In PART ONE of “Dear Disneyland,” we met Doug Lipp, a former member of the Disney University training teams at Disneyland, Tokyo Disneyland, and the corporate headquarters, who was mentored by the Disney Legends responsible for creating, nurturing, and growing the organizational and training culture designed to ensure Disneyland’s long-term success. Unfortunately, since the loss of Walt Disney and many of the incredible individuals who carried his legacy forward, times … and Disneyland culture … have changed. This three-part letter delves into why diminishing standards and training principles at Disney are a cause for great concern.
Let’s join Doug in Part 2 of his intervention letter to Disneyland…
Getting to Know You … As a Guest and As a Cast Member
My Dearest Disneyland,
We first met when I walked through your gates as a wide-eyed eight-year-old. Your cast members immediately embraced me with warm smiles, whimsical music, and gleaming facilities.
Eager for adventure, I implored my parents to brave the voyage across the Rivers of America to Tom Sawyer Island. Immediately swallowed up by mysterious caves, drawn to the imposing fort, and crossing a frighteningly unstable barrel bridge, I was magically transported to a land of wonder.
To this day, a memorable first-impression encounter with a security cast member on Tom Sawyer Island elicits warm, nostalgic memories.
Dressed in a western period costume, the security cast member appeared … out of nowhere. He towered above me, dressed impeccably from head to toe in his crisp costume. I’ll always remember his wide smile.
The Disney Magic had just begun. That cast member took the time to stop, and kneel down directly in front of me. We were now eye-to-eye! After a carefully timed pause, he asked: “Doug, are you having fun on Tom Sawyer Island today?” This person knows my name! I thought. How is this possible?
My parents revealed nothing … they simply smiled at the two of us, shrugged their shoulders, and played along.
Yes, that security officer knew my name because he took the time connect with me. Instead of rushing to his break, (or not caring), he slowed down and created a lifelong memory for a little boy. Equally impressive is how he acted upon a clue available to so many Disney Cast Members over the years; he read the freshly embroidered name on the front of the cap my parents had just purchased for me on Main Street … “Doug.”
Disneyland, you were healthier then.
Guest engagement tactics such as what I just described used to be carefully woven into cast member training and development. In addition to classroom instruction, cast members learned the art of guest service from each other during on-the-job-training, (OJT) and by observing supervisors and managers who were stellar Guest-interaction role models.
My friend, when I reference OJT, please remember those days when on-the-job training always blended the Science and the Art of keeping The Disney Way alive; the Science is park operations, and the Art is creating moments of magic for Guests.
The security officer on Tom Sawyer Island was undoubtedly keeping Guest safe, (focusing on the Science component of his job) and he created a moment of magic for me, (definitely the Art component of his job).
So, I wonder, does your current cast member training, whether in the Disney University classrooms, or during OJT with a Lead, Supervisor, or Manager carefully blend both Art and Science components?
My interaction on Tom Sawyer Island revealed a strength I’ve seen countless times during my career “outside the berm”; organizational culture always starts at the top. Employee training and development correlates directly to leadership values, priorities, and actions.
Most important, my friend, is this observation: Classroom training, regardless how fun or engaging, cannot overcome a leadership team that is disconnected from the front lines; employees will always believe what they see in leadership behavior more than what they hear during a training program.
Disneyland, what messages do the behaviors of your current leadership team send to your front-line … to your Cast Members and Guests?
Friend, we met multiple times over the years and our relationship grew ever stronger. From Middle and High School trips to my university days, I cherished every opportunity to see you. As I experienced on my very first visit, your cast members unfailingly embraced me with safety, warmth and wonderment … But what worked for decades seems to be waning. It’s all too easy to forget things that take effort when it isn’t reinforced every day by every leader.
Joining the Cast
Perhaps it was fate that, during my senior year in college, one of my professors knew Disney Legend and Disney University founder, Van France. Decades before the current Disney College Program, I became an intern at Disneyland and was blessed to work with Van, and many of the finest Disney University leaders. I met the team that helped Walt Disney build the world-renowned Disneyland organizational culture … your culture.
A Dream Realized
After returning from graduate school in Japan, the dream of becoming a full-time Disneyland Cast Member became a reality. This is when I realized the power of your pull. You kept me close, even when I was in school thousands of miles away. We soon grew closer.
