20 Lessons from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship and Innovation

http://www.forbes.com/sites/lewishowes/2012/07/17/20-business-quotes-and-lessons-from-walt-disney/

20 Lessons from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Chasing Your Dreams

With the title of being the “Happiest Place on Earth” it’s amazing to think it only took one year to conceptualize and create

Disneyland before opening its gates on July 17, 1955.

As a tribute to 57 years of bringing imagination to life, let’s see what Walt Disney had to say about innovation, entrepreneurship and chasing our dreams.

Words of Wisdom From Walt Disney
The following 20 quotes are just a small glimpse into the mind and imagination of Walt Disney.

Beneath each quote I’ll be take the artistic liberty to explain what his words mean to me.  As for you, they may mean something else, but I’m sure we will both agree that they’ll be nothing less than inspiring.

1.  “All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”

Yes, it did take money, employees and a large team of artists to create Disneyland, but it all begins with courage.  It takes courage to begin the journey towards our dreams and courage to see them through.

2.  “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.”

Notice Walt didn’t say, “Hang in there” or “You can get through it.”  He instead says it might be the “best thing in the world” for us.

It doesn’t mean it’ll feel good, but when does getting stronger ever feel good?

3.  “Disneyland is a show”

What kind of “show” are you putting on for your clients or customers?  Remember that everything is communicating a message.  Your clothes, your words, your voicemail, your smile – EVERYTHING!

Are you sending the right message?

4.  “Disneyland is a work of love. We didn’t go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money.”

There’s got to be more at play then simply making money.  It’s not enough simply to “love what you do” – your work must be an investment of love.  This means you’re ok with not getting a complete ROI on all you do. (Which is usually the “secret” for accomplishing the impossible).

5.  “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.”

Your work is never finished.  As a creator and innovator there’s always more to create or innovate. This means you’re job is to get your product into the market ASAP and then tweak afterwards.

If Disneyland was built in 1 year, I think we can finish our lingering projects a lot sooner than we think.

6.  “I am not influenced by the techniques or fashions of any other motion picture company.”

Don’t allow other websites or businesses to influence your unique idea.  The moment you do that it’s no longer unique.  No one gets the title of “innovator” by copying others or worry about the opinions of others.

7.  “I have no use for people who throw their weight around as celebrities, or for those who fawn over you just because you are famous.”

Don’t waste your time with arrogant entrepreneurs – no matter how successful they are.  They’ve obviously forgotten their roots and will eventually pay the price for.  Make sure you hang out with the right people.

8.  “I only hope that we don’t lose sight of one thing – that it was all started by a mouse.”

It’s great to innovate, but don’t forget why the market fell in love with you in the first place.  Never neglect your core business.

9.  “I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.”

A large part of Business success is being memorable.  That’s YOUR job – not theirs.

Feelings trump facts.

10.  I’d say it’s been my biggest problem all my life… it’s money. It takes a lot of money to make these dreams come true.

Make no mistake.  It takes money to fail AND succeed.

11.  “If you can dream it, you can do it.”

I think that says it all.

12.  “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.”

The impossible CAN be done.  Never forget that.

13.  “It’s no secret that we were sticking just about every nickel we had on the chance that people would really be interested in something totally new and unique in the field of entertainment.”

Innovation is a gamble, but something worth betting on if it’s truly something unique and new.

14.  “Mickey Mouse popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner.”

You never know when your greatest breakthrough is going to hit.  It’s not over till it’s over.

15.  “Of all of our inventions for mass communication, pictures still speak the most universally understood language.”

I think Walt Disney would have loved and leveraged the heck out of YouTube.

16.  “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.”

Everyone must be on the same page, going after the same goal.

17.  “The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.”

Once again, it takes courage to go after our dreams.  I believe the first step is having the courage to accept WHO we are and what OUR dreams are – not what we think they should be.

18.  “The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.”

Don’t get motivated – get moving.  It’s all about the Hustle.

19.  “There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate’s loot on Treasure Island.”

I love this one because it’s important to never stop learning and never stop using our imagination.  Reading allows us to do that.

20.  “A man should never neglect his family for business.”

As entrepreneurs we must consistently remind ourselves of this.  It’s too easy to allow the entire day to slip by in a blink without taking the time to acknowledge or reach out to those that should matter most, our family.

Walk This Way…
When constructing Main Street U.S.A. Walt felt is was important to keep one thing in mind.

“People won’t go down a long corridor unless there’s something promising at the end. You have to have something the beckons them to ‘walk this way.” - Walt Disney

With over 600 million people visiting Disneyland since it’s opening on July 17th 1955 it’s safe to say that Walt Disney found something to beckon people to “walk this way.”

I believe Walt Disney would want each of us to not only visit his park, but to also dream big dreams for our business’s and create a compelling reason that beckons people to “walk this way.”

Happy Anniversary Mr. Disney.