Just the essentials

Only three

What do Disney and the United Nations have in common?

They think in threes.

I’ve returned recently from Nairobi where I worked with the UN Environment Program on its 3 Planetary Crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. These Planetary Crises frame the existential challenges of our time, and they dramatically focus attention (and resources) of not just the UN, but its member states and partners.

When Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005 he, with his board, were determined to transform what was already a strong business. Like the UN, the existential threat wasn’t ‘today’, it was ‘tomorrow’, but worrying signs were there for those who could see.

Iger and his team determined three areas of positioning focus. They were (i) develop creative content; (ii) broaden international reach; and (iii) distribute directly to consumers. Like the UN’s, notice how succinct these are. And powerful: these positioning focus areas were durable enough to drive a 15 year acquisition strategy (Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel and the biggest by far, 20th Century Fox).

The transformation is unquestionably delivering. In 2021, Disney produced three of the top-grossing six films in the world and took fully a quarter of all box office revenues in North America. Under Iger, Disney outperformed the stock market by roughly double — which is hard to do when your starting position is a $35b company. 

Question: Can you identify just three transformative areas of focus for your organisation?

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Keeping it real

One of my clients, Kelly Rogerson, is CEO of a community-based palliative care service. She once let it drop that, when introducing herself, she rarely says she’s a CEO; instead she says, “I’m a nurse”. I was surprised, and asked, “Presumably it’s been a while since you’ve nursed?” 

She said, “No, not at all. I believe in keeping it real. I still go out and see clients, a few each quarter”. She went on to explain her strong belief in retaining a connection to the grassroots of patients, carers and front-line workers.

She and I discussed the many CEOs who don’t visit the front lines often, and board directors who never do at all. What are they missing?

Question: How do you connect personally with your customers and ‘keep it real’?

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Least worst

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the discarded plan to de-industrialise Europe after WW2; instead, they got the Marshall Plan, which successfully rebuilt Europe’s economic capacity within a few decades.

Over in the Pacific, at the same time, there were three options considered: (1) a seaborne invasion of Japan, (2) a demonstration of a bomb, as an incentive to surrender, and (3) dropping a working bomb on a civilian population. We all know Option 3 was chosen — which ended up killing 150,000 people.

But, did you know that Option 1, the invasion, was calculated to have cost far more lives? In fact, 500,000 Purple Hearts were produced rapidly in mid-1945 just to supply the US casualties with honours. Of course, these medals went unused, and are still in reserve today, and used to reward valour.

But why was Option 1 abandoned? The Americans believed the Japanese would not unconditionally surrender (as had the Germans), as it would end the god-like status of the emperor, costing far more lives.

Question: How do you use ‘least worst’ thinking to generate options in tough situations?

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I always love knowing you’re reading, so please drop me a line, or just click the heart.

I’ll be back next Friday, even though for many it’s a non-work day owing to the celebration of the pagan goddess Eostre. Until then, keep it real and have a great week.

Andrew