Subject: CAUSE Plenary Address

Dennis Snow, from Disney, spoke on "Leadership: The Disney Approach."

He started with three points about Disney, the organization.

1.  Every detail speaks--so pay attention to detail.  One of the keys
to Disney animation is that they don't rely on the dialogue--action,
music, shadows, every part of the animation is used.

2.  Always give people a little more than they expect

3.  Disney, asked what his greatest accomplishment was, said "I built
an organization that focuses on excellence everyday."

Then he got to what I considered the meat of the talk, with three
points about leadership, using the metaphor of the leader as director
of a film.

1.  Are you on-story or not?

The power of the story, and especially of the storyboard (the
mechanism that shows people where we are all going).  The director as
"the keeper of the story."

And the constant question--does this tell the story we want to tell?

As an example of this point, he related a story about "Snow White."
Apparently when Disney proposed this, his animators revolted.  They
told him he was nuts, and they were NOT going to do a 90 minute
animation.

So Disney sent them all to dinner, and asked them to come back after
eating.

When they got back, they found Walt Disney sitting on stage under a
single light bulb.

And he started play-acting the story.  He showed them all the parts,
the wicked witch, the prince, the seven dwarves...

90 minutes later, he stopped.

And they agreed to do the movie.

That's the power of the story.

2.  Are you on-model or not?

The concept and enforcement of standards.  In animation, they use
model sheets which show the multiple animators how to draw the
figures.  In customer service at Disney, off-stage, there are lists:
Safety, Courtesy, Show, Efficiency -- IN THAT ORDER!  They work at
making the standards explicit, communicated, and understood.

As the example of this, we all learned to draw Mickey Mouse.  In five
minutes, using the "standard", we all drew a pretty good Mickey.

3.  Plussing

This is where, with the story holding it all together, the standards
keeping everything in sync, Disney nurtures creativity.  Go beyond the
expected standard, add to the show--and you're likely to have a Disney
person hand you a "Guest Service Fanatic Card".

Walt Disney apparently kept a roll of $5 bills in his pocket, and
whenever someone did something extra, he'd hand them one.  Now, they
don't do that, but they do keep a pad of "Guest Service Fanatic Card"s
handy and pass them out.

They urge every cast member to take five minutes every day and make a
magical memory for one guest.

The director--the leader--makes sure we are telling the story we want
to tell.  makes sure we are following the standards we want to follow.
and makes very sure that we say thank you for that little extra plus
that only you could add.

It's all about how it is put together.

And the director is the person who does that.