Disney Way Change Management Questions:
• How do the guiding members of the organization envision the future?
• How will success be measured?
• What kind of organizational culture is necessary to achieve success?
• What are the values and principles that guide the company?

You can’t save your way to success! The story is usually the same: companies preach change but really mean cost reduction. We have never seen a company save its way to success. Companies that jump into these efforts often fail or, at best, see short-term, shallow results.

Disney Way Keys to Change Management:
• Invite all direct reports to participate. Too many CEOs plan for change in a vacuum.
• Start with the Story (Vision) of where you would like the company to be in ten years, and work backwards. If you feel you can readily achieve that vision, you have not allowed yourself to Dream.
• Do a thorough investigation of the driving forces affecting your business. These include suppliers, competitors, customers, distribution channels, and technology. Make sure to look outside your own environment; do not assume you know all the external forces that are affecting your business.
• Create a plan that is customer-centric. The best reason to be in business is to provide "blow their socks off" products and services to your customers."
• Once you have established your plan for change, share it with all employees. We have seen many strategic plans kept under lock and key simply because the CEO does not want the competition to know his or her strategy. Unfortunately, the employees don’t know the plan either. How can you expect your team to accomplish great feats if they don’t know in what direction they are supposed to be headed?
• Include specific, measurable objectives as part of your plan for change. We hear the argument, "We cannot commit to measurements that are so far out in the future." How will you know that you have achieved your vision if you cannot measure it?
• The best way to establish strategic alliances with your key suppliers is to involve them in the planning process. Then, ask your key customers if they agree with the strategies. Listen and absorb their comments without defending your position.
• Re-orientate all employees so that they embrace a new set of values and codes of conduct.
• Test how well the plan is being executed by doing the following: Sit down with your team, two months from the completion of the plan. Ask all members to bring their calendars. If they have been spending over 60% of their time on strategic customer-centric issues, your chances for accomplishing your vision are pretty good. If you want to do even better, start spending 80% to 90% on these issues.