230 InManagersWeTrust
Welch developed a culture of creativity—one without the bar-
nacles of bureaucracy that retard progress—where it is possible to
blend the virtues of both large and small organizations. Boundary-
lessness is a “behavior definer” that gets people together as teams
with speed and drive. Work-Out epitomizes a process designed to
generate and capture good ideas whatever their origin. This culture
and these processes characterize the type of company GE has be-
come: a company of action, just like its leader.
LIGHTS
The Walt Disney Company is no Mickey Mouse operation, and CEO
Mike Eisner knows it.^4 Eisner has one of the most enviable jobs in
the world, but he makes it look easier than it is. Since 1984 he has
run Disney as if he himself were Walt Disney—the ultimate owner
orientation. The animation, the characters, the films, the broadcast
TV, and now publishing and bigger theme parks keep Eisner on his
toes at this multi-billion-dollar entertainment company.
In his letters to shareholders, Eisner summarizes his views on
management and strategies for growth through times of change and
economic adversity. Direct commentary on specific aspects of Dis-
ney’s entertainment business—animation, characters, television,
Euro Disney, and the Internet—evinces qualities of trust as well as
creativity and leadership. Eisner discusses some of the special prob-
lems a large, exquisitely public company such as Disney confronts
as a business operated in the limelight of public opinion.
The More Things Change...
Eisner sums up his whole philosophy of business as follows: “call
meetings about subjects that really matter—and show up.” Parallel-
ing the situation at Welch’s GE, the big meetings at Disney are the
“synergy meetings” that bring together the heads and top managers
of each division to share ideas so that the best of one division can
be transplanted to the others. Motivated by Disney’s general devo-
tion to synergy and all the participants’ desire to impress their col-
leagues “with the breadth and creativity of their synergistic initia-
tives,” participants prepare hard for these gatherings, with
tremendous results.
The synergy meetings reflect an overall strategy at Disney an-