On the second day of Disney Institute’s Customer Experience Summit, Bruce Jones, Senior Cast Development & QA Director kicked off the morning about Disney Institute. To summarize in one sentence – How do you think differently?
Bruce introduced Disney Institute’s thesis statement. When you attend any Disney Institute course, you start the morning talking about this statement to frame the work and learning for the day.
When you unpack this statement into segments:
1. Consistent business results over time
2. Strategically focusing your time to where it makes a difference
3. Paying attention to what may be seen as seemingly insignificant details
What Does Disney Institute mean by Intentional?
– We tend to think about things differently than others – and to a greater degree.
– We pay extraordinary attention to the details surrounding general business processes.
– We strategically place emphasis that is both greater than and different from what is typical in corporate best practices.
– We have prevailing evidence that suggests what we do works.
Bruce shared that one of the simplest things that is often overlooked is name tags. Not only did Disney research the design (did you know that a circle/oval name tag is more friendly and approachable, especially for kids?) but they designed it with first name and home town to feel less formal and foster conversation. They also created value to earning the name tag and pride in wearing it as a Disney Cast Member. Take a look in this video:
We were then given an overview of Disney Institute Chain of Excellence which is grounded in continuous improvement and continuous feedback. We also had a brief overview about Disney Institute’s three areas – Leadership Excellence, Employee Engagement and Quality Service.
The willingness to deliver great quality service is largely based on their interactions with their leaders. Disney also creates a culture that prides itself on getting feedback. Bruce asked us to reflect – What am I going to do when I go back to make a difference in my organization?
Some key takeaways:
– Leadership is about the action one takes rather than the position one holds.
– Everyone should be considered a leader. You can’t do this alone.
– When you emphasize certain critical human processes you can create highly engaged employees who are more consistently exhibit designed behaviors.
– You can have culture by default or culture by design.
– Even in an imperfect environment, the achievement of exceptional service is possible.
One of the biggest takeaways was satisfaction and the importance of consistent performance over time in shifting from good to excellent. Good isn’t good enough!
So where are you going to focus your time and energy to drive the most value to your organization?
Thank you Bruce for sharing valuable insights. Glad to finally meet you in person too!
Feel free to contact me if you want to learn more about Disney Institute
Jensen Ball 