V2, I17, September 10, 2019

Trash cans placed every 25-26 paces at Disney's Animal Kingdom keep the park clean

Looking down keeps Disney looking up

I was backstage at Epcot in the 1980s leaving the cast cafeteria when the Epcot Vice President,Greg Emmer, came around the corner. He stooped to pick up trash on the ground. This actionstruck me because (1) the trash he picked up was nasty looking, (2) he was backstage and not inguest view, (3) he was alone and not surrounded by other suits he might be trying to impress and(4) he did it with a smile. From that day forward, I redoubled my efforts to keep the Park clean as Iwalked to and from my role in the Land pavilion. This small vignette demonstrates how a leadercan make a difference in a frontline person's behavior by living his expectations.

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Walt wanted a family friendly place and felt that the dirty “carnie” atmosphere of most amusementswas not family friendly. To keep the place clean, Walt and his team took a number of steps. * Custodial services, initially supplied by an outside vendor due to the high costs of openingDisneyland, were brought inside the organization. Walt and his team also staffed more custodiansthan was the norm. * To encourage guests to dispose of trash properly, Walt’s team identified the number of stepspeople would walk before dropping trash. The number turned out to be 25 or 26. Trashcans werethen placed every 25-26 paces. * Walt adopted a philosophy that the guests would respect the cleanliness of the park if he and histeam modeled that respect. Everyone in the organization was, therefore required to demonstratetheir respect for the property by picking up trash.

When this writer saw Epcot Vice President Greg Emmer picking up trash backstage, he wasmodeling the behavior originally demonstrated by Walt and passed down through thegenerations of Disney park leaders. He inspired me to, in my role as an Epcot Future Worldtrainer, to meet my trainee backstage, enter the park, look for the first trash I could find and pick itup. This small act established the expected behavior for new hires immediately.

For any business owner, CEO, President, Vice-President, Director, team leader or trainer,modeling the desired behaviors is critical to their sustainment. This modeling requires—as intrash collection—looking down before looking up.

How about you? Do you look down? Do you look at your offerings through the eyes of yourcustomers? Through your employees eyes? Do you know the bathroom attendants name? Thecustodians? The receptionists?

When we get really small and look at and appreciate the minute details of what our customersexperience, and the efforts of those around us, we become more successful. If you’re too busylooking up at those lofty corporate goals and your own career ladder, if you’re stuck in your officeall day every day, you may actually be missing the message on the ground. Just look down. It’s allaround you.

The MIC Key™ is a Disney-inspired service model explaining that Disney’s customer servicesucceeds because it has a clearly defined service MESSAGE, connects with its customersthrough personalized INTERACTIONS and presents its service in an emotionally engagingCONTEXT.

Material drawn from Care Like a Mouse: The Key to Delivering Disney Quality Service by LennMillbower, Theme Park Press, release date January, 2018.

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Looking down keeps Disney looking up