Do you remember that scene in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs where they all sit around the table and slurp soup?
Neither do I.
It never made it to the big screen.
Ward Kimball (one of Disney's original animators who was part of the famed Nine Old Men) spent eight months working on that scene.
Fellow animators loved it!
Walt thought it was good!
Walt also cut it from the film.
He said that the picture was simply too long and something had to go.
It was 1937, and since Snow White would be the first full-length cartoon feature film, Walt knew that he had to keep the story tight.
Regarding the soup scene he said, "Even though we liked the sequence, it was not essential to the telling of the story."
Ward was disappointed. He'd worked so hard.
But Walt came back quickly with a new character he wanted Ward to sketch for an upcoming project.
From the recorded interview played at the Walt Disney Family Museum, Ward happily recalled the next conversation he had with Walt after the Snow White soup scene had been edited from Snow White:
"He was a salesman and he changed the soup sequence to the enjoyment I'd have with Jiminy Cricket."
And Ward went on to animate everyone's favorite conscience.
Two leadership essentials stand out to me in this story:
1. Alignment
Walt knew the goal of his first feature film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. He aligned all decisions toward that goal, even when he knew others would be disappointed.
2. Engagement
Walt also knew that to keep top talent he needed to drive, not decrease, engagement. He did this by giving Ward an even bigger, better creative project.
If you are a leader:
- Do you have a crystal-clear image of your goals?
- Are you able to evaluate which actions, processes, and efforts are in alignment or out of alignment with these goals?
- Do you have the courage to make tough decisions?
- When necessary, are you able to reignite employee engagement by directing talent to other projects?
- Don't you want to see the soup sequence? My son found it here! Enjoy!
Yes! There is so much more to say about goals and engagement. This is just a real-life story that illustrates the power of each. Keep the conversation going with your teams.