Last Monday, Brian White came to speak in staff meeting. He works in the mobile game department at Disney, and also spoke in our senior pastor track last year at The Orange Conference. I really enjoyed hearing about the inner workings of Disney and their cultural. He gave us some really valuable insight, and I thought I’d share it with you.

1. You can’t fake enthusiasm. People can tell if you are being authentic or not.
2. Insane talent is not enough. Be sure to play well with others.
3. Failure can be tolerated, lack of judgement cannot. Failure can still be a path to success. If you’re failing, you probably aren’t trying very hard to make a difference. Lack of judgement is how you treat others or conduct yourself. Do others have to do damage control on your behalf?
4. Think of art as a team sport. No one can be something big all on their own.
5. Concentrate on psychographics, not demographics. Disney uses the word “guests” and not “customers.” And they create their experience around the Compass (Needs, Emotions, Stereotypes and Wants – North, East, South, West).
6. Criticism alone is not valuable feedback. Always include a suggestion or solution.
7. Focus is the key to organizational momentum. Bobby Iger, former CEO, says their focus is creativity, innovation and going into foreign markets. Examples: Shakespeare In Love vs. Pirates of the Caribbean. Shakespeare In Love was a great movie, but not near the marketing options. Pirates involves many of the staff, so they can rally around the same project.
8. The guest experience is everyone’s responsibility. This is the thing that really matters. If you think this is beneath you or doesn’t effect you, you have the wrong mindset.

Of course, it was awesome to see all of this unpacked over two hours, but I hope you can still gain some insight from these notes. Now, let’s all go to Disney World for the object lessons!