numbers of business advice books. Why another one? What’s new under the sun?

A: Ask any child to talk about Woody and Buzz Lightyear, Nemo or Lightning McQueen, and you will believe you’re hearing a story about a trusted friend. These characters were born in the corporate playground known as Pixar. Today, any organization has two choices … they can either provide boring, unimaginative products and services that any of their competitors can copy, or they can create 3D Technicolor, innovative, magical experiences for their customers that only they can provide. And what better example than Pixar, with 10 blockbuster hits in a row grossing well over $5 billion and costing a little over $1 billion to make? Innovate the Pixar Way brings to life how Pixar has established a culture that breeds innovation. Innovation does not come from a miraculous revelation on the road to Damascus. It comes from habitual, non-stop, Pixar-style collaboration!

Q: You don’t have to give away the whole book for free, but tease us with a few of your favorite lessons from Pixar.

A: There are 13 chapters in the book and an appendix highlighting six other “corporate playgrounds.” The book is filled with Pixarian ideas. Here are five ideas you can put to use immediately:
• Begin with the story. Don’t just rework your old and boring product or service — destroy, demolish, eradicate it! Then, once you have totally wiped out the old, think like a director of a play and visualize the major pieces of the production. It all begins with the story that emotionally connects you and your product with your customer.
• Instill mutual respect and trust. Pixar cofounder Alvy Ray Smith told us, “If you are going to have really talented people, it is important to have mutual respect and dignity across organizational lines.”
• Make work fun. Pixar director Andrew Stanton has great advice for preventing emotional burnout. “Laugh hard, twice daily.” Fun is a key element in creating an innovative environment.
• Collaborate. Collaboration at Pixar means bringing together the skills, ideas and personality styles of an entire team to achieve a shared vision.
• Quality is the best business plan. This is the mantra of John Lasseter. Never compromise quality… you do, you’re dead in the water.

Q: Sure, the movie business needs innovation. But how does it apply to making seat liners — or newspapers, for that matter?

A: Innovation is critical to every business. Did you ever wonder why it took so long for the fast-food hamburger business, started by White Castle back in 1912, to become such a staple of the American way of life? It took a creative visionary like Ray Kroc, who was influenced by another visionary — Henry Ford and his assembly line production innovations. Likewise, the discount department store has been around for more than a century; Woolworth dime stores date back to 1879. Again, it took creative visionaries like Sam Walton and West Michigan’s own Fred Meijer to revolutionize the one-stop shopping experience. Creativity abounds in all organizations — they simply have to unleash it.

Q: West Michigan industry was built on some significant innovation: Steelcase, way back when, Herman Miller, Haworth, BuhlerPrince. What are your thoughts about them and how they’re doing?

A: For the second consecutive year, Herman Miller has the distinct honor of being named to Fortune magazine’s 100 Best Places to Work For. They are one of three Michigan-based companies to appear on the list and the only representative from the office furniture industry. Brian Walker, Herman Miller president and CEO, endorsed Innovate the Pixar Way. Herman Miller’s culture is like Pixar is many ways - collaborative, risk-taking, great employee spirit and a dedication to quality no matter what.

Lynn: As a board member of the Holland Area Arts Council, I have been so fortunate to be part of a network of many of the most innovative leaders and champions of the arts in our community. Although it’s clear that most local organizations have been seriously affected by the economic turndown, our hope is that these innovative leaders will be well positioned to grow when we emerge from this uncertain business cycle.

Q: We hear from the governor, from MEDC, from Lakeshore Advantage that innovation is badly needed for Michigan’s future. No secret there. What do you see for West Michigan’s future, “to infinity and beyond?” Any bright spots?

A: We believe that innovation needs to be stimulated at the grass roots level — innovation comes from collaboration within organizations, not from government stimulus. For example, Lee Iacocca took over as chairman of Chrysler in 1978 and orchestrated a government $1.5 billion loan. However, he was afforded the freedom to innovate, the result being the first of the K-Car line, the Dodge Aries and the Plymouth Reliant and in 1983, the first minivan. The minivan went on to lead the automobile industry in sales for 25 years. As a result of these innovations, Chrysler was able to repay the government-backed loans seven years earlier than expected. Today, the government seems to be creating an environment of control rather than innovation. Creativity demands awareness — attention to managing the failures that happen on the path to success. The reason this is such a daunting task for most organizations is that they bog down in bureaucracy, hoping and praying a problem won’t turn into a crisis or going on a witch hunt to find someone to blame. Creative people in any industry must learn that failure really is, as Pixar University Dean Randy Nelson put it, “that negative space around success.”

Q: Where can you learn more about how to implement the Pixar principles in West Michigan?

A: The Holland Area Arts Council is hosting the keynote presentation, Innovate the Pixar Way, at the Pinnacle Center on April 20, 2010. For more information, please contact the HAAC at (616)396-3278.

Dare to Make a Difference – A Tribute to a Legendary Educator: Jan Drees 1946-2009

As we were preparing to write this week’s blog, we received the sorrowful news of the death of our dear friend Jan Drees, founder and retired principal of the Downtown School of Des Moines, Iowa. We featured Jan and her tremendous leadership at the Downtown School in our 2007 revised edition of The Disney Way. Bill first met Jan in 1999 when he was the keynote speaker at Des Moines’ Business Expo. A few days before his keynote, Jan called our office and asked if Bill could address the school board while he was in town. She wanted her colleagues to learn how Dream, Believe, Dare Do -- The Disney Way principles -- applied to the field of education.

