Disney book writing from Epcot’s Inventions Pavilion.
We ate lunch at Japan.
Wow, that’s a lot of Guests enjoying themselves.
We wrote just inside to the left. Quiet. Air-conditioned.
We both wrote this fine October 2016 afternoon.
The Law of the Business Excellence Chain Reaction
A rolling stone gathers no moss.
An object in motion tends to stay in motion.
Pick up one end of the stick, you pick up the other end too.
Ripple effects have a natural, unforced way of reaching exponentially farther from the center of the action.
Imagine negative cultural ripple effects.
Terrifying, right?
As if your world isn’t busy and chaotic enough.
Now imagine nothing but positive cultural ripple effects.
Exciting, right?
Leadership, good, not so good, or great has corresponding cultural ripples.
When you understand that leaders impact the employee experience, and employees impact your customer experience, and customers impact your financial experience, and creativity is the DNA of every great company, you have learned to embrace the Organizational Vibrancy basics.
Never get bored with basics.
Focusing on the basics makes your organization vibrant. Neglecting the basics will destroy it.
Back at Reedy Creek Fire Department. It’s close and easy to park.
Hurricane Matthew, 2016.
Happens every time.
Happens every time.
Bullseye = being a transformational catalyst.
jeff noel Deconstructed Disney to reconstruct Business Excellence, for your future enjoyment
If you’ve visited a Disney Theme Park, the odds are high you’ve seen at least one sign like this:
Please pardon our appearance while we refurbish this attraction for your future enjoyment.
Walt Disney Attractions
Why are the odds high?
The odds are great because Disney is always working to improve the Guest Experience.
Consider the effort, though. Every Attraction is unique, and each one comes with a different set of issues, opportunities, and strengths.
Closer inspection then will yield you a quick, and much deeper, appreciation.
Now imagine the difference between one closer inspection versus a lifetime of seeing it under a microscope.
When you see the actual DNA, the smallest pieces that hold the Disney Culture together, everything you believe in, and why, changes.
When i saw the Disney Institute participants struggle with our Organizational Vibrancy content, which focused on what we do and how we do it, i set out to find a breakthrough for those struggling business professionals.
i was on a mission to crystallize why, and how, we do what we do.
The why took me to the microscope, which led to brilliantly simplistic discoveries.
Day 22: Reedy Creek Fire Department. Parked and wrote from car.
Reedy Creek Fire Department on East Buena Vista Drive, at Disney Springs.
2009
Flock of Vultures on ground eating roadkill.
Vultures heavily outnumber the lone Eagle. The Vultures parted the sea as the Eagle walked through to the carcass.
The Business Chain of Excellence Gospel According To Walt Disney
Gospel: gos·pel, noun: Something regarded as true and implicitly believed: to take his report for gospel. A doctrine regarded as of prime importance: political gospel.
The good news, Disney’s Approach to Business Excellence is simple and serves as the world’s business gospel.
The bad news is it’s not easy.
When i first discovered i had high cholesterol, the doctor recommended two simple steps to lower the risk of heart disease.
Diet and exercise.
Simple.
Not easy.
Disney’s Approach to Business Excellence, you’ll see in a moment, is ridiculously simple.
And yet finding an organizational culture of overwhelming leadership excellence is roughly as statistically similar as finding a large number of vibrantly healthy American adults.
Overarching thesis for my content. Middle arrow revolves around the customer.
Dang.
Another layer of over-focusing on humility.
Shouting the first line. Over-focused? Yes. Same with .periods .in .front .of .words
Multi-day Leadership Engagement Objectives page.
Nothing changes if nothing changes.
You’ve got the wrong Jeff
It was a typical day at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa.
Busy.
Crazy busy, you could say.
In the Main Building, the Concierge Building, The Disney Company’s highest level of service, for any of our Resorts worldwide, was delivered exclusively here.
When it’s all you know, and all 1,400 Cast Members (including 100 leaders) have the same understanding of and commitment to the Disney Mission, you adapt and thrive in spite of the relentless pressure to be excellent with every breath you take.
So when the phone rang, i didn’t have time to answer it, and all the back office phones are internal numbers, so i knew it was a Cast Member.
i normally let internal calls go to voice mail on a super busy day, because if it’s urgent, they can page me – this was 1998, in the pre-mobile phone era.
“May I speak with Jeff please, this is Carol from Disney Institute.”
“This is Jeff?”
“I need to schedule a lunch meeting with Steve Heise.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’ve got the wrong Jeff.”
“You’re Jeff Noel, right?
“Yes. But i have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Carol said she’d investigate and call me back.
Sometime later we spoke again, and she proceeded to share how my first Disney Supervisor, Neal McCord, had lunch with a Disney Institute (DI) hiring manager and Neal recommended me as a potential speaker because of my 15 years of Disney Operations experience. DI was looking for someone with those exact credentials.
Steve Heise was the DI Director and he wanted to meet me.
i was so confused.
“Why me?”
All i could think about after Carol’s phone call was, “God must want me to become a preacher or a comedian, and i’ll need this public speaking experience.”
Day 14: Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa lobby.
Extravagant flowers and chandeliers.
“Jungle Jeff”, writing his heart out.
Monorail Orange.
Passing the Guest Bus stop while walking back to car to drive home.
Detouring to wonder why
To wonder why?
Detour.
A different route to get somewhere; usually unplanned, unexpected, often scary and inconvenient.
What if we detoured in our journey to understand, and practice, the world-class, Organizational Vibrancy key drivers required to become and stay a remarkably successful business enterprise?
The “what if” usually has an ending sounding like this, “I’ll never know?”
Why?
Because it’s safer, more convenient, and easier to manage the unexpected and unplanned if we just get back to the job at hand, which is to maintain the current level of operational efficiency.
