Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is.
Have you been asking God what He is going to do? He will never tell you. God does not tell you what He is going to do— He reveals to you who He is.—Oswald Chambers
https://utmost.org/will-you-go-out-without-knowing/
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy.
Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without strategy.—General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
I believe the bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. That is achieved by serving others and adding value to their lives.
I believe the bottom line in leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves but how far we advance others. That is achieved by serving others and adding value to their lives.—John Maxwell
The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership
Intentional Disney
Our team at Planning Center had an awesome opportunity last week to take a tour at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. I learned a lot from the tour and wanted to share a few key highlights.
On-stage / Backstage
The first thing we learned was that we’d be heading “backstage” at the beginning of our tour. Disney makes a clear distinction between what people see and what people don’t see. This goes back to Walt Disney’s desire for Disneyland to be a “show.” Whenever “cast members” walk on-stage, the show is on. This distinction continues into how cast members dress, the conversations they have with other cast members, and even to the fact that none of them carry cell phones. Customers are valued and the magic of “the show” must never be disrupted.
Strollers
Before we entered the gates, our tour guide pointed out the stroller rental area as a way that Disney continues to innovate to serve their guests. Originally, the stroller rentals were inside the gate. This was a perfect solution for many years, until Disney opened “California Adventure” — a sister park with gates 200 yards away from the original Disneyland. At first, a separate stroller rental was also placed inside this other park. However, they realized that many guests would visit both parks in a single day. This lead to guests needing to rent/return strollers twice in a day — a daunting task for any parent. Disney realized this and moved the strollers outside the front gates and allowed guests to rent strollers once for both parks. It sounds pretty simple, but it shows how well Disney listens to their customers.
Main Street
Walking through the main gates and onto “Main Street USA” was one of the best examples I saw of Disney’s intentionality.
- Disney changes the atmosphere of the area based on the time of day. At the beginning of the day, guests are excited and energized. Therefore, the area is filled with fun music and lots of characters welcoming you. At the end of the day, however, kids are whiney and parents are exhausted. By 8pm, the loud brass bands were gone and the walk back to the gate was quieter and calmer.
- Disney knows that most guests entering the park are excited to look down Main Street and see Sleeping Beauty’s castle. To enhance this visual, the buildings along Main Street get shorter and the awnings extend out further along down the sidewalk. This makes the castle appear farther away and larger than life. Conversely, at the end of the day, the front/exit gates appear very close — a welcome site for weary parents.
- Disney even arranges different shops and vendor carts along different sides of Main Street knowing that incoming guests will typically stay to the right while entering and on the left while exiting.
Trash Cans
When Disneyland opened its doors in 1955, the original trash cans were simple metal cylinders with the word “WASTE” written across it in big yellow paint. This drove Walt crazy. Continuing with the idea of “the show”, he didn’t want guests to have to look at the trash. Disney designed the now-common covered trash can. The cans are also painted in each “land” in the park to match the surrounding decorations and theme. It was great to see this incredible attention to detail.
Another fascinating fact here: Disney studied and learned that the maximum amount of steps a person will walk to get to a trash can is 30 paces. In order to promote the cleanliness of the park, trash cans are placed no farther than 27 paces away from each other. It was fascinating to hear this fact, then notice it throughout the park the rest of the day. Whenever I needed to throw something away, I could turn around and usually see 2 or 3 banks of trash cans within a short walking distance.
Fireworks
We spent a good chunk of time backstage with the leader of the Disney fireworks team. For Disney, their fireworks show is their “kiss goodnight.” It serves as an incredible visual end to the night. But aside from playing to the emotions of the guests, it also has an incredibly valuable purpose: it keeps guests in the park longer. Rather than bolting for the exit after dinner time, the fireworks show provides an incentive to the guests for sticking around a little while longer … just enough time to visit the gift shop and grab some Disney goodies.
Closed Areas
Disney knows that almost 20% of visitors to Disneyland are season pass holders (versus Disney World in Florida, which has very few). As a result, the expectations of the guests vary greatly. This was made evident to us while passing an area that was closed for a movie shoot (“Saving Mr. Banks”, staring Tom Hanks). The entire area was fenced off with a green scrim. For Disneyland guests, this was an acceptable way to handle this closing. For Disney World, however, these guests’ expectations would be different. Disneyland guests are such repeat visitors, they would ignore the scrim and move on. Disney World guests — most of whom are first time guests — might be confused and frustrated. In that park, the area would be closed off with tall wooden walls, painted to match the area behind them.
