The Happiest Place on Earth

Of course I'm talking about Disney World! The rides, the characters, the magic! But how did Disney build the magic and keep it a part of their company culture? How did The Walt Disney Corporation becomes the leaders in the world of engineering true happiness?

I just finished reading a book for a class called Good to Great by Jim Collins. It was an eye-opening business manual for creating continually great companies. A great read for anyone if they'd like to think about a few  truly great business concepts.

The book cover of Good to Great

Anyway, Collins asserts that Walt Disney became the world leaders in creating happiness and the leading company of amusement parks and cartoons by sticking to a simple concept of preserving its core values. Being great doesn't have to be complicated. It's a simple question - what can you be the best in the world at (in the book Collins calls this the Hedgehog Concept, but if you'd like to learn more about that I'd read the book) and then sticking to what you do best at. Walt Disney answered the question with something like, "we want to be creators of world happiness." I'm paraphrasing of course because I wasn't in the board room when that conversation happened, but I imagine it went something like that.

The Walt Disney Corporation then proceeded to do just that - creating world happiness. Each tactic the Walt Disney Corporation created fit into it's goal of creating happiness on a global scale, keeping the magic alive and fighting cynicism in an increasingly cynical world. Now, this wasn't without risks. Walt Disney was the first to create a full length animated movie, but that didn't stop them from creating happiness by drawing cartoons.

The cartoons, kids clubs, amusement parks and cruise lines all produce happiness for its patrons. Now you can say it's hard to be unhappy on a cruise and that's true, but the Walt Disney Corporation does so much to keep the logistics of what actually goes into all the parades, costumes and magic a secret. Each employee goes above and beyond to make a Disney amusement park visit truly magical, and that is why I love Walt Disney World and the Walt Disney Corporation so much.

Being great isn't hard, it actually simplifies your life, Know what you want to be the best in the world at, make a list of actions to achieve that goal, and most importantly, if something doesn't fit into what you can be the best in the world at cut it out! Don't make more stress for yourself. You don't see Walt Disney trying to make money off of manufacturing Q-tips right?

Walt Disney World logo from Google Images