Flutterby™! : Eisner? Or his administration

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Eisner? Or his administration

2004-04-13 06:40:41.588248+00 by meuon 2 comments

Logged because of Dan and friends current and past affiliation with Disney/Pixar: Disney lost on Alamo and Home on the Range - So Disney seems to be loosing it's edge, vision, magic, etc.. I'm curious as to how much control over such projects the man at the top (Eisner) really has. He gets the blame, he's not loved.. but I really think it must be actions and decisions made lower down the ladder that are really sucking. Of course, the leader usually sets the tone and the corporate culture for success and/or failure. Have all of the good underlings left for more fertile pastures? Are those left stuck in a mundane mode, afraid to take a risk or taking the wrong ones?

I've recently been dealing with some people that have lost motivation and are looking for new directions, a cause. Dispite reams of 'management how-to' books and MBA's, successful business seems to rest an an elusive quality, the belief that you are on a mission, a winning team and that success for the whole team rests on you believing in doing your part, plus just a little more.

If we could just bottle that feeling.. spray it as needed like air freshener.. overcoming the stench of stagnation and pheremones of fear. Dan is seeking it, I'm trying to create it, other friends have just changed jobs (after 10+ years) looking for it. It's 2am, why am I working so late to loud music on the Fenders when I theoretically have loads of time? because I get more done under the pressure, real or manufactured, 2am at 100+db just feels like I need to get this done, like there is the energy of success just around the corner.

If I can find/create/bottle it, I could probably sell it to Eisner for nearly anything I can dream of. He probably either smells of apathy or failure... his fault or not.

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comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: Disney Morale made: 2004-04-15 00:02:52.351446+00 by: ghasty

Just got back from our week at WDW...yes, had my saveDisney.com sticker on the minivan and I can deffinitly say that morale is sinking fast. This is the first trip we've ever had issue with cast members and I do believe that starts at the top. I think the entire corp is stagnent and just needs something (someone) new.

#Comment Re: made: 2004-04-23 23:10:59.064034+00 by: Dan Lyke

I've had a ... week, and I think that week was related to some of the issues here.

There are cultural changes which have enough strength that the person at the top can't change them, but the reason top CEOs get paid that much is that they're supposed to have enough charisma to provide a strong sense of direction and purpose in the company.

The point of a Michael Eisner or a Steve Jobs or a Jack Welch or a Bill Gates isn't their prowess at shuffling papers or even making decisions, it's that they can provide the inspiration to get other people to do that more effectively. So when, as the current situation at Disney shows, they've become nothing more than paper pushers, managers rather than leaders, then it's time to ship 'em out 'cause their value to the company is over.

And it's probably the case that at that point they're unemployable, because they'll never make that much ever again; the point of that rise to the top is that they were the right leader for that rare set of people. Except for an extremely rare few, the serendipity is gone.