I stumbled upon a post from Lifehacker, which discusses the occurrence of normalization of deviance (https://lifehacker.com/how-tiny-mistakes-cause-huge-disasters-1832786837). In short, normalization of deviance is present when tiny concessions are made within a system that is bit to withstand some misuse. From the article:
"A certain road, for example, is built for a 50 MPH speed limit. But because drivers will always push it, the engineer makes sure the road is safe all the way up to 70 MPH under normal conditions. Inevitably, drivers end up taking it at 60 MPH, since everyone knows that’s still safe. And then a few people figure it must be safe to drive a little faster than the 'normal' 60 MPH. And a few go even faster. And then it rains, and someone still goes 80 MPH and they crash and die."
In the post, the metaphor is extended out to an individual's personal life, and as a father of young children, i found it to be incredible poignant. But I also wanted to share it because of this post in the comment section, which makes it relevant to Walt Disney World:
"It’s funny, I’m in the bar business and while I’ve never known of the phrase, I harp on it all the time. Not replacing a light bulb, no big deal, nobody will notice. You stop noticing too. Glass door on cooler smudged? Faucet on bathroom sink cracked? Gum on wall?
No single one of these things will have a discernible impact on your business, but if you stop staying on top of it, next thing you know your nice joint is regarded as dumpy and your market flees to a different nice bar."
I know there's this false equivalency on the boards: "Pixie Dusters" versus "The Gloom and Doomers." Some people just say, "It's Disney World. Enjoy it, or don't go. LOL Shorter lines for all of us." The other side has long-time experiences with the product, and is frustrated when they feel it fails to deliver on the bar it set for itself decades ago. I fall more toward the latter, but err on the side of knowing what I can/cannot control, with the actions of publicly-held corporations falling squarely into the 'cannot control' category.
But this is at the core of what people are talking about when they talk about how things "used to be." One price hike, or one AA being down, or one piece of garbage floating down Main Street...they're not going to change how you view Disney World. But when the variances add up, the system can fail.
Is Disney going broke any time soon? Of course not. People still come out in droves and pay the larger prices for what is arguably a lesser product than was available to them for the first 25 years of the resort. But there is a reason why the Titantic was called an "unsinkable ship" before it inevitably sank. There is hubris in ignoring the small things; overlooking the tiny mistakes until they add up until they become larger ones.
I'm not really looking to start yet another thread on people debating why, in their view, things are amazing at the resort versus why they're not. This is really just to show the mindset behind the critics of the current product, and why I believe there's significant reason to heed those warnings.
"A certain road, for example, is built for a 50 MPH speed limit. But because drivers will always push it, the engineer makes sure the road is safe all the way up to 70 MPH under normal conditions. Inevitably, drivers end up taking it at 60 MPH, since everyone knows that’s still safe. And then a few people figure it must be safe to drive a little faster than the 'normal' 60 MPH. And a few go even faster. And then it rains, and someone still goes 80 MPH and they crash and die."
In the post, the metaphor is extended out to an individual's personal life, and as a father of young children, i found it to be incredible poignant. But I also wanted to share it because of this post in the comment section, which makes it relevant to Walt Disney World:
"It’s funny, I’m in the bar business and while I’ve never known of the phrase, I harp on it all the time. Not replacing a light bulb, no big deal, nobody will notice. You stop noticing too. Glass door on cooler smudged? Faucet on bathroom sink cracked? Gum on wall?
No single one of these things will have a discernible impact on your business, but if you stop staying on top of it, next thing you know your nice joint is regarded as dumpy and your market flees to a different nice bar."
I know there's this false equivalency on the boards: "Pixie Dusters" versus "The Gloom and Doomers." Some people just say, "It's Disney World. Enjoy it, or don't go. LOL Shorter lines for all of us." The other side has long-time experiences with the product, and is frustrated when they feel it fails to deliver on the bar it set for itself decades ago. I fall more toward the latter, but err on the side of knowing what I can/cannot control, with the actions of publicly-held corporations falling squarely into the 'cannot control' category.
But this is at the core of what people are talking about when they talk about how things "used to be." One price hike, or one AA being down, or one piece of garbage floating down Main Street...they're not going to change how you view Disney World. But when the variances add up, the system can fail.
Is Disney going broke any time soon? Of course not. People still come out in droves and pay the larger prices for what is arguably a lesser product than was available to them for the first 25 years of the resort. But there is a reason why the Titantic was called an "unsinkable ship" before it inevitably sank. There is hubris in ignoring the small things; overlooking the tiny mistakes until they add up until they become larger ones.
I'm not really looking to start yet another thread on people debating why, in their view, things are amazing at the resort versus why they're not. This is really just to show the mindset behind the critics of the current product, and why I believe there's significant reason to heed those warnings.
Really? If you go on a vacation and all you do is remember the bad things or all you can do is complain, not to be cruel that's "shame on you". Unlike the challenger, Disney is a business, so their primary goal is to make money, IMO the most effective way to initiate change is to effect the bottom line. That's what would get Disney's attention.
