The Wisdom of Walt: Leadership Lessons from Disney - Business Inspiration & Success Strategies for Entrepreneurs, Managers & Team Leaders | Perfect for Corporate Training & Personal Growth

A lot of other manuals sugarcoat the Disney story, while others provide behind-the-scenes tales of days gone bad at Disneyland. The Wisdom of Walt is much more optimistic, and the lessons it teaches are applicable to daily life. It blends both the personal stories of Jeffrey Barnes, Dr. Disneyland, as well as the history of Walt Disney as it relates to Disneyland.What this book offered me that others didn't was1.) Curation -- Little vignettes about Disneyland's development that aren't as widespread in more modern Disney guidebooks. The author curates a lot of stories from other books that are lesser-known in the space. One such story from Michael Broggie in Walt Disney's Railroad Story describes how Walt convinced his friend Herb to draw the original Disneyland map, and how much of it remains similar and recognizable even today. Jeffrey Barnes then ties this fact into the idea that our creations often change over time, so we shouldn't be shy or fearful of creating an imperfect v1.0. We should start and let our adventures and ideas evolve over time, rather than worrying about getting it perfect the first time.2.) Building Value -- I would have liked to see a more detailed breakdown of Walt's negotiations with his creditors and investors, but the overall strategy receives fair attention in this book. In a discussion of characters and how Oswald the rabbit was stolen from early Walt Disney, for example, Jeffrey Barnes quickly mentions how Universal ended up trading rights to Oswald back to Disney for the rights to Sunday Night Football announcer Al Michaels. It's a story that has been told elsewhere, with more or less detail, but Jeffrey Barnes ties that into the context of character creation so well the story has more meaning than a cute anecdote. Another story discusses Walt's marketing tactics introducing Disneyland to viewers via television before the park's opening, as a way to educate them. Taken alone, these stories are bits of interesting trivia, but Jeffrey Barnes casts them in the context of building our own vision and selling that to prospective guests, applying the stories to our own lives.3.) Sense of Place -- The author grounds each lesson or chapter in some aspect of Disneyland that represents the idea. For example, the berm -- a wall or natural cropping of territory shield the park from the outside world -- is presented as a way to keep your guests focused on your vision, your world, your product, or the positive side of things, rather than being distracted by the temptations and realities of the outside world. Even though I knew about the berm coming in, Dr. Disneyland carves out more specific examples, like the Haunted Mansion's antechamber snaking beyond the berm, and uses them to teach the importance of focus and giving the guest an enjoyable experience, not only in Disneyland but also when trying to accomplish a goal or use a product.In many ways, the book is more of a self-improvement manual than a guide to Disneyland, but by using the objects and history of Disneyland, from E-ticket (E for excellent, and high-quality, better than A through D) attractions to park benches. In doing so, he leverages a bevy of research, other Disney books, sources, and commentaries, and his own personal experiences as a university teacher of Disneyland history.If I had any criticism of the book, it would be that the paperback version feels a bit like a self-published book in terms of print & paper quality, and the book is primarily textual, almost workbook-esque in its blanks and end-chapter exercises; it does lack more general images and illustrative diagrams that could help bring the magic more to life. And finally, while the book is infinitely applicable to any walk of life, I would have liked to dig deeper into those moments where Walt faced tension, turning points in Disneyland's creation, whether it was that key financier meeting, that heated negotiation with the television network for airing his show, or the conflicts he and Herb faced drawing that map for the first time. Those were key moments, and I would've liked to be a fly on the wall. I know not whether or not those moments were documented in any accessible form, but the story of a creator facing a legion of doubters is so well-told and traveled that the line separating success from a deal falling through is razor thin, and is often the sum of several actions, behaviors, and negotiation tricks, many of which Walt probably used effectively. Finally, the book covers California Disneyland almost exclusively, and could benefit from insights acquired globally from other Disneyland resorts such as Paris, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.I still highly recommend the book to any creator eager to take inspiration from Disneyland.