In Disneyland, an attraction that usually had a piano player out front was closed down temporarily. In Disney World, they could simply close the attraction and send the pianist home. In Disneyland, however, many of the repeat visitors would be upset at the missing pianist: “Is he ok? Was he fired?” Instead, the pianist was moved to a nearby attraction and signs were posted on where to find him.
Needs, Wants, Stereotypes, and Emotions
All of these examples lead to another theme that was constantly reiterated by our tour guide. Disney focuses on four areas for their guests:
- Needs. Guests need a vacation, accurate information, etc.
- Wants. Guests want happiness, memories, etc.
- Stereotypes. Managing and setting both positive and negative. Negative stereotypes (long lines) need adjustments and innovations. Positive stereotypes (clean and friendly) need to be maintained.
- Emotions. The intentionality of Main Street (above) is a perfect example of how Disney understands and customizes the experience based on the emotions of their guests.
Conclusion
Overall, my biggest takeaway from the tour was how intentional Disney was with their guests. It’s easy for an organization simply to be reactive to the needs of their customers. Instead, Disney goes out of their way to learn about and respond to their guests. Most of my favorite companies operate the same way — not simply doing the bare minimum to keep a customer, but going above and beyond to create an enjoyable and memorable customer experience.
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Photos:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/39258671@N03/6238638240/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/habinsay/7522156940/sizes/n/
Drugs, booze, pills, karma, new cars, new houses, new spouses. Christianity cannot compete with that. Christianity is a boundary telling all those pained people they have to give up their medication before we’ll accept them. Before we’ll love them. But Jesus can go toe-to-toe with anything. There is no person in human history who holds a candle to Jesus.
Drugs, booze, pills, karma, new cars, new houses, new spouses. Christianity cannot compete with that. Christianity is a boundary telling all those pained people they have to give up their medication before we’ll accept them. Before we’ll love them. But Jesus can go toe-to-toe with anything. There is no person in human history who holds a candle to Jesus.—Carl Medearis
“Speaking of Jesus.”
Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.
Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.—Peace Pilgrim
Being a Christian is about choosing Jesus and deciding to do something incredibly daring with your life. Rather than waiting around for God’s special plan for your life, you should just go find where God is at work and join in. It is risky but we are people of faith, believing that giving is more contagious than hoarding, that love can cover hatred, light can overcome darkness, grass can pierce concrete. This is precisely what we commit our lives to. He dares and woos us to come and follow, take up our cross, to lose your life to find it.
Being a Christian is about choosing Jesus and deciding to do something incredibly daring with your life. Rather than waiting around for God’s special plan for your life, you should just go find where God is at work and join in.
I will not boast in anything No gifts, no power, no wisdom But I will boast in Jesus Christ His death and resurrection How deep the Father’s love for us, How vast beyond all measure That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His treasure
I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection
It’s not just those crazy drunks and freaky fornicators who need compassion. It’s us prideful, self-centered, grace-withholding sinners who need it too. And Jesus isn’t just a clock-punching shepherd who tends to us only out of obligation. He’s a Shepherd who cares for us with everlasting kindness, with a deep concern for us and how things will end up for us. He is a compassionate shepherd.
It’s not just those crazy drunks and freaky fornicators who need compassion. It’s us prideful, self-centered, grace-withholding sinners who need it too. And Jesus isn’t just a clock-punching shepherd who tends to us only out of obligation. He’s a Shepherd who cares for us with everlasting kindness, with a deep concern for us and how things will end up for us. He is a compassionate shepherd.—Jared Wilson
Your Jesus Is Too Safe
These young whipper-snapper drivers. They honk at me and tell me to hurry up. I just tell them, ‘Hey! I own more of this road than you. I’ve been paying taxes for a LOT longer than you.’
These young whipper-snapper drivers. They honk at me and tell me to hurry up. I just tell them, ‘Hey! I own more of this road than you. I’ve been paying taxes for a LOT longer than you.’—My grandma Lorraine
Hi there, I'm Jon.
Writer. Musician. Adventurer. Nerd.
Purveyor of GIFs and dad jokes.