To PREPARE for any situation that might occur, Disney's Animal Kingdom actually opened two months before its official opening date. Photo: Offbeat Training LLC

Walt Disney once explained that his secret to success was to, “dream, diversify, and never miss an angle.” PREPARE is an acronym that will help you do just that in whatever you attempt.

Plan

Success often is the result of extensive Planning. Disney did this extremely well. When planning Disneyland, for example, Walt first built his own backyard train system. He and his team visited so many amusement parks, zoos, and museums that his wife Lilian refused a trip to Europe if he was going to visit “another damn zoo.” At every venue, Walt would look at the width of the walkways, the flow of people, the amenities customers frequented and ignored, and even the distance between trash cans. He also talked to every amusement expert he could. All of this effort took a very long time but led, once Disneyland opened, to immediate success.

You likely are not building a theme park, but you can explore every idea and feature associated with your intended initiative, offering, or process before you build or launch anything. When you’ve done extensive research like Disney did, success is then more likely to follow.

Rehearse

In entertainment you can spot the true professionals. They Rehearse so much that they look unrehearsed. The same philosophy applies to a successful rollout. At Disneyland, rides were mocked up and tested before they were built, food was tasted before menus were finalized, and processes were run before being codified. It is, in fact, a longstanding Disney tradition to open new parks and attractions long before they open to the public. I was, for example, on the opening crew for Disney's Animal Kingdom. Although the park’s official opening date was April 22, 1998, it was operating in dress rehearsal mode two months prior. By inviting construction crew families, Disney employees, and other Disney insiders during this rehearsal period, problems were identified and fixed before the grand opening.

You may not need months of extensive rehearsal like Disney's Animal Kingdom, but rehearsal is important in all sorts of occupations—including soldiers, pilots, and even phone room customer service agents—and it should be important to you too.

Explore

During the runup to an official launch of a new product, service, initiative, or process, and especially during the rehearsal phase, it is critical to explore those things that can go wrong. During this Explore step, emulate the Winnie the Pooh character Eeyore: think gloomy. Identify those items and situations that could ruin your plans. Once you know what those potential calamities are, you will be better prepared to protect against them.

Protect

For each potential issue you identify, devise an appropriate solution to Protect yourself. Then ask yourself, “What’s the backup plan?” Then ask yourself, “What’s the backup plan for the backup plan?” Finally, ask yourself again, “What’s the backup plan for the backup plan for the backup plan?” Disney did this recently with an amazing new ride, Rise of the Resistance, at Disney's Hollywood Studios. It is the most complicated ride Disney has ever designed and features state-of-the-art special effects. To keep the ride running in spite of technology failures, Disney’s Imagineers devised several back up plans for situations where a special effect fails. Many of those effects have an A, B, and C mode.  This level of preparation may seem obsessive, but it’s nowhere near as disastrous as a failure that destroys all the investment in a new product, service, initiative, or process.

Accept

In improv training, comedians are taught to welcome the unexpected, to treat surprises as gifts. These gifts lead to new discoveries. It is also an axiom among entertainers that the entertainer has greater power because the audience never knows what comes next. Often, customers will regard something unexpected as a planned happening. This fact gives you a decided advantage. If you Accept whatever happens as a gift, the “audience” will likely never know you are in the middle of a crisis. And, by accepting the situation, you prevent yourself from panic attacks and can focus on the next step.

React

You can now React with confidence because you did your homework. Your planning, rehearsal, exploration, protection, and acceptance of the situation all pay off. Step up, take charge, and react with an aura of confidence knowing that the amount of preparation you engaged in will rebound to your advantage. You will be focused on solving the problem with positivity and initiative. And others will be impressed by your attitude, fortitude, and creativity. because, when you solve a problem with confidence, people are more impressed than if the problem had never happened.

Enjoy

You’ve planned, rehearsed, explored, protected, accepted and reacted. It’s time to relax and Enjoy whatever happens. You control the dynamic so have fun and place your focus where it belongs, on those you serve.

So, PREPARE and as a wish for luck, and in the old show biz tradition of wishing for the opposite of what you hope for, break a leg!

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