The power of deliberate improvement
“Art is the activity by which a person, having experienced an emotion, intentionally transmits it to others” ― Leo Tolstoy
3 areas of focus
Walt Disney has told generations of movie-watchers stories of dramatic transformation. Think about the classics like Beauty and the Beast (selfish prince turns loyal) and Cinderella (marginalised servant turns princess), and more recently Mulan (ordinary young woman turns warrior).
When Bob Iger became CEO of Disney in 2005 he, with his board, were determined to transform what was already a strong business.
To do this, they determined just three areas of positioning focus. Yes, just three. They were (i) develop creative content; (ii) broaden international reach; and (iii) distribute directly to consumers.
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).
If you want to know more, check out Iger on Masterclass (a fave of mine right now!). And his new book is lined up in my Kindle, ready to read.
The transformation is well and truly underway. In 2019, Disney produced seven of the top grossing 10 films in the world, and six of them had revenues of over $1b apiece, with one (Avengers Endgame) almost breaking the $3b mark (and holding the record for highest grossing film ever).
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?
The power of deliberate improvement
My son, Jasper, who’s 11, and in Year 5, has suffered some of the typical homeschooling malaise of recent times. Homework is rushed, music practice is minimal, household chores done under sufferance.
I should replace ‘is’ with ‘was’, because my wife, Kate, and I have been under the spell of a couple of powerful strengths-based parenting gurus: Dr Lea Waters (The Strengths Switch), and Esther Wojcicki (How to Raise Successful People).
We now, quite honestly, have a transformed boy: whistling tunes as he collects laundry and vacuums, sits at his desk and monitors his own time during home-schooling hours, jumping up with a chirpy “Sure Dad” if I ask him to do something.
Kate and I stare at each other in wonder, but it’s very clear what we’ve all done recently. When we learned about our second lockdown, we had a family pow-wow: a conscious discussion with Jasper about improvement - deliberate improvement.
We praised him for the many things that he does well (he’s hugely creative, caring, responsible, fair) — and talked about the type of family life we all want during this second lockdown phase. He knows that ‘feelings are contagious’ so we’ve all worked hard at deliberately improving our optimism, energy and empathy (even when we don’t immediately feel those things).
We’ve also transferred some of this to other areas of deliberate improvement for him: writing vividly, adding numbers in his head rapidly, applying face makeup creatively (he’s a huge movie fan) and, yes, even getting more wins in Fortnite. It’s all part of the plan.
Question: What (small, personal) things are you currently deliberately improving on?
Getting a new perspective
Since the explosion of public support for Black Lives Matter, how much conscious exploration of indigenous experiences have you done?
I wrote an entire newsletter back then suggesting viewing and reading that I’ve found transformative — and I was not surprised that this struck a chord with readers. Many of you wrote to me about what you, in turn, have been inspired by.
Well, here’s one for next Tuesday night. One of the best indigenous films in recent years is Warwick Thornton’s Sweet Country, set in a remote outpost in the Northern Territory in 1929.
It tells the story of stockman Sam Kelly on the run with his pregnant wife after killing a white station owner in self-defence. It’s a magnificently complex piece of storytelling, and you can view it for free here, on SBS OnDemand.
Even better, though, next Tuesday night, you can hear the screenwriters, Steven McGregor and David Tranter (who won last year’s Kate Challis RAKA Award), speak about this arresting film in a webinar hosted by Melbourne University.
Highly recommended.
Question: Whose perspectives are you actively exploring?