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A quick summary: the employees at a university had to attend seminars put on by the Disney Institute to try to instill in them the 'values' that the university

A quick summary: the employees at a university had to attend seminars put on by the Disney Institute to try to instill in them the 'values' that the university should adopt. I vaguely remember the corporate culture workshops we had to attend at a couple previous employers, and yeah, it's annoying and boring, but someone had to justify spending X million dollars on a new slogan and spiffy "these five words summarize who we are and what we do for the world". Apparently that wasn't (isn't?) the norm in university settings?

acollins1331 7y ago
They call those "general electives" and require you take like 9.
ollien 7y ago
My university has latched onto "innovation," and finds the need to tack it onto everything. Sometimes I wonder whose reputation is on the line for that one piece of marketing.
- floren 7y ago
  My alma mater, RIT, was particularly bad about "innovation". They built an "Innovation Center" but it was shaped like a toilet so we just called it "the Toilet Bowl"... people can smell bullshit, and they react accordingly.
sharkmerry 7y ago
It is the norm, but the author is questioning the effectiveness. Also, your summary hit the nail well but missed, >A select group of faculty and staff, those identified as opinion leaders, are being offered all-expenses paid trips to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando “to gain first-hand insight into Disney’s approach to culture.” Which makes the situation more insidious.
- geerlingguy 7y ago
  Yeah, definitely not effective in the least. The only thing I remember from those trainings was it was nice to not have to be on-call (at all, another team took over) for a full day, and we got donuts and tasty boxed lunches, so I guess that was nice. But I can't remember any of the content of the seminars, because I'm not sure I was fully conscious through them.

acollins1331 7y ago

They call those "general electives" and require you take like 9.

ollien 7y ago

My university has latched onto "innovation," and finds the need to tack it onto everything. Sometimes I wonder whose reputation is on the line for that one piece of marketing.

floren 7y ago
My alma mater, RIT, was particularly bad about "innovation". They built an "Innovation Center" but it was shaped like a toilet so we just called it "the Toilet Bowl"... people can smell bullshit, and they react accordingly.

sharkmerry 7y ago

It is the norm, but the author is questioning the effectiveness. Also, your summary hit the nail well but missed, >A select group of faculty and staff, those identified as opinion leaders, are being offered all-expenses paid trips to the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando “to gain first-hand insight into Disney’s approach to culture.” Which makes the situation more insidious.

geerlingguy 7y ago
Yeah, definitely not effective in the least. The only thing I remember from those trainings was it was nice to not have to be on-call (at all, another team took over) for a full day, and we got donuts and tasty boxed lunches, so I guess that was nice. But I can't remember any of the content of the seminars, because I'm not sure I was fully conscious through them.