Why government should be like Disney

Comment

Comment by Tim J. Clark on May 13, 2011 at 9:15am

Ben -- no question that we can all do our part to do our job the best we can and to make positive contributions within our respective work groups. 

 

We also work within a bigger system and also have a responsibility to ensure our respective organizations provide the most effective and efficient services possible on behalf of our fellow taxpayers and citizens.  

 

I would be interested in hearing about how the variety of government organizations (state, local, federal) involve their employees and customers/stakeholders in assessing the overall performance of their organization.  Are we all living up to the vision? 

Comment by Benjamin Strong on May 13, 2011 at 8:04am

Could we draw on experiences like the Civilian Conservation Corps? Is that too romantic? Back in the day we (govies) worked hard and were proud. We were in it for the common good.

 

I'm lucky. I have an amazing job. I help make sure peoples lives get saved. No, I don't go out in ships or boats and rescue them myself, but I do help make sure the ships are there to get the job done. And when the job gets done? I send the ship a thank you note. 

 

I try to make my office the happiest place in government. I let people I work with know that we give hope, we save lives.

 

How does that translate to every other part of government? We solve problems, we educate, we empower people, we make dreams come true (I know it sounds hokie, but people have needs and government helps fulfill those dreams).

 

Perhaps if we start at our level, as we say in the Coast Guard the Deckplate level, we can infect our coworkers and supervisors with the same idea- to make dreams come true?

 

 

Comment by DJValentine on May 11, 2011 at 8:20pm

I totally agree (Disney is the happiest place & that Gov - like VA - should be next happiest)... Then let's work on MSN Hotmail department where there is a catch 22 and NO service beyond the first level, just circles of nonsense and no authority to turn to??? What is that - and if Gov ran like that??? Thank God for supervisors and uplines; Walt had/has authority and he has upline structure to assure QUALITY. Gov has pleanty of authority and upline contacts, but could use more of that positive vibe interaction/responses. I believe we Govies ARE moving that direction. The people I work with here at NAVAHCS are wonderful, smiling souls who really DO care.

Comment by Rex Castle on April 25, 2011 at 11:57am

There's a simple formula really. Be a problem solver. The young woman who produced the special pass wasn't in it to fill out a form, check a box, get a signature, or make sure everyone had stood in line for the required amount of time. She was there to solve a problem. That's the difference I occasionally see when I access government. A few of the people I deal with aren't always there to solve my problem; sometimes a couple of them seem to think they need to exacerbate my concern. I'm treated less as a customer and more as an inconvenience. But the form gets filled out, the checkbox is checked and someone has taken yet another version of my illegible signature, and I've been in line for most of my day--these aren't goals anyone should be focused on, but there are moments when this is my perception when accessing our government (as well as many other companies). And we have similar issues with a few of our folks here at Tyler Technologies, so I'm not leveling criticism at "government employees" (who I generally believe work pretty hard and try pretty hard); I'm simply suggesting companies like Disney have this whole "be a problem solver" down to a bit of a science/culture (for the most part).

Comment by Tim J. Clark on April 25, 2011 at 9:22am

What would it take for the federal govt to be run more like Disney? What Disney does well:

1. Disney has a vision based on an ideal, e.g., to be the happiest place on earth where dreams come true."

2. They have a business operating system in place to guide the actions taken in making progress towards meeting this ideal. Action includes maintaining a balance between sustaining what they do well, and making the needed evolutionary and revolutionary related improvements.

3. The output and outcomes from the system include success stories from stakeholders that continually reinforce and sustain the vision .

In comparison:

1. Is there a common and shared vision for America? Does you organization's vision align with this vision?

2. Is there a common management operating system? Could there be ... should there be?

3. Do laws like GPRA result in providing the evidence aligned with the vision for America that stakeholders need to determine if things are getting better or worse?

Comment by Ravi Kumar on April 22, 2011 at 1:40pm

Thanks for sharing -

Comment by Matthew DuFresne on April 22, 2011 at 11:25am

Agreed Lisa!  I would imagine that many, if not most of us who are part of Govloop would agree with you and probably do exactly (or try to at least) what you are suggesting.  Now if we can get the others on board we'll have a real great place to work and will be able to provide world class service to the public as they rightfully expect of their public servants.

Comment by Lisa Borkowski on April 22, 2011 at 11:15am

@ Matthew -- As a former Disney employee, I'd say you have a point there. Employees are worked long hours for meager pay. Well.. Disney is a huge-ass greedy (like them all) company. What do you expect? Here's the difference, why the culture and management style is so important and why this post is an amazing idea: Disney employees (for the most part) complain only in private and not very much anyway, because they love what they do.. even if it's long hours and meager pay. Plus, the managers are in the exact same situation as everyone else (as far as park staff go). Think about it. Why would someone choose to work for Disney? How could you choose to work for Disney if you didn't believe in the dream and having fun and creating this fantasy world for people.. even a little bit. The lingo (cast members - guests) helps so much. Every day you're reminded that you're here.. helping to create magic for the guests. and that feeling of making people happy in that way creates magic in yourself and that's one of the reasons why disney cast members are so cheery. When you're able to help celebrate a birthday or make a child smile - It reminds you why you choose to work for Disney in the first place.. you believe in the magic.

 

So. How to translate to government work? Well.. I'd say we need more idealism. Why not try to make the world a better place? Facing the grim realities of political games and budget shortfalls can't be easy, but if we keep our guests (the public) in mind and remember those moments we created magic (helping get someone a job, providing TANF, etc), we can keep the dream alive. Even if it doesn't seem like magic to the every day joe (collecting taxes, regulating business), remind yourself why you got into government in the first place. Hopefully it's a pretty magical reason - to make the world a better place.

Comment by Matthew DuFresne on April 22, 2011 at 10:37am

Not Disney related books, but still a couple of good books (in my humble opinion) on leadership are: First, Break all the Rules by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman and Leading at a Higher Level by Ken Blanchard.  I think the important thing here is that we are willing to think outside of the box and challenge ourselves to work and be better.  That's saying a lot and is a great start to making our government what we want it to be.

Comment by Lucy Lester on April 22, 2011 at 10:21am

Great topic.

I'd like to pass on one more book : Creating Magic 10 Common Sense Leadership Strategies from a Life at Disney by Lee Cockerell

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