Disney Institute

Today's Disney Institute class focused on leadership and Walt Disney.  Although much of the information given about Walt was fairly basic, the leadership training component was quite interesting.  The presentation was excellent, and the understanding and use of group dynamics by the two facilitators was masterful.

It is a really interesting group of people who comprise my 20 or so classmates.  Their careers include law enforcement, government workers, and IT professionals among others.  One gentleman traveled from Australia to take every one of the Disney Institute courses back to back.  He runs a successful restaurant chain, but had been working without a break for years and has decided to take a few months away from the business to recharge.

I was, as I guessed, the only minister in the room.  But I was very surprised to find that there are two minister's wives in the class.  One is married to a Methodist minister in Raleigh, North Carolina.  She even knew who Norman Wirzba is (and after my sabbatical, I'm beginning to ask who doesn't!).

The evening was focused on forming a definition of leadership.  Motivators were used to get the conversations started.  It was a very interactive format, including some blind computer polling.  The process modeled a way to ensure engagement and participation.

We were taken to Disney Hollywood Studios and got to see some of the backstage areas (including some that I had seen before on foot as I ran the Disney Marathon.).  In the park, we went through the attraction called "Walt Disney: One Man's Dream."  It is a sort of museum of the company's interpretation of Walt's life and work (it is much smaller than the family museum and even smaller than the one in Marceline--what it omits due to the lack of space seems rather telling in its own way).

We received homework for the evening and were sent off on our way.

I was a bit surprised that the company so heavily relies on Walt's image and ideas as it trains its cast members.  He is almost still a presence even though he has been gone 40 years.  I am quite sure he would not recognize the company now, and I am not sure he would approve of what it is doing, but his legacy is continually being refined and at times redefined by those who follow.  Anyone who says to heck with Walt would not last long here.  If you want to go in a new direction, the key is to find some justification no matter how slim from Walt's life or words and then do what you want to do.

In some ways, Walt's legacy is living as it is moved and shaped by people who never even knew him but bear his name.  I suppose a bit like the church which shapes Jesus' legacy.