Book Review: How to Be Like Walt
Classic. A choice word for How to Be Like Walt—Capturing the Disney Magic Every Day of Your Life by Pat Williams with Jim Denney. Written in 2004, this timeless tome reveals countless reasons why Walt Disney’s brilliance combined with the requisite financial prudence of his brother, Roy, equaled the Disney Kingdom’s unmatched success. Based on a compilation of stories and personal reflections about the life of Walt Disney from more than 250 people, it’s truly the “Mickey Mouse” guide to triumphant victory in all aspects of life with the application of what seems like hundreds of insights, concepts, and ageless marketing tools.
Why are we reading this book?
Curiosity motivated us to check out why Art Linkletter wrote in the foreword: “Of all the books written about Walt Disney, this may be the most important.” What we found and appreciated was not only fantastic “behind-the-scenes” stories about almost every Disneyland detail, but the book’s format also made it easy to capture the valuable talking points. A very entertaining and educational “conversational textbook” that was difficult to put down, this book was worth adding to our reference shelf. Bet you’ll do the same!
Backstory:
Disneyland was inspired by Walt’s passion for nostalgia (think Main Street, Frontierland) anchored in his childhood. However, according to the stories, as a young boy, Walt’s father made him work in the harsh conditions of Kansas City blizzards and then deprived him of his earnings. Instead of being angry and having nothing to do with his roots, Walt was motivated to imagine big dreams for the future and recreate the memories of his past as he remembered them.
Challenge:
Creativity is not without its challenges. How to Be Like Walt is a detailed story of obstacles, lessons learned, and successful solutions. Stories of why fireflies were added to the Pirates of Caribbean. Stories of how Roy told Walt no more new features until finances improved and Walt proceeded to create three of Disneyland’s most popular rides—the Matterhorn, Monorail, and Thunderball Mountain. Walt also bucked the advice of many when he spent money adding parades and other park upgrades to keep existing customers rather than spending those dollars to generate new visitors. Cast members tell stories about the challenges of keeping up with Walt’s incessant attention to detail, such as a trash receptacle showing up the day after he finished a hot dog and there was no depository for the wrapping.
Solution Steps:
A total of 17 lessons are identified and discussed in 15 chapters. Each motivating theme features illustrations of successful accomplishments with productive implementation steps that are still applicable today. For example, lesson four is, “Unleash your imagination” with these “how-to” steps:
- draw on all your life experiences
- remove the limits from your imagination
- consider all possible solutions to every problem
- silence your inner critic
- be creative, be courageous
- work hard, and
- ask yourself, “What if—?”
Summary:
The book’s last story is about how, for three decades, Walt gave shares of Disney stock as bonuses to his cook and housekeeper, Thelma Howard, telling her to hold on to them because they would grow in value. Living a modest life with a disabled son, upon her death she left half of her belongings to her son and the other half to help poor and disabled children. She had no idea she’s died a millionaire worth $4.5 million. Author Pat Williams believes everyone can benefit from the gift of Walt’s legacy; a legacy more valuable than money can buy. Walt’s life was “endlessly instructive,” he says. “The riches of an incredible, adventure-filled life are within our grasp—if we will dare to be like Walt.”