OK. We know that. How would you fix it?
Those making decisions affecting WDW aren’t evil and they aren’t intellectually stupid.
They are making the “best” decisions based on limitations imposed on them.
Externally, those limitations flow down from the top of the corporate food chain; Iger and Rasulo. There are factors that influence Iger and Rasulo such as the BOD (which Iger effectively controls) and Wall Street. However, Iger is powerful enough that he could produce change, if he wanted to. He doesn’t want to. WDW is the way that it is because it’s what Iger wants, if not in word than certainly by deed.
Internally, those limitations come from the backgrounds of the individuals making decisions affecting WDW. They all are academically intelligent. Most are talented administrators. That’s their strengths. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have the skillset to lead an organization creatively. Their abilities don’t make them visionaries, which is what it takes for an organization to remain on the cutting edge.
Organizations need to balance administrative and creative talents. When one side becomes dominant, it leads to a less successful organization. Artists are needed to push the boundaries, to dream big. Administrators are needed to reign in artistic excess.
It’s more difficult to find an outstanding artist than an outstanding administrator. That “vision thing” is not something that can be evaluated during an interview or judged during an annual performance review. Usually those conducting these evaluations lack the background to accurately appraise creative talent. Quite the opposite; true visionaries scare them.
What does this mean?
Once an organization reaches a certain level of maturity, the organization tends to produce a strong group of administrators where creativity is either not up to the standard needed to remain an industry leader or creativity is marginalized by those same administrators. In such an environment, the most talented visionaries either leave or are beaten into submission.
In such an organization, there is no balance. Decisions overwhelmingly are driven by dollars-and-cents considerations. Since it is difficult to predict long-term success using a dollars-and-cents approach (much long-term “market data” is nothing more than imaginative projections), those decisions are dominated by short-term thinking. What’s good for this year and the next, and how do I massage long-term data to support the short-term decision I’ve already made?
The organization takes incremental steps instead of planning for the future. The organization withers, sinking into mediocrity and eventual slow decay.
Industry-leading becomes excellent becomes good becomes good enough.
Currently, WDW is dominated by administrators, rather than a balance of administrators and visionaries.
This is what is happening at WDW today.
Fixing WDW is not simply a matter of lowering hotel prices, building Star Wars Land, or restoring the Yeti. It's a matter of locating and empowering a visionary with sufficient authority to effect meaningful change, one who can lead towards the future.