Walt Disney Case Study

What Can We Learn From the Disney Culture?

Walt Disney once said:

“You can dream, create, design and build the best, the most wonderful place on earth, but it
requires people to make that dream a reality.”

The Disney brand is very distinctive and is recognized globally. Disney World in Orlando, Florida
is the largest single-site employer in the United States with 55,000 employees. They
understand the impact that each and every staff member has on their brand and act
accordingly, giving us a lot of insights into how we too can more effectively use our workforce.

What can we learn from the Disney culture?

Everyone knows their role. “We don’t put people in Disney, we put Disney in people” is the
line used by Disney HR during induction. In creating a recognizable culture, Disney clearly have
an advantage as most people have an awareness of their requirements before joining the
organization. However, they have done an excellent job of maximizing this awareness with a
clear and intentional approach to recruitment and induction that ensures that they get the right
people and that new employees (called cast members) have a thorough understanding of
requirements.

Cast members are instructed to be “aggressively friendly”, taking photos for visitors seen
aiming cameras, assisting people looking at maps and other spontaneous actions designed to
maximize the customer experience. They are also asked to incorporate their own examples of
superior customer service into their employee storyline, so that they can easily recall the times
when they have gone above and beyond normal requirements.

Key Questions:

• Does everyone in your organization know the requirements of their role? Not just the
“job description” requirements, but what they do that adds value to the customer and
business.
• Is there an internal culture that is easily recognizable and memorable?

It’s not negotiable. If you work at Disney, you either participate in their cultural requirements
or you work somewhere else.

1
The Disney Key Study
One example of this is that if a cast member removes their costume while on show, it’s grounds
for instant dismissal. It seems harsh, but it outlines that their aim to give visitors a magical
experience is of paramount importance.

Jim Collins uses the analogy of a bus to describe this principle. In his book Good to Great,
Collins outlines that you need to have your people “on the bus”, meaning that they have to
understand what you’re trying to achieve as an organization and if they’re not on board with
your message, then they need to “get off the bus” and leave your organization.

This needs to be true for any successful organization, whether it be a business, church,
volunteering group or any other group. You need to have a set of guiding principles or values
that are non-negotiable, enabling the entire organization to move in the one direction. That
doesn’t mean that you need clones or a culture of “group-think” it just means that everyone
knows the direction that you are headed in and are willing to play their part in getting you
there.

Key Questions:

• What are the non-negotiable in your organization?

• Does everyone know what they are?
• Are they rigorously enforced to protect your brand?

Recognize your people. The Disney organization has over 20 different programs designed to
recognize people’s performance. These range in scale and are generally localized so that the
celebrations are decentralized, and immediate leaders are responsible for rewarding their
staff. New employees record on their file how they would like to be rewarded, with movie
tickets, days off and other options to choose from. This gives leaders the opportunity to
personalize the rewards that their people receive, making them more memorable and
meaningful.

Walt Disney himself would often wander around the complex late at night, stopping to chat
with night shift workers to get their ideas on how to make improvements. He was a strong
believer that the people closest to the coalface often had the most practical and easiest to
implement ideas. He also understood that it was engaging and empowering for them to share
their ideas with their leader.

2
The Disney Key Study
Key Questions:

• As a leader, what do you do to recognize excellent performances from your people?

• Do you have a culture where you look for ways to catch people doing the right thing or
the wrong thing?
• Are the rewards generic or personal enough to make them more appreciated?
• Do you make it easy for your staff to make suggestions to innovate and improve your
organization?
• Do you go to them, or do you expect them to come to you?

There’s a lot that we can learn from great organizations and the challenge isn’t necessarily to
completely replicate someone else’s culture but to utilize the aspects that will work in your
team. Hopefully there are a few ideas here that can work for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAJ9p6Bjpxg

3
The Disney Key Study