Acknowledgments

After The Disney Way was released in 1998, we met many business leaders from nonentertainment companies who wondered if they could really apply Walt’s original success credo to any great end. Their doubts were soon put to rest as countless organizations, from healthcare to hospitality, have since demonstrated to capture the “magic” through a focused and unwavering dedication to implementing Dream, Believe, Dare, Do over the long term. We wish to thank the many companies, associations, and chambers of commerce that have invited us to bring the Dream, Believe, Dare, Do principles to their employees and audiences through “Dream Retreats,” seminars, and keynote presentations. We would also like to thank the many clients who helped make the first edition of The Disney Way so successful. A special thanks to John Dunn of Dunn Hospitality Group, United States Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, and Jeff Merhige of Camp Kern YMCA for their input.

We want to thank our wonderful executive editor, Mary Glenn, who provided a perfect opportunity to showcase some of the “best of the best” organizations that have so graciously opened their doors and gave of themselves to make this book possible. We are thrilled to present such Disney-ized business icons as Ernst & Young, Men’s Wearhouse, and, once again, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. For the past five years, we have studied their business practices at length and tracked their phenomenal results. We wish to thank personally each of the leaders for their time and for providing such great examples from which others can learn: David Overton of The Cheesecake Factory; Jan Drees of Downtown School; Jim Turley of Ernst & Young; Isadore Sharp of the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts; Patrick Charmel of Griffin Hospital; John and Stacy DiJulious of John Robert’s Spa; and George “I Guarantee It” Zimmer of Men’s Wearhouse.

We thank John Christensen, our friend and FISH! guru, for his heartfelt and well-penned foreword. We appreciate our years of friendship with John!

After September 11, countless U.S. organizations faced some degree of financial hardship and were either contemplating or instituting cost-cutting measures such as reducing staff hours and positions. Many of the leaders of our seven featured organizations, however, made a different choice: they put their people first. These were among the few who were steadfast in their conviction that their employees were the primary reason for their corporate strength, and these same employees would be the ones to achieve great things for their companies in the future. Thankfully, there are still leaders like these who will not compromise what they believe—that employees should be cherished, no matter what.

A special thanks to Joan Hoffman and Bill R. Capodagli, Bill’s son, for their help: to Joan, who worked tirelessly in the editing of the manuscript, and to Bill, who assisted with statistical research and graphics support.

Bill Capodagli
Lynn Jackson