6. Of all the things I’ve done, the most vital is coordinating those who work with me and aiming their efforts at a certain goal.
This ties into the teamwork quote above, but also identifies Disney as thinking like a leader. The “most vital” thing he believed he did was work to make others successful at what they were doing. This reminds me of a similar quote by Steve Jobs —
“The people who are doing the work are the moving force behind the Macintosh. My job is to create a space for them, to clear out the rest of the organization and keep it at bay.”
i.e. one of the responsibilities of a leader is the help ensure others do what they need to do in as unhindered a way as possible.
7. Whenever I go on a ride, I’m always thinking of what’s wrong with the thing and how it can be improved.
I left this one to last as it’s my favourite of all of these quotes. And not simply because I just came back from DisneyWorld and was thinking the same thing while there! (Which I was though).
It’s my favourite because ongoing thought and improvement of any system is critical to innovation. Those eureka moments don’t just happen randomly. And you’re not going to have a eureka moment without a lot missteps and even failures. James Dyson (inventor of the Dyson vacuum) said the following:
“Enjoy failure and learn from it. You can never learn from success.”
And he should know. He had over 5000 (yes five thousand) prototypes of his vacuum before he got it right.
So there you have it. Aside from some pictures, sore feet and some happy memories for my kids, this is what I got out of a visit to Disney World.
Saeed
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About the Author
Saeed Khan is a founder and Managing Editor of On Product Management, and has worked for the last 20 years in high-technology companies building and managing market leading products. He also speaks regularly at events on the topic of product management and product leadership. You can contact him via Twitter @saeedwkhan or via the Contact Us page on this blog.