What Governments Can Learn from the Mouse
Make it stand out
A while back, I spent a week with my wife and two young daughters at Disney World. As we navigated the parks – connected by roadways, (mono-) rail lines, bus routes, and even ferries – it occurred to me how much of the infrastructure mirrors that of the typical city. And I was pleasantly surprised at how well the company optimized productivity in executing such complex operations.
We visited at one of the busiest times of the year for the central Florida complex, when it was besieged with families seeking to spend a few quality days visiting the theme parks, meeting Mickey and his friends, riding and visiting the various attractions, and staying in one of the many hotels operated by the company. To meet this demand, Walt Disney World – just the Florida bit, mind you – comprises “four theme parks, five golf courses, 25 owned-and-operated resorts, multiple retail and dining centers, and a (staff of) cast members who represent 80 nationalities and who speak more than 50 languages” - according to their corporate website. This requires Disney to run an extremely complex operation; one that in many ways parallels the services provided by government.
In fact, although it is not widely known, in the 1960s Walt Disney was able to secure many of the rights typical of a government in launching Disney World. The complex is comprised of two municipalities totaling 40 square miles (more than 100 square km), which are fully controlled by Disney, with responsibility for fire protection and emergency services, environmental protection, building codes and land-use planning, roads and infrastructure, and more. In fact, Disney has even secured the approval to construct and operate a nuclear power plant and public airport. To accomplish all this, and to meet the demands of the 30 million “temporary citizens” that visit the property each year, Disney employs 66,000 people (38,000 of whom are unionized) in central Florida.
So, how does Disney do what so many governments can’t; namely, meet the demands of a diverse customer base at an extremely high level of service and efficiency, while maintaining great morale and a culture of accountability across its employee base?
Unfortunately, there is no single answer, no “magic bullet”. But, here are some observations from my experience at the Parks that provide insight into how Disney approaches this overwhelming challenge. I will map them to two activities I find critical in helping clients improve their operations:
Demand Reduction – Disney proactively managed demand across a wide range of operations, using proactive communications.
We arrived before check-in time, but were given all the items we needed to go straight to our room when it was ready, which was conveyed to me via text message. This enables the resorts to balance demand on their check-in staff throughout the day, versus having hundreds of people showing up at 4PM; and it enabled me to go directly to my room without re-visiting the check-in desk for keys, which further reduced demand on their resources and increased my satisfaction with the experience.
I saw demand management repeated throughout the week, in the use of “fast passes” that allowed us to secure time slots for admission into popular attractions without standing in line for hours (critical for families with small children), employees directing visitors at critical checkpoints when rides were down or where lines were long to avoid traffic jams and overwhelming the staff at the ride itself, and through the use of a mobile application that provided information on wait times and less-crowded alternatives for us to consider during busy periods.
Some governments are taking advantage of similar tools: using Twitter, Facebook, text messages, or email to advise citizens of service disruptions, street repairs or even the location of buses and snow plows, reducing the number of inquiries coming into the system and improving their constituents’ experience.
Expanding on this, why not offer mobile-based reservations for services, like renewing your driver’s license? Eliminating the classic scenario of waiting in line at the DMV, and replacing it with a more convenient and pleasant experience that also steers customers to less-busy times/locations to better balance demand?
Employee Effectiveness – Disney “Cast Members”, as their employees are called, were universally pleasant, engaged, and focused on addressing the concerns of the customers.
During our time at Disney World, we interacted with dozens of Cast Members, from customer service agents to security to a maintenance worker painting the hallway at our hotel; all went out of their way to ensure that our interaction with them was focused on our experience being pleasant while they got their job done. For example, a painter stopped and moved her ladder to allow us to get by with our stroller without us ever asking and before we even got close to where she was working. This proactive focus is rooted in a cultural mindset embodied by their motto: “It’s not my fault, but it is my problem.”
Governments need to focus on the cultural transformation that, while admittedly difficult, is still achievable in the public sector. Empowering employees, recognizing strong performers, and holding employees accountable for meeting service level and customer satisfaction targets are all steps in the right direction. And, despite the popular opinion, these things are not impossible. Systems allow us to track and report performance across the organization, and online and mobile channels can be leveraged to increase transparency and accountability, as well as to recognize good performance and share best practices. Lastly, innovative practices, like the transformation of departments into public-private “companies” that operate more efficiently and serve multiple government clients, exemplify how transformation can be achieved despite long-standing cultural apathy.
The next time you visit the Magic Kingdom, take a moment to observe how many of the operations that we find exhaustive and frustrating in our experiences with government are handled more efficiently and effectively when approached with a relentless focus on customer satisfaction.