27 THE TIGER AND THE COMMITTEE

Joe Rohde, the Head Imagineer on the Animal Kingdom project for Disneyland, Florida, was beginning to think that his team would never get the final go-ahead on their $1-billion enterprise.

CEO Michael Eisner was in favour, but many of the strategic planners weren’t so sure. It was the late 1980s, the economy was slipping into recession and the existing Disney theme park business was suffering. Animal Kingdom was a project that would be five times bigger than the original Disneyland in California.

Meeting after meeting had taken place over a number of months, but Joe was getting nowhere fast. The planners still weren’t convinced; they didn’t believe that the idea was a signiicant improvement on a traditional zoo.

Some of their scepticism rubbed off on Michael Eisner, who at one of their meetings wondered aloud whether the mere sight of live animals would generate enough excitement and interest amongst their guests.

Joe called together his team of Imagineers – the eclectic bunch of designers, artists, writers and engineers who help to create the Disney magic. He wanted to work out a plan to get the committee of planners to change their minds.

At the next meeting Joe took along an accomplice to help him argue the case – but his accomplice wasn’t just anyone; it was a live animal, a “mere” 400-pound Bengal tiger.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the planners quickly realized how much interest and excitement live animals can generate. Joe and the team got their go-ahead … and in 1998, Disney opened its new Animal Kingdom theme park.

And the moral is that even the most hardened professional is a human, and the use of theatre can be a powerful decision-making tool. How can you dramatize your next presentation?