I had a great communications team at Disneyland (Kristin and Jay, along with others). We once put a speech together that was organized like chapters in a book. Appropriate for this story was the chapter titled “If their heads are so big, why are their ears so small.” We displayed a picture of the head of a hippo. It addressed the value of listening intently and having the courage to change your perspective if you received new or better information. I had the privilege of working with the management team that ran Knott’s Berry Farm. The Knott’s family had sold the park to Cedar Fair in 1997. By 2011 attendance and profitability had declined for a number of reasons – some obvious, others less so. I seriously wondered if we needed to move away from the park’s legacy and rebrand it, even change its name. At the same time, footers were already poured for a new coaster and millions of dollars were committed to the design and the steel as we sought a greater reputation for thrill rides.Fortunately, our chief marketing officer at the time (Kelley) was very talented and never shied away from pushing back against my opinions. Kelley conducted the classic focus group research and in one particular session she wasn’t getting much useful feedback, until she shocked the group by saying we were considering closing Knott’s (not true). Then it got very emotional. People explained how they grew up with “the farm.” And, how “the farm” held such great memories for them. How we didn’t understand the history of “the farm,” and so on. None of it was about how fast a coaster went.Kelley and her team (Kevin, Lee and many others) concluded that we had it backwards. Instead of running from the Knott’s legacy we needed to lean into it heavily. Coaster cancelled, classic attractions refurbished, a major makeover for the Chicken Dinner Restaurant, Boysenberry Festival, Ghost Town Alive introduced, and of course a bigger investment in Knott’s Scary Farm. I remember a great TV commercial the team developed that treated the rides like crops on a farm. Also, we brought back a great leader (Raffi) to implement the plans. Today Knott’s is one of the most successful parks in the Cedar Fair portfolio, despite operating in a highly competitive market. I want to give credit where credit is due. This wasn’t my idea, but I will take credit for being willing to listen. My challenge to leaders is to always ask themselves, what did they learn from their team today?
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