Disney characters are so prevalent in American life, we can’t fathom how many times we’ve seen them.
How many times have you seen Mickey Mouse?
Ok, now draw Mickey on your first sheet of paper.
Pathetic.
Seriously.
No sugar coating it.
Second chance…grab another sheet of paper…
i use a “Draw Mickey” activity i taught at Disney Institute to frame up how misguided organizational leaders are when they preach “thinking outside the box”.
Not gonna bore anyone with the details.
Just know the activity is pure genius.
Because humans are easily distracted…
Disney Blog link here for how to draw Disney Characters.
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Disney Lodgekeepers (housekeepers at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge) had an idea shortly after Disney’s Wilderness Lodge opened in 1994.
To maximize daily efficiency with the fewest number of linen-room trips for supplies, Lodgekeepers packed as much onto their linen carts as possible.
A heavy linen cart on a carpeted floor is hard to push.
In the mid-1990’s Walt Disney World was unveiling Performance Excellence – an unprecedented management reorganization.
The primary goal was to tap into the knowledge “library” and experience base of the front line Cast Members.
The secret leadership ingredient that went missing from all previous “empowerment” initiatives was leadership involvement and approval.
Performance Excellence was designed to provide the missing link.
When the Cast said they wanted a self-propelled linen cart (like a self-propelled lawn-mower), leadership checked with our linen-cart vendor and you can just imagine their response.
Cool idea, but no.
Such a thing didn’t exist.
Anywhere.
So Disney leadership relayed the message to the Cast and the Cast responded, “But you said this time we promise.”
Long story longer – guess who co-owns the patent for the first ever self-propelled linen cart?
Additional backstory:
Disney’s Central Shops (where we build the Magic) and the linen-cart vendor partnered to invent the cart and receive the patent.
A Disneyland Merchandise Executive was visiting Walt Disney World – specifically, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – and noticed the self-propelled linen cart in her hallway.
She took an existing idea and made it work for the outdoor food and beverage carts at Disneyland.
Can you imagine how heavy a beverage cart is that’s full of cases of bottled and canned drinks?
Creativity, for Disneyland Merchandise, didn’t mean invention, it meant adaptation.
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This website is about our WORK. To ponder today’s post about our HQ, click here.
If you want to stay on this site and read more posts from this Blog, click here.