Okay, Iger's Impressing Me

[lebeau]

Okay, Iger's starting to really impress me. Firts he turns out to be a master diplomat and then he shows he has a feel for the little touches that make Disney different from any other corporate monster.

This comes from a blurb at Mouseplanet:

…In what appears to be a continuation of CEO-elect Robert Iger's attempt to focus attention on cast members as the company's greatest asset, a new window will be unveiled this morning on Main Street U.S.A. honoring the entire cast of the Walt Disney World Resort, past and present. The window for the "Magic Kingdom Casting Agency" will go up near the Center Street expansion of the Emporium (Emporium Gallery).

 

[Epcot82Guy]

I think he has huge potential. I will reserve judgment (either way) until he has been in the position for a year. There is a good chance that he gets it and was simply playing the game up to now. There is an equal chance he is simply trying to distance himself now and his real plans will come out. Also, the company is still on rocky ground. There is no doubt that certain divisions are under-performing and that takes creativity to rebound. Again, I think the potential is huge, and hopefully it will come out in a "magical" way.

 

[Master Yoda]

I think he has huge potential. I will reserve judgment (either way) until he has been in the position for a year. There is a good chance that he gets it and was simply playing the game up to now. There is an equal chance he is simply trying to distance himself now and his real plans will come out. Also, the company is still on rocky ground. There is no doubt that certain divisions are under-performing and that takes creativity to rebound. Again, I think the potential is huge, and hopefully it will come out in a "magical" way.

Got to agree. I myself kind of wonder if Iger is playing the part of he really does get it and we will see a big turnaround at WDW. Myself I'm kind of leaning toward him getting it and the future seems real bright.

 

[Richie248]

I am so happy with the current progess of Iger. He is off to a great start. Hopefully he will continue to focus on what makes Disney special, and recognizing the importance of it's Cast Members is the perfect start. When I was reading about how the cast members were telling all the guest "Welcome Home", as they walked into Disneyland yesterday, I got a bit teary eyed. It just goes to show how a great set of employees can really change your experience at Disney. :sohappy:

 

[Thrawn]

How do you know this was Iger's idea? Just wondering ...

 

[lebeau]

How do you know this was Iger's idea? Just wondering ...

Excellent question. I wish I had an answer.

 

[Thrawn]

Excellent question. I wish I had an answer.

Its not just you, a lot of people are giving Iger credit for everything that has been happening lately, when we have really, no idea. Guess we have to wait for the next tell all book.

 

[General Grizz]

No clue whose idea it was. Matt Ouimet? Al Weiss? Someone above our beneath? No way of knowing if it was Iger or not (I'd guess not). Although he's a good diplomat.

 

[Thrawn]

Although he's a good diplomat.

PPOR

 

[lebeau]

Its not just you, a lot of people are giving Iger credit for everything that has been happening lately, when we have really, no idea. Guess we have to wait for the next tell all book.

hehe - I can't wait

 

[CaptainMichael]

I'm pleased with his apparent progress, but Michael Eisner did great things at the beginning of his reign also. Sadly, we only remember Mr. Eisner for what he has done recently which doesn't always reflect well on his time with the Walt Disney Co.

 

[wired]

PPOR

Off subject, Thrawn, you changed your avatar?? Now we have to look at the name to see who is flaming someone. :lol:

 

[Dayma]

Expectations are high for Iger so I will have a "wait and see" attitude. I will say that history usually makes CEO's look good the first year or so. Like I said.....wait and see.

 

[WDWCP]

Its not just you, a lot of people are giving Iger credit for everything that has been happening lately, when we have really, no idea. Guess we have to wait for the next tell all book.

On that same note, I'm sure Eisner got lots of credit for things (good and bad) that weren't really his doing as well over the past 20 years...

 

[Thrawn]

On that same note, I'm sure Eisner got lots of credit for things (good and bad) that weren't really his doing as well over the past 20 years...

