Friday, February 11, 2011
Walt Disney’s Production Diagram
Chart Porn: "A testament to what a genius Walt Disney was, his 1943 production process diagram is a Harvard MBA’s wet dream that beautifully lays out the flow and departments.
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7 comments:
Wow! Im not sure if I find it more innovative or funny. I think that this chart worked great for the work that they do and obviously it has been very effective. I dont know if the chart will change drastically now that we are in a more idea based than manufacturing based economy. In any other company situation I would say that it would, but for Disney even with the outsourcing and virtual employees I think if anything the chart will just get bigger. The reason why I think this is because Disney, as evidence by the chart, is all about the story. It is the second most largest item on that chart and everyone else is there to make it happen. In the more hierarchical type of charts there is never any mention of a 'production' its all who reports to who. Since the obvious goal of this chart is to make the story no matter how many people change or the technology changes if Disney's mail goal is to still get the story to the audience the chart will simply grow. My real question lies in why is there a 'morgue' and 'army/navy coordinator' on the management side? Im actually very curious as to what they would do for the story.
This chart reminds me of the project we had in Basic PTM where we tried to show relations and communication between individuals working on a single production. You can see the collaboration and ingenuity of Disney through this chart. To work on an amazing piece you need to be open and have no limits to who you work with. A hierarchy isn't always the best as we have all learned. There are definite limits placed by this chart and thats what makes a great working environment to me.
Like AJ I am immediately reminded of our Basic PTM regional theatre communication diagram - these folks have chosen to do it by department, without showing individuals. I like the information that it contains, to the extent that it provides any insight into Disney's process. I think that some things, e.g., people within departments, could be shown with more specificity; things like printing/switchboard perhaps don't deserve their own spaces, in my opinion.
I think that this chart is great- it makes sense to me that communication on this broad level is shown between departments. We all know that each department has its own structure, and that structure determines how information flows through a single department. What's important is the way that Disney shows the flow of information between all of the various departments. This shows that the nature of any collaborative production (like a film, live show, etc.) is essentially the same...the flow of information from each department to each other department is crucial. I would love to learn more about the way the film process differs from the live production process. I'm also intrigued, like Sonia, as to why there are some rather odd positions on this chart...either way, it's really cool!
this is a very interesting look at what type of production platform Walt was looking at and developed fairly successfully.it is also a good idea at how intelligent the man was and how important a cornerstone he was in the further development of the entertainment industry. having recently done a class assignment similar to this in a theatrical model it is interesting to see how much similarities their are between both models . this model of coarse being on a larger scale. disney truly was a revolutionary man in the entertainment industry and the inner workings of his entire system was as complex and as fascinating as the man himself.
The comparison of these two charts is very interesting. Like AJ and Daniel said, this article reminds me of the PTM assignment in which we had to create two different charts, similar to these two. Like Sonia pointed out, it is interesting to consider if the chart should go in this direction if we are entering a more idea based economy rather than a manufacturing based economy. This truly is the difference between the business of a creative industry and the business of an economical one, and it is difficult to see whether or not one is superior to the other. It is great to see that the Disney chart relies on things outside of its employees, such as the story, and that everyone has such an integral part in the process.
What an interesting way to lay out a diagram! I can't say that I have ever seen anything this complex attempted, but I think Walt really did succeed here.
I can say from experience that making any sort of flow chart, hierarchy diagram is actually really difficult, so the fact that Mr. Disney was able to lay out the groundwork for such a complex company in such a simple way is very impressive.
I especially like the note at the bottom of the diagram that says: "This Chart Designates Operations and Not Authorities." Did Walt ever attempt an actual hierarchical/authoritative diagram, and if so, was it more or less complicated than this production diagram? This guy seemed to really know what he was doing--in all aspects of his work.
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