Disneyland, back then you radiated a unique ability to embrace Guests and Cast Members alike. My mentors, the leaders eventually honored as Disney Legends, coined a phrase describing your unequalled passion:
The Disney Way
As you well know, The Disney University helped sustain The Disney Way for decades with engaging programs … all supported by your top leaders.
Due to these mentors, and countless others, generations of Guests and Cast Members have come to know and love your uniqueness and excellence.
Disneyland, my mentors also passionately instilled in me the importance of constantly maintaining your health … The Disney Way … by ardently safeguarding the cornerstones of your culture via maintaining absolute clarity about, and understanding the difference between:
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- Good Show versus Bad Show
- On-stage versus Backstage
These iconic mentors carried on Walt Disney’s vision, the man for whom you are named. The beauty of The Disney Way has always resided in its simplicity and power:
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- The feelings a smile creates—for Guests and Cast Members—versus a blank stare or frown.
- The memories and pride created by a beautifully maintained facility, versus one where “good enough” slowly becomes acceptable. Why spend the money to paint a bolt, so it mysteriously blends into the wooden handrail it supports, when it’s cheaper and easier to leave the bare metal exposed? After all, that bolt is still doing its job!
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- The Disney Way never settles for mediocrity, as expressed in one of Walt’s famous admonitions:
“The best is never the best.”
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- The power of treating each other with respect, backstage. After all, Walt Disney and Van France fervently believed:
“The way we treat our Cast Members backstage is the way they will treat our Guests on-stage.”
Disneyland, you were healthier then. Allow me to explain…
My friend, for decades corporations worldwide have scrambled (mostly in vain) to copy your wonderfully unique culture. Yet, their largely superficial attempts at “organizational change” doomed many from the start:
Many changed the name of their Training Department to emulate your wildly successful “university” training programs: Unfortunately for the countless “Corporate University” wannabes out there, very few did the heavy lifting of updating their tired and ineffective approaches to employee development.
Continuing with the changing-of-names game, many companies hoped new nomenclature for “employees” would magically convey respect, boost morale, and even elevate customer experience. Unfortunately, merely changing verbiage to “team members,” “associates,” or, “colleagues” gains a company nothing if leadership doesn’t exude respect to those who work there … or to those who pay the bills.
My friend, please remember:
Actions always speak louder than words. Proudly posting Corporate Values is meaningless if leadership doesn’t live, eat, and breathe those values … every day.
Disneyland, I fear you might be falling into a similar trap as those organizations which failed to capture your mystique and long-standing success; superficial changes cannot remedy organizational weaknesses.
I’ve seen far too many organizations make the fatal cost-cutting mistake of (metaphorically) slapping a new coat of paint on a run-down building, hoping the paint would somehow shore up an otherwise weak, crumbling foundation!
Spanning Continents, Bridging Cultures
Disneyland, sharing this tough love isn’t easy, but I learned the value of being honest from one of your most ardent truth-tellers, Van France.
My pride being associated with you grew progressively stronger with every new park and resort—in domestic and international locations—opening under your name. Particularly memorable are the years on the Tokyo Disneyland startup team. Listening to Van France sharing The Disney Way philosophy with Japanese executives reinforced the timeless and global nature of this recipe for success. Van deftly revealed how Walt implored all Cast Members to continually “plus” the show; to always improve.
Although how a show is “plussed” may differ slightly from Japan, to France, to China, your original leadership team set the table — decades earlier — for international expansion. Their farsighted development of your deceptively simple-yet-brilliant Five Keys (then 4 keys) provides a common sense guide for creating Moments of Magic … for Cast Members worldwide.
My friend, what is your assessment of the health of the Five Keys? While the well-being of each is worthy of debate, I encourage you to immediately focus on two that seem lacking: Courtesy and Show.
Difficulties Aren’t New to You
Friend, you’ve weathered many storms over the years yet managed to overcome each. From numerous operational challenges during your July 17, 1955, Grand Opening, to economic downturns, labor strife, and leadership changes, you’ve always risen above.
The unprecedented global calamity of 2020 shut your parks and brought about myriad changes. Disneyland, you survived, but the toll was immense and your recovery is far from over. But the bitter lessons learned from tumultuous and gut-wrenching eras can spark tremendous creativity and improvement … if:
- You tirelessly develop, and pay attention to, your Truth-Tellers; Cast Members and Guests who offer to your leadership team unbridled observations of your strengths and weaknesses.
