The wonderful world of Disney has inspired many people from all over the world and can be seen as best practice when it comes to exceeding guests expectations. In this review I will note down the key elements in how they create this magical world through the interpretation of the following books;
- Inside the Magic Kingdom – Tom Connellan
- The Disney Way – Bill Capodagle and Lynn Jackson
- Creating Magic – Lee Cockerell
- Be our Guest – Disney Institute
- The Imagineering Way – The Imagineers
Disney obviously is a huge brand, therefore the focus of this review lies in Disney as a location brand with its themeparks and resorts. This means that I will not talk about the dozens of co-creation platforms Disney is involved in and the way they inspire communities to do good and make benefits for society at large.
Disney’s DNA
To frame the focus of Disney as a location brand I would like to start with the DNA of Disney as it is translated into a vision statement, essence statement and mission statement of Walt Disney World, which can be seen as their most important location;
Vision statement
Walt Disney World will always be dedicated to making dreams come true. In this magical world, fantasy is real and reality is fantastic. A wonderful sense of community awaits where all are greeted as welcome guests who become cherished friends. For all who work and play here, Walt Disney World will be a source of joy and inspiration
Essence statement
Walt Disney World is a magical passage into a world of fantasy and adventure. Here we can wish upon a star, experience the impossible and bring our dreams to life. Together, treasured friends discover a wonderland that dazzles, delights, and renews through all the seasons of a lifetime.
Mission statement
Our mission is to honor our heritage and continually reinvent Walt Disney World.
Growing a service culture
With these statements you can already see that there is a big emphasis on cultural aspects. Walt Disney has put this in a beautiful quote; "You can dream, create, design, and build the most wonderful place in the world... but it requires people to make the dream a reality."
The thing that creates the magic at all of the Disney parks around the world are the people working there. This means that Disney needs to create a service culture in which people understand they can make a difference. They do this by taking their corporate storytelling as the basics for all of the actions they perform.
The first step they take is to translate their corporate story into smaller themes, which can be seen as location specific artefacts. This means that these themes are living themes which provide meaning and direction. The next step is to translate the chosen themes into three delivery systems; their people, its setting and the processes of interaction. These are the touchpoints Disney uses to communicate an image to its guests.
The key elements within the delivery system people are the language and rituals they use. This way Disney is able to transform daily routines into daily rituals. For example with language they use theatre jargon, which means that employees are called cast members, that jobs are roles, that attractions are rides and shows, that interviews are auditions and that there is an onstage and backstage area. Remember; Words create worlds!
Also with showing directions cast members learn to use the Disney point. In this ritual you use two fingers to show where people need to go to instead of one. As you can imagine this is something which unites people internally as well as it does show integrity towards its guests.
Disney’s DNA
To frame the focus of Disney as a location brand I would like to start with the DNA of Disney as it is translated into a vision statement, essence statement and mission statement of Walt Disney World, which can be seen as their most important location;
Vision statement
Walt Disney World will always be dedicated to making dreams come true. In this magical world, fantasy is real and reality is fantastic. A wonderful sense of community awaits where all are greeted as welcome guests who become cherished friends. For all who work and play here, Walt Disney World will be a source of joy and inspiration
Essence statement
Walt Disney World is a magical passage into a world of fantasy and adventure. Here we can wish upon a star, experience the impossible and bring our dreams to life. Together, treasured friends discover a wonderland that dazzles, delights, and renews through all the seasons of a lifetime.
Mission statement
Our mission is to honor our heritage and continually reinvent Walt Disney World.
Growing a service culture
With these statements you can already see that there is a big emphasis on cultural aspects. Walt Disney has put this in a beautiful quote; "You can dream, create, design, and build the most wonderful place in the world... but it requires people to make the dream a reality."
The thing that creates the magic at all of the Disney parks around the world are the people working there. This means that Disney needs to create a service culture in which people understand they can make a difference. They do this by taking their corporate storytelling as the basics for all of the actions they perform.
The first step they take is to translate their corporate story into smaller themes, which can be seen as location specific artefacts. This means that these themes are living themes which provide meaning and direction. The next step is to translate the chosen themes into three delivery systems; their people, its setting and the processes of interaction. These are the touchpoints Disney uses to communicate an image to its guests.
The key elements within the delivery system people are the language and rituals they use. This way Disney is able to transform daily routines into daily rituals. For example with language they use theatre jargon, which means that employees are called cast members, that jobs are roles, that attractions are rides and shows, that interviews are auditions and that there is an onstage and backstage area. Remember; Words create worlds!
