This post is in keeping with my decision to continue to offer positive lessons, even as the world is going crazy.

In several recent Snaps, we discussed four of the five counterintuitive leadership lessons I learned at Walt Disney World and presented at Training 2020. In this Snap we’ll introduce the last of those five counterintuitive lessons: Process matters more than product.

You can have the best product in the world, but if poor processes prevent quality control, undercut customer service and service issue recovery, the product won’t matter. Contrarily, a tight focus on process will often result in a better product. For an example of how much process matters, consider the current toilet paper wipe out. It's not just hoarding, it's also a process issue.

Disney is obsessed with process. It’s the method behind their magic. In Snap V2, I4, we examined the detailed process it took to perform one show.   Many other examples of successful process are visible at World. The Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival pictured in the snap above, for instance, requires advance planning to grow all the plants necessary to produce the show. Fireworks—Disney blows up more product than anyone except the US Military—must be ordered a year in advance. And, incremental process improvements make the guest experience more magical every year.

This process obsession comes directly from Walt. He explained, “I’m always thinking of what’s wrong and how it can be improved.” Disney aggressively applies, what I call, a Plussing Process. This process, explained in Snap V2, I2, encourages any team member, at any level in the organization, to notice a problem and suggest improvements.

How can you apply this information?

• If customers keep asking for something that is against policy, you have a process problem.
• If a team member comes to you with an idea on how to improve something and you reply that we’ve always done it this way, you have a process problem.
• If your team members express continual frustration with an issue, you have a process problem.
• If the same negative situation occurs time and time again, you have a process problem.

The difference between most organizations Disney is that Disney continually listens, observes, modifies and documents the best way to get things done. That’s the method behind their magic. And you and your organization can make that magic too.

A Disney Parks note - When Disney World's theme parks reopen, and they will, social distancing will be an issue, especially for parades and fireworks where thousands of people gather and wait for an hour or more. I can't see how the Mouse pulls that off ... unless they do one of two things: 1) Don't run parades and eliminate fireworks by reducing park hours to daylight only or 2) turn their existing Electric Water Pageant into a major parade viewable from Disney resorts, thus spreading people out. Magic Kingdom fireworks can then be viewed on the shores of the resorts with music piped in. My guess: parade and fireworks option 2 for Magic Kingdom, fireworks option 1 for Epcot (Studios and Animal Kingdom don't have a parade and don't always have fireworks).

Update - Since posting this, I've come to realize htat another Disney experience is at risk. You can forget hugging face characters. They will only be visible for a distance. That suggests a parade, but perhaps they do multiple parades, tape off viewing blocks on the curb - one block per family, and treat the whole thing like a fast pass ticketed ride. So I think there is actually an option 3.