My notes from Disney's Land: Walt Disney and the Invention of the Amusement Park That Changed the World turned into maxims:
- You have time. Walt Disney created his masterpiece when he was 55.
- Great products are not built by consensus. Disneyland was an extension of the personality of its creator.
- Invert. Everyone thought building an amusement park was a bad idea because they all sucked. Walt realized the lack of quality *was* the opportunity.
- Be impossible to dissuade.
- Imagination is a competitive advantage.
- Failure is not fatal. Walt Disney's first company went bankrupt—his next company would be the best creative organization ever built.
- No one can tell you how to innovate. “You can't go to the library and find a book titled The Business Model for Animation," Steve Jobs explained. "The reason you can't is because there's only been one company [Disney] that's ever done it well, and they were not interested in telling the world how lucrative it was."
- Founders are in best position to teach the customer the "why" behind the product. You don't need a script. Just speak from the heart.
- Technology is just another word for change. Embrace it now and forever.
- Take the Winston Churchill approach: "When you are going through hell, keep going."
- For founders the work comes first, the processes later. Large companies reverse the order.
- Avoid clipping your own wings. Walt Disney refused to sell the television rights to his films. There were only 2,000 tvs in the entire world at the time.
- Have soul in the game. Details are not forgotten. Customers respond to quality.
- You can't top pigs with pigs.
- What are your creative fantasies about? Follow them.
- Don't just lay bricks. Build a cathedral.
- Work on something alive. "The way I see it, Disneyland will never be finished. It's something we can keep developing and adding to. I've always wanted to work on something alive, something that keeps growing. We've got that in Disneyland."