Also with showing directions cast members learn to use the Disney point. In this ritual you use two fingers to show where people need to go to instead of one. As you can imagine this is something which unites people internally as well as it does show integrity towards its guests.
In line with this thought Disney uses their casting as an opportunity to immediately show the total identity of the corporation, which contributes to its natural selection of new cast members. After a successful audition, the first thing new cast members do is begin learning how to deliver Walt Disney World’s brand of quality service.
This is done in a two tiered approach, the first tier is conducted at Disney university with Traditions (guess why it is called like that). In this training the goal is not to put someone into Disney but to put Disney into their hearts. Being a Traditions facilitator therefore is seen as a huge honor. The second tier occurs on the job and encompasses the location specific information that is needed to perform in the different themes within the resort. Again you see that everything falls under the umbrella concept of creating happiness.
With the setting there is a distinction between high touch areas, where plenty or interaction is possible, high show areas, where vivid presentations are build and high tech areas, where efficiency and safety are the primary focus. The key element in this delivery system is to only tell one story at a time.
The processes have to do with the way work is done. One of the processes is plussing, which is a process of continuous improvement. With plussing every employee can give feedback on what they experience. For example a cast member rode Pirates of the Caribbean once and felt that something was missing, but couldn’t find out what. Walt Disney encouraged him to ride it over and over again until he knew. After a couple of rides the cast member came back and found out what was missing; there were no fireflies. You can imagine what happened next. In order to make sure that all of the processes go well Disney has a huge source of tools which help cast members to solve all of the issues which come across.
Combining all of the three delivery systems Disney makes it possible to create Magical Moments. These are pre-organized special moments in which guests experience something extra-ordinary. But maybe even more important it is a high-touch moment which reinforces the meaning of Walt Disney World to its cast members.
One of these magical moments happened to a family at a Walt Disney World hotel. The family included three little girls still young enough to take their teddy bears with them. At the end of the first day, the family returned from one of the parks to their hotel room. There, seated around the table, were the three bears with cookies and milk placed before them. The little girls were delighted, of course, and the following evening they urged their parents to hurry back to the hotel. This time, the three bears were placed sitting up in bed reading Mickey Mouse books. One can imagine the joy this scene evoked in the youngsters. The third evening, the girls found their beard again at the table, but this time they were arranged as though they were playing cards.
An appreciative leadership style
An underexposed subject so far is Disney’s leadership style. This is described by the ability to establish and manage a creative climate in which individuals and teams are self-motivated to the successful achievement of long-term goals in an environment of mutual trust and respect. Quite servant isn’t it! Again the focus is on openness and the appreciation of every individual, which encourages creativity and fun at work.
All of this together results in Disney’s business model; Leadership -> Cast excellence -> Guest satisfaction -> Business results! A model which focuses on a network of people at the first place and therefore it emphasizes on value-in-context, a true service-dominant logic approach.
Master of Imagineering
Within the framework of the Master of Imagineering I think that these books together really help to understand what it takes to create a strong concept brand. But in my opinion it is not really necessary to read all of them. There is quite some overlap in the tools which are mentioned and because of the strong basics the message of most of the books is similar. This review therefore can be seen as a summary which connects the dots.
My advice therefore is to buy the book ‘Be our guest’, because it is efficient in its writing and it invites you to rethink your business step by step; easy and understandable. Also the book ‘The Imagineering Way’ is highly useful as a source of inspiration. The other books are nice to read if you want to know some in-depth information but do not particularly offer anything new.
Finally, I have been a cast member myself and I have experienced all of the things mentioned above which have guided me with my Disney transformation. And isn’t that what made Disney famous anyway?! Think about all of the transformations in all of the Disney movies you know; Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Princess and the Frog; Transformations are at the core of Disney’s purpose!
Do more than imagine… Live the dream!
Rob van Vlokhoven
This is done in a two tiered approach, the first tier is conducted at Disney university with Traditions (guess why it is called like that). In this training the goal is not to put someone into Disney but to put Disney into their hearts. Being a Traditions facilitator therefore is seen as a huge honor. The second tier occurs on the job and encompasses the location specific information that is needed to perform in the different themes within the resort. Again you see that everything falls under the umbrella concept of creating happiness.
