Disney had this mantra: bigger, better, faster, cheaper (BBFC). It meant that each Walt Disney Company product and experience would be bigger and better than the one before it. It would also be created in less time and, perhaps the hardest part, cost less to develop and produce.

The attempt to deliver this difficult combination of goals actually started with Walt. He once said, “I am convinced that there is a scientific approach to this business, and I think we shouldn’t give up until we have found out all we can about how to teach these young fellows the business.”

To save costs, ensure quality and speed up the animation process, Walt storyboarded his films before expensive animation began. He aggressively cataloged for reuse everything he could, including colors, jokes, and painted backgrounds (if, for instance, they needed a forest scene, and a background already existed from a previous film, there was no need to create a new one from scratch). He also insisted all newly-hired animaters attend “how Disney does it” art classes and provided existing animators with continual training.

Later, during the Michael Eisner CEO reign, BBFC became the mantra and was applied most directly to animated films. And, from The Little Mermaid through The Lion King, it worked. But from that point forward, the animated films generated less and less revenue until the complete failure of Home on the Range, all but shuttered the animation business. The problem wasn’t the mantra. The problem was that balance tipped towards faster and cheaper. The results were disastrous.

Another example of this balance shift is a comparison between the development of Disney's Animal Kingdom—an amazingly detailed success that was built bigger, better, fast and a frugally as possible (snapped above)—and Disney California Adventure. Few would argue that Disney California Adventure was bigger and better. It was built, unfortunately, fast and cheap.

Even with these failures, the idea behind BBFC is sound and offers a few questions you and your organization can ask.

• How can you top your last success?
• How can you improve what you create and deliver?
• How can you make your delivery of service faster?
• How can you cut costs while still maintain bigger, better and faster?

The trick is to balance all four goals. Do that and you can create your own BBFC magic.