It may have been an unfair request but biographer Neal Gabler's task was to divine leadership lessons from the life and work of Walt Disney. The night before his talk, when I met him in Tucson on the eve of a leadership retreat -- called re:public VII; a gathering of those who choose to lead, convened by e.Republic's Center for Digital Government -- Gabler said he was debuting a short list on the subject.
The short list was extracted from a long book -- Gabler's 633-page biography Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. The next morning, in front of group of public officials and employees, he debuted what might be called 'Disney on Management' with the caveat that he did not want it to devolve into the stuff of greeting cards or motivational posters. The talk did not. With apologies to Gabler, the following summary may.
Here is the short list of what Disney did, for good or for ill, in creating an industry and sheparding the company that bears (and bought) his name:
In the discussion that followed, Gabler reflected on this future of biography. Biographers rely on the written record, from the first postcard Disney received to his death certificate -- to all of which Gabler had unprecedented access. Documents were also central to his biography of Walter Winchell and a history of Hollywood studio chiefs. He worries that the craft and its products will suffer, or perhaps disappear, as the written record becomes less complete. The worry was shared by many in the room but others protested that the nature of the record will change but will still be available to future biographers. The optimists drew analogies between postcards and instant messages and pointed out that proper archives would embrace more than just physical artifacts.
In discussions after the session, some attendees swooned over the reminder to wish on a star while others concluded that the words and Disney and leadership should never be used in the same sentence. "What was the lesson I took away from it?" asked one attendee who was quick to answer his own question, "He was a lot of things but not a manager ... and he may have just been crazy."
The short list was extracted from a long book -- Gabler's 633-page biography Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination. The next morning, in front of group of public officials and employees, he debuted what might be called 'Disney on Management' with the caveat that he did not want it to devolve into the stuff of greeting cards or motivational posters. The talk did not. With apologies to Gabler, the following summary may.
Here is the short list of what Disney did, for good or for ill, in creating an industry and sheparding the company that bears (and bought) his name:
- Infallibility Helps. Disney failed early and often, but never considered himself a failure. He was driven to be the best at something -- he set out to define the then new craft of animation and it defined him.
- Business Plan Optional. He insisted that high quality was enough of a business plan. Disney also had the curious practice of repeatedly hiring efficiency consultants to study the studio's practices only to toss their reports and recommendations when it became clear that acting on them would put unneeded (or at least unwanted) constraints on the studio -- and the man who reigned over it.
- Not Just an Organization. Disney was all about creating community -- a community that was intensely loyal to him -- but it foreshaddowed by decades all that Web 2.0 social network talk.
- Inspire, Inspire, Inspire. Disappointing Disney was a terrible thing to do, and the people around him knew it, and did everything in their power not to do it. Inspiring his artists was the key to transcend simple cartooning and make animated features in which audiences believe the characters are alive, and have a heart and soul.
- Trust Yourself. Disney did not collaborate, he directed. It was his vision, and those around him were charged with making it real. It made him a micro manager of the first order, and not necessarily a good thing for the organization. When Disney stopped trusting himself, the studio started using focus groups, which were no substitute for his iconoclastic leadership.
- Take the Long View. In 1935, Disney pioneered the production of color animated films because he believed that, decades later, there would be color television and black and white films would not hold their value.
- Maintain Control. Disney did, it made him indispendable and the company knew it -- so much so that life insurance was taken out to pay back share holders in case of his death.
- Reinvent Regularly. There were a number of Walt Disneys over the years, each adapting to or anticipating the next opportunity.
In the discussion that followed, Gabler reflected on this future of biography. Biographers rely on the written record, from the first postcard Disney received to his death certificate -- to all of which Gabler had unprecedented access. Documents were also central to his biography of Walter Winchell and a history of Hollywood studio chiefs. He worries that the craft and its products will suffer, or perhaps disappear, as the written record becomes less complete. The worry was shared by many in the room but others protested that the nature of the record will change but will still be available to future biographers. The optimists drew analogies between postcards and instant messages and pointed out that proper archives would embrace more than just physical artifacts.
In discussions after the session, some attendees swooned over the reminder to wish on a star while others concluded that the words and Disney and leadership should never be used in the same sentence. "What was the lesson I took away from it?" asked one attendee who was quick to answer his own question, "He was a lot of things but not a manager ... and he may have just been crazy."
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