Wilderness Lodge Self-Propelled Linen Cart Patent

Test Track and backstage Epcot
Test Track and backstage Epcot.

What you are about to read was written years ago. It is part of my Disney Creativity and Innovation Insights book. It is randomly being shared today…

Disney Lodgekeepers (housekeepers at Disney’s Wilderness Lodge) had an idea shortly after Disney’s Wilderness Lodge opened in 1994.

To maximize daily efficiency with the fewest number of linen-room trips for supplies, Lodgekeepers packed as much onto their linen carts as possible.

A heavy linen cart on a carpeted floor is hard to push.

In the mid-1990’s Walt Disney World was unveiling Performance Excellence – an unprecedented management reorganization.

The primary goal was to tap into the knowledge “library” and experience base of the front line Cast Members.

The secret leadership ingredient that went missing from all previous “empowerment” initiatives was leadership involvement and approval.

Performance Excellence was designed to provide the missing link.

When the Cast said they wanted a self-propelled linen cart (like a self-propelled lawn-mower), leadership checked with our linen-cart vendor and you can just imagine their response.

Cool idea, but no.

Such a thing didn’t exist.

Anywhere.

So Disney leadership relayed the message to the Cast and the Cast responded, “But you said this time we promise.”

Long story longer – guess who co-owns the patent for the first ever self-propelled linen cart?

Additional backstory:

Disney’s Central Shops (where we build the Magic) and the linen-cart vendor partnered to invent the cart and receive the patent.

A Disneyland Merchandise Executive was visiting Walt Disney World – specifically, Disney’s Wilderness Lodge – and noticed the self-propelled linen cart in her hallway.

She took an existing idea and made it work for the food and beverage carts at Disneyland.

Can you imagine how heavy a beverage cart is that’s full of cases of bottled and canned drinks?

Creativity, for Disneyland Merchandise, didn’t mean invention, it meant adaptation.

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Top 3 creativity and innovation priorities?

Disney Creativity Keynote Speaker
Most creative improvements happen on the front line. Small, low-cost to no-cost iterations that continuously improve things over time. Cast experience improvements. Customer experience improvements. Business-financial improvements. And of course, leadership improvements.

A leader and a direct report are paired and each has a Post-it note. The leader writes the top three creativity and innovation priorities she expects of her direct report. And the direct report writes the top three creativity and innovation priorities she thinks the leader expects from her.

What are the odds the lists match?

The entire point of clarity with expectations, priorities, and accountability comes down to scaling a winning formula. As employees become leaders, and as employees and leaders move around within an organization, the core mission, and the structure and processes to maintain and improve the mission are your cultural bedrock.

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World-Class Organizational Vibrancy

Disney Speaker Jeff Noel selfie with Chip and Dale
Making selfies unique (cool?).

World-Class Organizational Vibrancy.

Self-aware, driven, and determined CEO’s understand the competitive immunity Organizational Vibrancy provides them.

Common sense is valuable but only when applied. And the commitment to the application is what drives your level of excellence. Smart leaders understand this intuitively. Smart leaders understand that the long way is the short cut.

You want to make your Organization a great place work, a great place for customers to do business, and a great place for shareholders to invest long term.

Want to know the incalculable value of a vibrant culture? Contrast it with a culture that never approaches vibrancy, an organization that is continuously reacting to stresses, challenges, and missed opportunities.

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This website is about our HOME. This is the fifth of five daily, differently-themed blog posts about: (1) mind, (2) body, (3) spirit, (4) work, (5) home. To return to Mid Life Celebration, the site about MIND, click here.

Can you easily scale the delivery?

Disney Leadership Keynote Speaker Jeff Noel
A Real Estate Company. Can’t recall the location. Filling in for Lee Cockerell when he was ill.

Can you easily scale the delivery?

Yes.

Walk softly and carry a big stick.

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This website is about our HOME. This is the fifth of five daily, differently-themed blog posts about: (1) mind, (2) body, (3) spirit, (4) work, (5) home. To return to Mid Life Celebration, the site about MIND, click here.

Include nutritional value

Disney Institute Keynote Speaker Jeff Noel
What?

Include nutritional value:

  • Must have, need to have, nice to have
  • Thesis statements for five Pillars
  • Operational insights for 19 Blueprints
  • Proteins (muscle building)
  • Complex carbs (long-lasting energy sources)
  • Essential fats: lubricants for a high performing machine
  • Vitamins (micronutrients) (all vitamins are necessary)
  • Minerals (micronutrients) (only some minerals are necessary; example, calcium for strong bones, iron, potassium, etc)
  • Occasional Indulgences (desserts, celebrations)

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This website is about our HOME. This is the fifth of five daily, differently-themed blog posts about: (1) mind, (2) body, (3) spirit, (4) work, (5) home. To return to Mid Life Celebration, the site about MIND, click here.