With the setting there is a distinction between high touch areas, where plenty or interaction is possible, high show areas, where vivid presentations are build and high tech areas, where efficiency and safety are the primary focus. The key element in this delivery system is to only tell one story at a time.
The processes have to do with the way work is done. One of the processes is plussing, which is a process of continuous improvement. With plussing every employee can give feedback on what they experience. For example a cast member rode Pirates of the Caribbean once and felt that something was missing, but couldn’t find out what. Walt Disney encouraged him to ride it over and over again until he knew. After a couple of rides the cast member came back and found out what was missing; there were no fireflies. You can imagine what happened next. In order to make sure that all of the processes go well Disney has a huge source of tools which help cast members to solve all of the issues which come across.
Combining all of the three delivery systems Disney makes it possible to create Magical Moments. These are pre-organized special moments in which guests experience something extra-ordinary. But maybe even more important it is a high-touch moment which reinforces the meaning of Walt Disney World to its cast members.
One of these magical moments happened to a family at a Walt Disney World hotel. The family included three little girls still young enough to take their teddy bears with them. At the end of the first day, the family returned from one of the parks to their hotel room. There, seated around the table, were the three bears with cookies and milk placed before them. The little girls were delighted, of course, and the following evening they urged their parents to hurry back to the hotel. This time, the three bears were placed sitting up in bed reading Mickey Mouse books. One can imagine the joy this scene evoked in the youngsters. The third evening, the girls found their beard again at the table, but this time they were arranged as though they were playing cards.
An appreciative leadership style
An underexposed subject so far is Disney’s leadership style. This is described by the ability to establish and manage a creative climate in which individuals and teams are self-motivated to the successful achievement of long-term goals in an environment of mutual trust and respect. Quite servant isn’t it! Again the focus is on openness and the appreciation of every individual, which encourages creativity and fun at work.
All of this together results in Disney’s business model; Leadership -> Cast excellence -> Guest satisfaction -> Business results! A model which focuses on a network of people at the first place and therefore it emphasizes on value-in-context, a true service-dominant logic approach.
Master of Imagineering
Within the framework of the Master of Imagineering I think that these books together really help to understand what it takes to create a strong concept brand. But in my opinion it is not really necessary to read all of them. There is quite some overlap in the tools which are mentioned and because of the strong basics the message of most of the books is similar. This review therefore can be seen as a summary which connects the dots.
My advice therefore is to buy the book ‘Be our guest’, because it is efficient in its writing and it invites you to rethink your business step by step; easy and understandable. Also the book ‘The Imagineering Way’ is highly useful as a source of inspiration. The other books are nice to read if you want to know some in-depth information but do not particularly offer anything new.
Finally, I have been a cast member myself and I have experienced all of the things mentioned above which have guided me with my Disney transformation. And isn’t that what made Disney famous anyway?! Think about all of the transformations in all of the Disney movies you know; Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Lion King, Princess and the Frog; Transformations are at the core of Disney’s purpose!
Do more than imagine… Live the dream!
Rob van Vlokhoven
2 comments:
Dear Rob,
The magic of Disney is something everyone should have been touched by at least once in their lifetime. For many of us this started when we were little brats watching the enchanting movies and being read Disney stories. Visually and story-wise extremely appealing. I even had ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ wall paper! The delight and fascination does not stop at the age of 7, since my parents’ favourite holiday was our trip to Disney World in Florida.
Thanks to your personal ‘working’/ playing experience at Disney, you have given us a great insight into the culture, elements and rituals that make Disney the experience of a lifetime. It is the small and personal touches that make the experience special and therefore memorable.
Even though Disney is often used as the role model example of Imagineering, you have given it a very colourful and intellectual depth which shows that Disney is so much more than a good story with fantasy characters.
So, when is our next school-trip?
Liefs,
Jessica
You can really feel your passion about Disney and that makes it extra nice to read your review.
With a huge brand as Disney it is a strong point to start by pointing out the focus of your review. You structured the review very well and highlighted the statements you will pay attention to in your text.
The beautiful quote
"You can dream, create, design, and build the most wonderful place in the world... but it requires people to make the dream a reality." Is inspiring and when you explain how they can create such a world in reality makes it understandable and helps me to translate it into practice.
For the future you could go a little bit more in-depth about what these books mean for you and your job at the application company and especially the relation with Imagineering.
After reading your review I truly believe it is a wonderful review about a wonderful world.. Thank you!
Lieke
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