Think Like an Iconoclast: the Principles of Walt Disney’s Success

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Alumni Dispatch

Barry Linetsky (MBA ’92)

Think Like an Iconoclast: The Principles of Walt Disney’s Success

ONCE NAMED as one of the top-20 ‘Builders and Titans’ of the 20th century by Time Magazine, Walt Disney (1901-1966) was a visionary with staying power who dedicated his life to the pursuit of entertaining and educating the public. Disney assumed many roles over his 45-year career: cartoonist, filmmaker, technological innovator, TV celebrity, Hollywood studio mogul, and realestate tycoon. While his story is one of entrepreneurial success, success never came easily to him. More than once, Disney drove his company to the brink of bankruptcy in pursuit of technological innovation and product perfection. Among bankers and competitors, he earned a reputation for being reckless, difficult and irresponsible. Part of this came from his unique view of risk and return, which defied the short-term outlook of his investors. Throughout his difficulties, he had confidence in his own abilities and those of his staff to achieve the desired results where others saw only disaster. Disney’s persona combined nostalgia for small-town American values with faith in the potential of modern science and technology to transform our lives. He was a cheerleader for hard work, rugged individualism, optimism, dream fulfillment, and the greatness of America. His success can be attributed to several key business principles.

108 / Rotman Magazine Spring 2009

1. Know What You Value and Why

Walt and his older brother Roy started the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio together in Hollywood, California in 1923 with a core set of conservative middle-American moral principles that included honesty, truth, respect for others, fellowship and optimism, and a belief in the heroic capabilities of humankind. They continually integrated their company’s operating culture into this moral framework, which was informally codified as ‘The Disney Way’. Disney always believed it was a mistake to...