- Your leadership team steadfastly champions Walt’s directive:
“Never rest on your laurels.”
The Truth-Teller
My friend, Van France recognized your failing health in the early 1980’s and resolutely addressed strategies for bringing you back. His value as a truth-teller cannot be overstated … a virtue I’ll repeatedly promote!
Van knew the allure of cost-cutting to improve (albeit temporarily) the bottom line. Yet Van tirelessly leveraged his credibility, and sacrificed his popularity, by sticking to a central theme:
Cutting costs would lead to a slow death march, not better health. Van challenged your leadership team with the following statement:
“The budget has become the scapegoat for every possible negative action and rejection of any suggestion for improving things. [Cutting] budgets is the coward’s way out of problem solving.”
Van set a stellar example by creating a bare-bones, in-your-face leadership intervention session titled: Gentlemen, This Is a Guest!. Van’s many approaches included shining a bright light on the strong headwinds working against your recovery … some coming from outside your gates … and some from within.
Passages from the course materials, and messages to your leadership team, exemplify Van’s approach:
“If we don’t provide what the Guest pays for, you and I are all going to be out on our individual [backsides], looking for some other way to make a living.”
“There is not one darned thing that you or I can do about the recession, depression, bankruptcies, unemployment, or interest rates. But there are things that you or I can do about improving the friendliness, fun, showmanship, and general happiness of the guests who pay us. We are in the unique position where each of us can do something to protect our own jobs and careers by improving the show. We are here where it all started … Disneyland. Our job is to work together to preserve this dream.”
My friend, is this resonating with you in today’s environment?
Keep Plussing the Show
Disneyland, Van’s “Gentlemen, This Is a Guest!” sessions reenergized your management team to keep plussing your show, despite the headwinds. Undeterred by the numerous challenges, Van helped a discouraged team reconnect with their roots by emphasizing your bottom line … a happy guest.
A particularly memorable passage exemplifies Van’s actionable, (simple sounding, but easily forgettable!), no excuses approach:
“Practice Being Friendly.
Smile and be friendly with each other.
Saying good morning to each other backstage will transfer to friendliness on-stage.”
Van’s ability to adroitly balance big-picture strategies, and daily (dare I say minute-by-minute?) tactics, reflects an advanced level of leadership sorely lacking today.
Dear friend, as I mentioned in my Part 1 letter to you last week, I’ve been blessed to work for, and with, other remarkable leaders who’s pronouncements eerily match Van’s. I’ll always remember a quote shared with me by Carly Fiorina, former CEO of the Hewlett-Packard Company:
“Leadership comes in small acts as well as bold strokes.”
Van would relish the thought of preparing your Cast Members for the “bold strokes” of DisneylandForward, while maintaining the “small acts” of friendliness.
Disneyland, I think you were healthier then … because of Van’s truth-telling, tough-love, and ability to balance lofty dreams with daily actions.
Friend, let’s not forget this vital component of Van’s success as a truth-teller; Van’s observations did not land on deaf ears. Starting with Walt Disney, and then throughout your leadership hierarchy in the park, when Van made suggestions, your leaders took note!
None of Van’s admonitions were expensive then, or now. None require investments in fancy new cast member costumes or upgraded attractions. “Plussing” the show is as much about attitude as it is about budget.
Disneyland, who are your truth-tellers today? Which person, or team, holds up the mirror of truth to you revealing both strengths and weaknesses? When leaders and pencil-pushers call for budget cuts, who on your team pushes back, (or, is pushing back career-ending)?
Who now controls your health? Is it:
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- Your contrarian thinkers who demand bold, plussing-the-show, solutions that attract more guests, and keep your culture healthy?
Or
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- Those who are limiting your future success by espousing entertainment cuts, service reductions, and lackluster training which will further reduce guest numbers and satisfaction?
In short… who now fills the shoes of Van France? And … who is listening?
Coming soon: Part 3, Storm Clouds Are Brewing: Are You Seeing What Others Are Seeing?
Let’s Hear From You
My dear reader, does this series resonate with you? Is Disneyland lacking the magic you remember from years ago? What simple steps could Disneyland take to restore the luster you expect from Disney? Please share your comments below and on social.