Deacon on Disney - Perfection

Post by **rdeacon** » Jan Mon 21, 2008 2:21 am

Welcome to my first installment of my weekly column.

For this first week installment I would like to share how Walt and some of his philosophies have touched and shaped the way I think and work.

I have read many books, and watched many films on Walt and how he built the Disney company from the ground up. I've been consumed with finding out what made Walt tick. I have to admit I find the man, who created so much joy for me and others, completely fascinating. I think it's safe to say I have a healthy obsession with Walt and what made him tick.

Walt was a driven man. Driven with visions, creativity, and dreams. He shaped these visions, and dreams into a reality. But that reality had to be as Walt saw them.

He was consumed with perfection. He never rested on his laurels. There are many stories of Walt pushing his artists to make the film he wanted, and to make it perfect. Even once the film or project was done, he wasn't satisfied. He always wanted to raise the bar, reach the next level.

This constant drive for perfection was a trademark of the man and became one of the signature trademarks of the company he built. This drive created the classic films, we all love, and eventually Disneyland. Disneyland is a true tribute to the man that wanted perfection. In Disneyland, he was able to control all aspects of the project to make his vision a reality.

I find myself looking to push myself to match his drive for perfection, to push myself to accept new challenges and only accept the best from myself. I would like to believe that Walt and I share similar visions, that hard work, dedication, and only accepting the best from yourself will lead to your dreams.

Walt's parks and movies will forever be a reminder to me to never accept mediocrity. Only your best is acceptable, and will truly give you personal satisfaction, and success.

Has Walt inspired you?

Rich

ConanBaltar · Post by **ConanBaltar** » Jan Mon 21, 2008 8:44 am

Walt was clearly ahead of his time in his thinking and in his business mentality. No one can deny this. The idea that hard work and "being good" in what what does can lead to perfection and (eventually) creation is a classic theme in Disney works.

We as imperfect beings can only strive for something better than ourselves. For Walt, his focus was in his art. That's how he communicated his vision, and that's why we today still find Disney works as compelling and relevant as ever. Fortunately, this school of thought in American culture is strong BECAUSE OF Walt's legacy. I shudder to think of Hollywood or the entertainment industry without Disney's vision of a positive today and a better tomorrow.

casrin · Post by **casrin** » Jan Mon 21, 2008 5:10 pm

Walt Disney has inspired me, largely, through how he's inspired and shaped his Imagineers and all the other manager types who've come along since. That probably sounds weird, so I'll offer up examples.

Some of the folks here on subsonic know about how the Disney and Kodak's companies influenced my family's life, because of Figment. (My mum, nancynohorse, wrote about that here: viewtopic.php?t=2858&highlight=) As Mum has put it, without Walt's dream of Mickey and later, Disneyland, Figment and Dreamfinder would've never existed to inspire Erik at that critical moment in his life.

The other way that I've been inspired comes from Tony Baxter at Imagineering. In a conversation about how JII was created and how the creative process works, Tony said about how you write, and re-write and re-write as much as you need to in order to tell the story you want.

That sticks with me as I go crazy with my own little projects!

Finally, my very first job was for The Disney Store. No Walt Disney, no Disney Store, you know? Well, I can't express how valuable the on-the-job lessons I learned from TDS have been as I've gone onto other jobs now since. Disney employees are definitely put to work

, but that work ethic has been invaluable to me since.

wdwannabe · Post by **wdwannabe** » Jan Mon 21, 2008 11:42 pm

I have heard that Walt Disney always wanted his imaginears to plus it...in other words, make it better, more special. He was a hard person to work for, but look what he accomplished.

IllumiNationsNJ · Post by **IllumiNationsNJ** » Jan Tue 22, 2008 3:30 pm

Hey Rich... good article... one word of caution.. the drives that makes for a huge pioneer does not necessarily make for a good father!

AtticBride · Post by **AtticBride** » Jan Tue 22, 2008 8:09 pm

Great thread!
I think one inspiration that stands out for me was his ability to take a failure and learn from it. I always get choked up when he talks about it in One Man's Dream.

rmorton50 · Post by **rmorton50** » Jan Tue 22, 2008 8:32 pm

Thanks for the article, Rich!

I, too, read just about everything about Walt that I can get my hands on. He's convinced me that I can always do a little bit better than last time. That's gotten me a long way in my career and personal life. I also learned to accentuate the positive. When I fail, I learn about something that doesn't work too well and do it differently the next time. I look for the best in people and try to bring out their own good qualities. I have to say my life has been better because of Walt. I was born in 1950 so Walt has been part of my life from the beginning. Religion plays a big part in my life, but it's great when one can see another human be successful and draw out the good in countless numbers of others.

Roger

nancynohorse · Post by **nancynohorse** » Jan Tue 22, 2008 8:58 pm

Growing up, I always wanted to be a Mouseketeer! And I was so disappointed that Walt Disney didn't come from California to find me. Of course, I had no training at singing or dancing...

But still!

casrin already covered how he's inspired our family, and it goes the same for me with the Disney work ethic! They were a hard company, but a great one for what you learned on the job!

DisneyChris · Post by **DisneyChris** » Jan Tue 22, 2008 11:33 pm

Walt Disney is my greatest inspiration. Not just the man, but the positive philosophies and messages that are assosiated with the name Disney... believing in your dreams, hard work will be rewarded in the end, never give up. I strive to practice all of these ideals in the way I live my daily life.

cap396 · Post by **cap396** » Jan Thu 24, 2008 6:37 am

Great article. Walt's initiative is what has made the parks so popular and enjoyable.

DisBeamer · Post by **DisBeamer** » Jan Fri 25, 2008 3:15 am

Great first article.

Echoing some of the people who've posted thus far, I think Walt's inspiration to me is in how he dealt with failure, and his ability to learn from it. There's a quote (in the Quotable Walt Disney, I think), to do with not worrying. Paraphrasing, he says he never worries about things that are done - water over the dam, he called it - and that as long as you've done your best there's nothing to be gained from worrying. I can't say that I'm able to -do- that myself, but I aspire to, someday. Seemed to work ok for him.

QuickGold · Post by **QuickGold** » Jan Fri 25, 2008 12:28 pm

I derive all my inspiration from Sub, but that's just me.

Great first article dec

golfbudd925 · Post by **golfbudd925** » Jan Fri 25, 2008 1:03 pm

i love that man

casrin · Post by **casrin** » Jan Fri 25, 2008 5:20 pm

QuickGold wrote:I derive all my inspiration from Sub, but that's just me.

Great first article dec

Niiiice!

AKLRULZ · Post by **AKLRULZ** » Jan Sat 26, 2008 8:47 am

That was good stuff - thanks, Rich!