Bill told Jan that he had some definite opinions regarding the problems in public education, and cautioned her that his message might ruffle the feathers of her board members. This was exactly what Jan Drees wanted to hear! To say the least, Bill does not believe in a conventional approach to teaching. Ever since 1983 when the National Commission on Excellence in Education declared the US “a nation at risk”, Bill has championed a learning model that is still contrary to that of the public school system. When Bill and Jan realized they shared the same passion for reinventing the traditional model of education, a bond was formed between them. Jan once told us, “I look for teachers who do not want to be the power person in the classroom. I don’t want teachers who feel ‘I’m the boss, you’re the student, now go sit down.’ I want teachers who are child-centered!”

Fortunately, Jan had a great deal of support in her hometown of Des Moines. In 1990, her Downtown School “dream” became the focus of a partnership between the Des Moines Business Alliance and the Des Moines School District. Jan was named executive director of the Alliance and spent three years researching what worked and what failed in other institutions. Jan said, “The research is clear: When you give students an experience, the learning is much more memorable – much better than if they read it or hear a lecture.” The Downtown School was a true collaboration between business, the school district, teachers, students and parents. This consortium took the best-of-the-best and created the Downtown School. Launched in 1993 with 45 students, the Downtown School’s premise was that everyone is there to learn by true experience and discovery. Jan and her team created a world- class learning environment. In their first two years of operation, 2038 educators, school board members and business people visited the Downtown School from 22 states and 10 countries. When Jan retired in 2006, there were nearly 300 students enrolled and 900 on a waiting list.

On the issues of hiring teachers, challenging tenure agreements, parent participation, grading, and drugging students with Ritalin who suffer ADHD (When we initially interviewed Jan, she told us that she had only one student who was taking Ritalin; the national average would have suggested 15!), Jan dared to challenge conventional educational “wisdom.” In The Disney Way, you can read more about the phenomenal results of the Downtown School.

After Jan’s retirement from the Downtown School, she became known for her work with the Great Ape Trust of Iowa whose mission is to “provide sanctuary and an honorable life for great apes, study their intelligence, advance their conservation and provide unique educational experiences about great apes.” Jan was their K-12 education director who helped create the Great Ape Academy. The Academy, an interdisciplinary education program -- the only public education program of its kind in the world -- grants more than 1,000 Des Moines school students the opportunity to learn more about great apes and related topics. As Jan stated at the official launch of the Academy in 2007, “the education program will introduce students to real-world problems, require them to seek solutions and inspire them to become the scientists of the future. Students want to be involved in solving problems, and they have worthwhile, valuable ideas about how to do that.” she said. “They are going to be handed serious, complex issues, and they will learn that the choices and decisions they make today will have an impact on the Earth and its inhabitants.”

Jan Drees certainly made an impact on this Earth and countless inhabitants –we treasure the impact she made on our lives, both personally and professionally. Jan’s dear friend, former assistant principal of the Downtown School, and current director of the Business/Education Alliance’s Professional Development Center, Renee Harmon, was the one who contacted us to tell us that Jan had passed on. We were unable to attend the funeral this past week, but Renee graciously described Jan’s visitation, vigil service and funeral to us. A few of Renee’s words seem fitting to repeat here: “a room filled with flowers and honors from those throughout the country. . .stories of Jan…words of love, respect and wisdom. She would have been humbled by their words and would have disliked being the center of attention, but what an honor to have so many love and respect you. A traditional catholic funeral. . .the room filled with past students, parents and teachers from the Downtown School. . .business and community leaders added to the number who honored her service and life of love…What a tribute…

If you are a business leader, why should you be concerned about the quality of education? For one thing, it makes good business sense. Businesses spend an estimated $3.7 billion a year on remedial reading, writing and mathematics skills for high school students entering the workforce. The Alliance for Education reports that nearly 33% of incoming college freshmen have to take some form of remedial reading or mathematics classes. The national high school graduation rate is 69.2%. We are not only failing our students… we are failing our teachers as well. Fifty percent of new teachers leave the profession within their first 5 years. Turnover is costing our public educational systems over $7 billion a year. Insanity may be defined as “doing the same thing and expecting different results.” That is what school districts have been doing for decades! How many of your businesses could survive with just a 69.2% production yield and 33% customer defect rate? We can’t just copy old, boring, ineffective ways of teaching—we need to destroy, demolish, eradicate, nuke, vaporize and zap the educational system! Then, as Jan Drees did, create a 3D Technicolor, unique, memorable, engaging educational experience for students, teachers and parents.

As leaders in the business community, let Jan’s legacy inspire you to dare to make a difference. The future of our country is on the line, the US is still “a nation at risk.” We need to learn from Jan’s example and continue her legacy of excellence in education whenever and wherever possible. You can make a difference in your community’s educational system with non-stop collaboration; the courage to challenge conventional wisdom; trust and a mammoth dose of respect for your collaborators.