Exactly. Most of the Eisner stuff has been sorted out, as far as what was his and what wasn't, but that takes time. I have no problem welcoming Iger and hoping he does a great job. But lets not give him credit for every little thing, because we simply do not know what he is doing and what the others are doing.

Don't forget, Eisner was setting some great people into high positions in the last couple of years.

 

[lebeau]

Exactly. Most of the Eisner stuff has been sorted out, as far as what was his and what wasn't, but that takes time. I have no problem welcoming Iger and hoping he does a great job. But lets not give him credit for every little thing, because we simply do not know what he is doing and what the others are doing.

Don't forget, Eisner was setting some great people into high positions in the last couple of years.

This is true. I have been irritated by people assigning things to Iger that I know he should not get much credit for (Lost and Desperate Housewives for example).

Hopefully he had at least something to do with this little acknowledgement of the staff. It's this kind of thing that could help bring the company back to greatness.

 

[WDWCP]

This is true. I have been irritated by people assigning things to Iger that I know he should not get much credit for (Lost and Desperate Housewives for example).

Hopefully he had at least something to do with this little acknowledgement of the staff. It's this kind of thing that could help bring the company back to greatness.

I think it all just comes back to realizing that we need to keep an open mind. I also don't think we can put a fast and hard date on things either. When some people say "I'll give him one year and then I'll decide if I like him", it just can't be accurately measured that way. Frankly, there can and will be things that come out even 5 years from now from Disney that are ultamately a result of some decision Eisner has made.

The only caviate to this is that Iger was an insider, so many of the things that are going on right now, he was a part of. He may not have had the final decision on things like Lost or Desperate Housewives, but you can bet that he was involved in those types of decisions in the form or making recommendations to Eisner... He also would have been involved in the "Bad" decisions too that Eisner ultimately ruled on... I'm sure some of those he supported and some he didn't...

We can talk all we want about how good/bad Iger either is or will be, but in the end, only many years of time will tell...

It will take Iger many years to prove that he was the right choice, but it would only take a few months of bad decisions to prove he was the wrong choice.

Iger's got a long uphill battle ahead to convince people he's the right guy.

 

[dave2822]

Hopefully he had at least something to do with this little acknowledgement of the staff. It's this kind of thing that could help bring the company back to greatness.

Nine straight quarters on the increase will do that for you too.

 

[Thrawn]

Nine straight quarters on the increase will do that for you too.

The increase in the financials IS ALL that matters, unfortunately. No one really cares how the employees of any company are treated when they are talking about how well it is run.

Case in point: Walmart is considered to be a very well run company. However, they treat their employees like they live in communist Russia.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

If nothing else, a definate shift could be seen as soon it was known that Eisner was on the way out when you look at the huge reservoirs of bad will Disney seemed to have acrued in many quarters. At the very least Disney now seems to be able to get along with others once again after (I think it's reasonable to say) Eisner managed to build up an exceptional amount of bad will for the company. Whether this has more to do with Eisner going or Iger's diplomacy is yet to be seen, but by all appearances he's far less ego-driven than Eisner which should be a positive in this department.

Another thing which can be noted is that the first major move attributed by the company to Iger was the disbanding of the strategic planning division which was championed by Eisner and had a reputation for stifling innovation and quashing good ideas. This was a fairly major move away from the culture built up within Disney over recent years which you have to assume has something to do with the new CEO (as Disney themselves said it did), and it should empower individual divisions to make their own decisions which is a good thing.

Obviously we won't really know for a while how Iger will turn out for the company, but the early signs do seem positive. The company needed change and all the early indications are that it's changing for the better with Iger effectively (according to Eisner) at the helm. I don't think that this will mean elabourate restorations for CoP or $100+ million E-tickets opening up every year at WDW, but hopefully some lessons have been learnt about keeping the parks up to scratch. I'd be happy with some more rehabs and plussing of older attractions as seems to happen at DL all the time.