CULTURE: HOW BOB IGER REMADE THE HOUSE 

THAT WALT DISNEY BUILT

(Part 3 out of 4)

by J. P. Donlon

Even iconic brands need fixing from time to time. But instead of the easy fixes, Bob Iger played the long game by addressing Disney’s cultural issues head-on with a three-pronged strategy, making it a stronger, more profitable company with greater depth in its overall brand. The takeaway for CEOs is that, yes, culture—and persistence—matter

The company had grown very large, particularly after the acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC. And it was operating in many changing and dynamic businesses.

While it had made sense to create overall strategy at the center, we had grown so large and were operating in such dynamic businesses that I thought that actually slowed decision-making down, lessened accountability and created at some level—more inadvertent than purposeful—of mistrust, where business units didn’t feel as trusted as they needed to be by the corporation. What had served us well in the past was no longer optimal.

So how do you manage the company differently today?

While we still have strategic planning, it’s reconstituted with a different mission. For one thing, the business units create their own strategies. I want them to fit into a framework of the company, and they need to be consistent with the company’s strategic priorities. But a different strategy for each business had to emanate from the businesses and be implemented by the businesses.

In addition, most key business decisions that were being made needed to be made by the individual businesses, with either the approval, knowledge or even involvement in an advise-and-consent sense of the corporation. The business units had to feel not only a sense of empowerment but a sense of ownership over their own destinies—and thus a sense that they were trusted. If they could not be trusted, then instead of taking away the freedom and responsibility from them, we had to get new people.

Shortly after becoming CEO, you struck a deal with Steve Jobs and Apple to put a Disney app on the then new video iPod and iTunes. Why was it considered controversial at the time?

That was a huge step—or a very loud signal to the company that technology could be viewed as friend, not foe, or as opportunity, not threat. It affirmed that we were willing to take risks and were willing to challenge the status quo of our own businesses, willing to enter partnerships with technology companies and willing to embrace technology as a path to a much brighter future. This was probably the loudest message I could have sent to this company about change.

Let me pause here so I can show you one of my prized possessions. [Holds up framed photograph of him shaking Steve Jobs’ hand on stage at an Apple event.] On October 1, 2005, I officially become CEO of The Walt Disney Company. Three weeks later, I showed up on stage with this guy who, to the world, was our mortal enemy, because he controlled Pixar. In the court of public opinion, Steve Jobs was right and Disney was wrong. He wasn’t necessarily right about his opinions of Disney—but he was winning the perception battle. I showed up on stage at an Apple event, when he’s announcing the video iPod, and this picture commemorates our deal.

Going back to your question, these moves were not only designed to set us up in terms of future growth but to start shifting a culture and becoming a company that believed in itself again. I say this not to be critical of what happened before. But times had changed, and the needs of the company were very different. I took advantage of being a new CEO to make these moves. And they led to tangible, cultural change within the company.

Was there an instructive failure in your own career that helped form who you are today as a leader?

My parents, my father in particular, instilled in me a great work ethic and a level of ambition. A lot of it came from a desire to prove that I was up to challenges. I still feel that in me, by the way. I seek new challenges so I can prove that I’m worthy of more. That’s driven me in many ways.

Early on, I learned that if you owned your own failure, or embraced whatever disappointment, it was probably the best way to process and overcome the failure and disappointment. I remember early in my ABC Sports days a relatively trivial mistake had been made on a weekend sporting event on Wide World of Sports, where we simply missed a story that we should have had. In a Monday-morning session that the former head of ABC Sports, Roone Arledge, had, which was typically a postmortem of what went on during the weekend, whatever we had missed came up. There was silence around the room as Roone questioned what happened. At the time, I was young and low-titled and said, “It was my mistake. I missed that.” There was complete silence in the room. Everyone looked around. 

Here, I had admitted in front of the brass of then ABC Sports, including the head of it, that I had made a mistake.

It was the most empowering thing I could ever have done. We moved on. But what was interesting to me about this was it was a lesson. It was probably the first time I ever owned up to something like that in such a way. Looking back, it was relatively trivial, but it was unbelievably empowering. And the respect that people had for me for doing that actually put me in such a stronger, better position with everybody.

It taught me that if you failed, you have an ability to not just accept the failure and attempt to understand it but to be accountable for it. [Owning up to failure] offers the best chance to recover from it. It’s a lesson I’ve taken with me throughout [my career]. If something fails as a direct result of your decision and you take responsibility for it, you’re much more likely to endure than if you do the opposite.

Fuente: Chief Executive

Haciendo click en cada uno de los links siguientes, 

accederán a los Contenidos de nuestros 

TALLERES DE CAPACITACIÓN IN COMPANY A MEDIDA:

(translator on page)

¿Cómo INCORPORAR y APLICAR Modelos de
PENSAMIENTO ESTRATÉGICO?

http://msg-latam-meic.blogspot.com.ar/2014/06/capacitacion-in-company-programa_6246.html

¿Cómo GERENCIAR EFICAZMENTE a partir del

MANAGEMENT ESTRATÉGICO?

http://msg-latam-meic.blogspot.com.ar/2014/06/capacitacion-in-company-programa_3.html

¿Cómo GERENCIAR PROCESOS DE CAMBIO
y no sufrir en el intento?

http://msg-latam-meic.blogspot.com.ar/2014/06/capacitacion-in-company-programa.html

¿Cómo IMPLEMENTAR ESTRATEGIAS EFECTIVAS?

Recetas para Escenarios Turbulentos

http://msg-latam-meic.blogspot.com.ar/2014/06/capacitacion-in-company-taller-de.html

Consultas al mail: msg.latam@gmail.com

ó al TE: +5411-3532-0510