(photos: Placing us at the scene of the crime…third row, dead center… ha, ha, ha)
It all comes down to leadership, culture and time doesn’t it? A great culture doesn’t suck as much as a poor culture because the leaders are better at using their time to intentionally drive the internal service culture (the employee experience).
Two nights ago at the Walt Disney World Service Awards, we randomly sat in the third row, dead center for a special, one-of-a-kind (and one night only) return of the comedy warehouse.
The comedian took a moment to poll the audience and have them clap when their years of service were announced. We were the only two who clapped at 30, and were also the last two to clap – the senior people in the audience. Who knew? What happened next was the question, “What was the worst thing that ever happened to you at Disney?”
Here’s the freaky thing. A brain freeze. Nothing compelling was ever remembered as a ‘nightmare’, so the answer was supposed to be fun (yet true), “Leaving each day.”
They needed something juicier, so they pressed… and got to this, “Closing New Year’s Eve and opening New Year’s Day.” At Disney’s Grand Floridian.
The six performers sang a little ditty tying the two together and closed out the show.
In retrospect a key insight was revealed: a positive mental attitude can cure many things, like the daily frustrations challenges of working in a demanding, high-pressure, high expectation, expensive, can’t-say-no-to-the-Guests environment.
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