The Ride of a Lifetime - Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

ENTER DISNEY

This Chapter provides an insight into the life of the author after Disney acquired Cap Cities/ABC in 1995. 

Despite Iger not getting the promotion he wanted, it is important to note that he appreciated that his boss had been straight with him. His boss “didn’t try to sugarcoat it or pretend the arrangement was something it was not.” 

Correspondingly, Iger found himself in a different corporate environment after Disney acquired his company. His previous bosses, Tom and Dan, were warm and accessible. They would always make time for their employees and would provide advice freely. Their business strategies were “intensely focused on managing expenses and increasing earnings, and they surrounded themselves with executives who could work for them forever as long as they adhered to the same principles. They also believed in a decentralized corporate structure.”

In contrast, Disney had a central corporate structure called Strategic Planning, which consisted of executives with highly intellectual degrees. These executives provided the analysis with data in every business move that Disney executed and the CEO would also execute all the creative decisions himself.

It is this type of system that Iger believes had to do with the fact that there were more disagreements and arguments within the company, while the tone of the Disney executives was “often authoritative and demanding.” As Iger expresses, they acted as if, because they bought his company, they “were expected always to bend to their will.” 

Subsequently, Iger emphasises the significance of the people at the top of the company having a relationship that is functional. In Disney, the two top executives, Michael Eisner and Ovitz had a dysfunctional relationship and as a result, the rest of the subordinates in Disney were dysfunctional. 

Last but not least, the author provides a very brief but accurate description of an excellent manager. Most importantly, an excellent manager must always be eager to learn and absorb information. Additionally, “you have to hear out other people’s problems and help find solutions.”