Maintaining Your Creative Magic

Disneyland was born from Walt Disney's creativity, a manifestation of his imagination. Its origins reflect the experiences it still delivers to this day - if you can dream it, you can do it. From its outset, Disneyland has been about pushing boundaries, from pioneering animatronics to reimagining theme park experiences.

Employees at Disneyland, referred to as Cast Members, are encouraged to think of themselves as integral parts of a larger story. This perspective empowers them to contribute creatively to the guest experience. Cast members are given the freedom to interact with guests in a way that brings the magic of Disney to life, showcasing their individual talents and creativity.

Of course, the magic of Disneyland is derived from something far less magical - it comes from a strict set of rules on Cast Members and overall operations. These rules are a crucial ingredient in the magic formula that keeps the park's unique feeling alive. They ensure that the fantasy and wonder of Disney are presented flawlessly, preserving the legacy and enchantment for which Disneyland is known. These rules, while seemingly rigid, are essential in creating the seamless, safe, and magical environment that generations of visitors have come to love and expect.

The rules at Disneyland extend to the minutest details – from the landscaping to the background music. This attention to detail creates an immersive experience that transports guests into different worlds. There are strict guidelines for character portrayal, including costumes, behavior, and interactions, to preserve the integrity of these beloved characters, making the fantasy seem real.

However, there is a delicate balance in maintaining a working culture where these strict rules exist in a world of creativity and invention. A poignant example of this recently occurred on a visit I had there with my family—a lesson for both employees and leaders of any organization.

A Cocktail Controversy

The Dole Whip is a famous sweet treat next to the Enchanted Tiki Room in Disneyland. It's a pineapple-flavored soft-serve that is incredibly refreshing on hot summer days. At some point, a creative bar-tending crew in Disney's California Adventure created a more adult variety: The Dole Whip Cocktail. While I don't know the individuals and timing of when this happened, I do know that thanks to social media, this secret-menu invention exploded in popularity.

My wife, who follows all the magical in-and-outs of Disneyland, recently booked us a table at the storied venue of this secret drink and ordered one for us to try (they are delicious, by the way). Then I discovered a piece of trivia from one of the Cast Members that inspired this article: the entire team who originally invented the drink had been fired. The reason? Allegedly, the surge in popularity of the drink (it sells hundreds, or even thousands, per day) was causing havoc with inventory management due to its lack of a formal listing in the point-of-sale system, and the use of a copyrighted name in a drink without legal approval was against Disneyland's strict rules.

Now, the lawyer in me understands the challenges and intricacies of IP protection, and the operational OCD in me appreciates inventory and sales being perfectly accounted for. Still, the leader in me says there is something horribly wrong with punishing employee creativity where imagination is the very raison d'etre of the employer.

Balancing Innovation with Operational Excellence

Regardless of how accurate the information that I received from the Cast Member was on the termination of the employees, this scenario is one that frequently plays out in many organizations. We want employees to think big, invent for customers, and look around corners. But we also need them to focus on operating within the processes and systems that keep things aligned across the enterprise. The solution to ensuring we can manage this delicate balance comes down to two key elements: 1) mechanisms for enabling creativity and 2) leadership and employee training to make the mechanisms effective.

Many companies operate hack-a-thons, design jams, pitch-a-products, or other think-big exercises. They serve a purpose: to provide a defined time where ideas can bubble up without derailing existing operations and projects. This is a huge step in the right direction for companies trying to support bottoms up participation in the business. However, there are chasms to avoid in this approach.

First, too long a cycle for reviewing new ideas may result in missed opportunities. Not all ideas can wait a year to be considered. Make sure there is a way for employees to 'escalate' high-value wins for rapid review. Second, there's never enough time to review every idea. In fact, since most ideas are quickly evaluated against data and potential upside, smaller or more nascent ideas will often be lost on the cutting room floor, even though they may be diamonds in the rough. Third, bigger and bolder personalities tend to dominate group activities, and the best ideas may come from people less confident in taking the spotlight.

Businesses must have effective means to consider new ideas, and employees should be trained to prepare an idea for consideration, and know who they can turn to for help in getting their idea packaged to meet internal review requirements. It's also important that the company protects time to consider innovation. It's easy to fall into the rhythm of incremental improvements and cost optimization vs. the more challenging and risk laden decisions of where to invest for the future. But its not something anyone needs, or should, take on by themselves. Create a team to review new ideas, make it a priority for your business, and take the time to teach employees the Why when the answer is a 'No' or 'Not Right Now.'

The People Factor

There's the old adage: 'People join companies and quit managers.' In many instances, whether it's a power trip, personality conflict, over-interpretation of the rules, or simply being overwhelmed with their workloads, managers often default to 'No.' It's much easier than taking on the extra work that comes with saying 'Yes.' It's also easier to punish instead of correcting and training. But as I was once told during a VC pitch, nothing easy creates lasting value. To develop the best team and people, you need to have leadership who will take the time to listen and understand what their team is communicating. Leaders need to be supportive when and where they can be, and provide an alternate direction, plan, or reason when they can't. Leaders have to make the hard calls; it's their job. However, how they make those decisions, and then communicate them to the people who took a risk to present new ideas, will leave a lasting impact on their team and future engagement with the organization. This is one area where taking the more difficult road and being engaged with your workers will always yield a positive ROI.

Conversely, employees must have the humility to listen, the willingness to adapt and grow, and the perseverance to improve. These aren't always skills that can be developed, and sometimes, people will want more than an organization can give, or simply not be a clean fit for the culture of the company they are working at. Yet all leaders and HR organizations should ensure they have systems to help level up these soft skills in the talent that is hungry to grow.

A great place for managers to invest in their teams is in their periodic syncs. 1:1's frequently take up a lot of calendar time for managers and employees, so make them count! Take the time to document situations you observe where the employee did something great, or sought to innovate for customers. The fact you notice will show them that you 'see' their contributions in the organization. Employees should also bring their experiences to these meetings and seek guidance on whether there were other ways to achieve their desired outcome, or insights into why things didn’t go as they expected. These deep and focused interactions required focused time and commitment. It's hard! Much harder than talking about where a project is, or what they have planned for the weekend. But meaningful 1:1's that provide an opportunity to explore creative ideas and deliver targeted mentorship ensure a culture where innovation can bloom while still respecting operational excellence and process.

Final Thoughts

Today, the Dole Whip Cocktail is an official drink. It's still a secret menu item, but the necessary systems have been adjusted to support it. Of course, the employees haven't been rehired, and may even be ineligible for any future Disneyland role, despite their invention's ultimate success and adoption. It's a cautionary tale for employees to ensure they know and respect the processes for creativity in their workplace, but also one for leadership to pause and ask themselves if their actions are ultimately what's best for customers and the type of teams they seek to build. Disney leadership certainly had many paths they could have taken in this situation that would have inspired their Cast Members, instead of instilling fear.

Ultimately, inventing new ways to enhance our customer's lives and experiences is the magic of why many of us get up and go to work each day. We don't need to deliver the magical world of Disney in our workplaces. Still, we should all aspire to provide a culture where our talent are energized, inspired to invent, and supported with mechanisms that enable them to bring their ideas up for consideration by an engaged leadership team.

It's worth exploring your company and the mechanisms you have to express new ideas and concepts. If you think there's room to improve, you've already found the first place to contribute your next idea.