Most bulldozers emit loud warning beeps. There are, however, some that don’t. One example comes from Disney's Animal Kingdom where a herd of bulldozers gave no warning before destroying an entire environment.

It happened during the park’s development. The story as we heard it was that a bunch of Disney executives, including the head of the park, the head of landscaping, and the Animal Programs staff gathered for a special occasion: introducing the elephants to their new habitat on the Kilimanjaro Safaris savannah.

The zookeepers opened the gate and coaxed the lead elephant through {the others would then follow). Once on the savannah, the elephants saw the lush environment with shrubbery and trees planted specifically for them. They then promptly bulldozed it, tearing up the shrubbery and uprooting the trees. Watching the dismaying  spectacle, one of the executives reportedly turned to the head of landscaping and remarked, “Well, your budget just doubled.”

Elephants are known as the bulldozers of the savannah. That knowledge should have been a warning. It was not. The elephants were just doing what elephants do and the Mouse had failed to know it’s audience.

Many zoos, knowing elephant habits, simply give up and house them in minimal foliage environments. But not Disney. Once committed, Disney rarely fails, even as the costs of the additional effort escalate. In this case, Disney kept the idea of a savannah and refined the execution of that experience.

Horticulture did replant. The new trees were a Disney specialty: Imagineerus-Africanus (Disney shaped concrete). They supplemented those trees with natural materials that elephants could bulldoze. All this came with an unexpected additional cost. But the result? A protected enclosure, an excellent guest experience, and a worthwhile home for the elephants.

Things like this happen every day in real life too. A leader, business, or individual shares an idea or offering that they think will align with and please the needs of their intended audience. That audience, holding a different perspective, climb into their figurative bulldozers and destroy the idea. The result? A Discouraged leader, business, or individual who abandons what might have been a successful initiative.

A sounder and more cost-effective approach is to do what Disney usually does. Evaluate the initial idea and verify its worth before proceeding. Then, taking the audience’s perspective, identify silent warning signals and fix potential issues before you invite others onto your savannah.

Isn’t it better to steer the bulldozer than to be in its path?