In 1932, Walt Disney reportedly persuaded his brother and business partner, Roy Disney, to invest in new color film technology, leading to the first color cartoon, “Flowers and Trees,” which won the first Academy Award for animation
That combination of strategic thinking (Walt) and business acumen (Roy) is a cornerstone of The Walt Disney Company. Roy Disney would encapsulate their roles by saying, “Walt had a dream, and it was my job to make it a financial reality.”
Significant achievements are rarely produced alone.
When current Walt Disney Board Chair James Gorman spoke recently, he made clear that Josh D’Amaro’s selection as the next Disney CEO, replacing Robert Iger, reflected strategic thinking, an understanding of the creative process, and experience working both overseas and in the U.S.
The 54-year-old D’Amaro spent most of his 28 years at Disney in the theme parks business in the U.S. and overseas, including time at California’s Disneyland and Florida’s Walt Disney World. Since 2020, he has served as chairman of Disney’s experiences unit, which includes theme parks, cruise ships, and consumer products.
Now, he, along with the newly elected president and chief creative officer, Dana Walden, is charged with leading a global media and entertainment giant that has 231,000 cast members, $200 billion in assets, and $94.4 billion in revenue for the 2025 fiscal year.
How will success be achieved, and will the stock price recover from a five-year slump?
Will strategic thinking help? What is that anyway?
“Thinking strategically is the art of outdoing an adversary, knowing that the adversary is trying to do the same to you,” say college professors Avinash Dixit and Barry Nalebuff in their book “Thinking Strategically.” “Good strategic thinking across diverse contexts remains an art.”
What we’ve learned from Michel Robert, founder of Decision Processes International, is that, in practical terms, this is a thought process that takes place inside a CEO’s head and among the key people around them, all to determine an organization’s future.
The right planning and execution can only happen once the direction is clear.
It may come as no surprise that most leaders, including those in nonprofits, struggle to articulate the enterprise’s concept. Strategies are prone to failure when a lack of clarity permeates the company.
While any reasonable strategy can be made to work, no two strategies can be pursued at the same time.
During a trip to Disney’s Burbank, Calif., headquarters, Josh D’Amaro presented research-based ideas to Robert Iger outlining plans for future expansion.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the report concluded that the theme parks and cruise ships were constrained only by their size. The data also showed that guests were spending more per visit, due to ongoing price increases by D’Amaro.
At the same time, Disney guests were moving away from traditional media in favor of video games and virtual worlds.
As a result of that presentation, Disney committed to nearly doubling its investment in its parks and cruise ships, bringing the total to $60 billion over the next decade. The Journal also reported that the company invested $1.5 billion in Fortnite, developed by Epic Games.
These business units were identified as priorities for Disney. In good times, such areas receive additional resources; in bad times, they are the last to be cut.
What are your priorities, and are they well thought out and clearly understood? Does your enterprise have the capacity to fulfill them? If strategic thinking is more art than science, what must we do to improve our tactical outcomes?
Be clear-minded about who you are and who the business is, and understand the present environment in which it operates.
Determine which strategic area will drive the business concept and, consequently, the organization’s direction.
Decide which areas of competence must be cultivated to ensure the strategy’s health.
Allocate additional resources to achieve a level of proficiency that surpasses that of any competitor.
Consistency of purpose and sustained growth at Disney require timely creative products, continued guest spending (especially from wealthier households), and a critical mass of cast-member collaboration and engagement.
Luck, too.
Otherwise, they will not succeed, because success is hard to achieve and often short-lived.
There’s no doubt this has already crossed Josh D’Amaro’s strategic mind. If it hasn’t, it will.
Russ Bredholt Jr. is president of Bredholt & Co. in Winter Springs.
