EP 54 - Lessons Learned From Disney Experience

I normally do not like to bore you with aspects of my personal life, but last week I experienced a trip to Disney World with all five grandchildren.  Some of you with the blessings of grandchildren in your life will understand the magic, no pun intended of this type of trip, and others will understand the importance of the Disney lessons I learned, many of which apply to the work we do here at NISC and the culture that we are working together to build. First of all, a couple of practical lessons learned for those of you who have a Disney trip in your future.  The first thing you need to do is take that $100 alert off your credit card.  It will be much less stressful, just accept the fact that it will be an expensive day.  Next, download the My Disney Experience App, it is a wonderful guide and will be a very valuable tool to maximize your days on Disney property.  Learn to use the Fast Pass system, you don’t want to spend your time standing in lines which sometimes can approach two hours, Fast Past allows you to move throughout the park with very little time in dreaded lines.  You need to get over the shock of the cost of the park entrance fees, no there is no way for you accountants to calculate a return on this investment, the time with your family is absolutely priceless, but wait there is more, whatever you pay for entrance fees, just double that amount to take into account for your hotel room, that goofy hat with the big ears, that souvenirs which will absolutely end-up in that overflowing toy box within two days of returning home.  And You have never lived until you pay $12 for a Disney hotdog and $5 for an ice cream bar with ears.  If you have little ones in tow, expect that there will be meltdowns and tantrums, and remember you are at Disney world, not church, Tantrums are well part of the entertainment. If you have little ones, take at least 5 extra diapers in addition to what you normally would use … just trust me on this one.  Guys, stop trying to be macho and think you are going to carry those kids all day, just go and rent the biggest baddest stroller you can find, in addition to a great place for those all-important naps, and I’m talking about for the kids, not you, it will become this massive flotilla of water bottles, hats, coats, sunscreen, snacks, again for the kids, not you. Pick your rides carefully, during the bug life event, I spent the entire time trying to cover one of the little granddaughter's ears with one hand the other one over her eyes … delightful … just delightful. As I went through the day, I couldn’t help observe the true business magic of Disney, their use of technology that was invented at Disney, from the transport system that meets you in the parking lot, to the fingerprint scanners at the entrance of the park.  The ability to feed and entertain 56,000 visitors a day or 20.4 million in 2017 is absolutely extraordinary.  The attention to detail and perfection like the pressed white uniforms or costumes as they are called at Disney of the people picking up trash, by the way, you will never be more than 30 feet from a garbage bin, The amazing detail, and design of the cast members costumes and the fact that I can absolutely say that in two full days on Disney property I did not once encounter an employee or cast member that did have an authentic smile on their face.  By the way, there are 70,000 cast members at Walt Disney World making them the largest on-site employer in the world. Every question or inquire was not only answered completely and professionally, but they always make a point of asking if there was anything they could help you with.  Every one of these cast members was absolutely focused on making certain that every guest not only had a good experience but an exceptional experience.  Can we say we have that very same attitude with every encounter we have here at NISC with our Members and each other as employees?  One afternoon, during naps for the little ones, I struck up a conversation with an elderly gentleman standing stoically as a security guard.  We talked about the training they received at the Disney Institute and I asked him about the most important thing that he learned during that training he said it was keep it simple so that everyone understands.  Interesting but this also reminds me of a Steve Jobs quote – Simple software design is much more difficult that complex software design.  Would our Members say our software is simple, intuitive, or is it difficult and complex?  The answer to that questions is one of the most important factors in our future success. There are a couple other business lessons that I learned during this Disney visit (1) You don’t have to be the lowest price to be successful, customers are willing to pay for quality, and they are willing to pay much more if you can deliver extraordinary value (2) it is very important to sweat the details, every detail, every time (3) Place yourself into the customer experience – stand in lines, eat the food, get out of your office and cubical and get with the customer, experience their world, their challenges, their frustrations.  Sounds like very good advice for our organization, in particular, our usability teams At the end of the second day I was absolutely exhausted, one of the little granddaughters one stood at my feet with their arms reaching up wanting to be picked up, she gave me a strangling hug, held my face in her hands and said, grandpa, I am such a lucky girl, this was the best day in my life, and I love you very much.  Ok, my credit card had almost melted down during this visit, but my heart was also melted and full of gratefulness and love and whatever it cost … it was absolutely worth it.  I felt so fortunate to be able to provide the grandkids with this experience, the truth is that grandpa and grandma had a better time than the kids Here at NISC we can learn a great deal from observing other successful businesses and individuals and bring that important information back to our work environment.  What the grandkids taught me this week is that whatever the cost and whatever the difficulty we have been through, a sincere word of thanks and appreciation can make all the difference in the world.  We have all had those days that were difficult and frustrating, travel was impossible, everything that could go wrong did go wrong, our list of things to do was longer at the end of the day than when the day started. But it could be an encouraging word or pat on the back from a grateful co-worker or Member and we understand that whatever effort was required today, the outcome was encouraging and absolutely worth the effort. I return to the office today, refreshed and excited for what I had learned during my Disney Experience. Oh yes Hakuna Matata -\ – no worries Thanks for listening I appreciate you Vern