0:00:01.000,0:00:03.643 Of all the characters[br]in all the Disney films 0:00:03.667,0:00:06.958 the one I love the most[br]is Jiminy Cricket from "Pinocchio." 0:00:07.708,0:00:09.768 My favorite scene in the movie 0:00:09.792,0:00:12.809 is when the blue fairy[br]is saying to Pinocchio, 0:00:12.833,0:00:15.476 "Always let your conscience[br]be your guide." 0:00:15.500,0:00:17.851 Pinocchio asks, "What are conscience?" 0:00:17.875,0:00:20.476 and Jiminy Cricket[br]is scandalized by the question. 0:00:20.500,0:00:21.809 "What are conscience! 0:00:21.833,0:00:23.309 What are conscience! 0:00:23.333,0:00:27.309 Conscience is that still, small voice[br]that people won't listen to. 0:00:27.333,0:00:29.875 That's just the trouble[br]with the world today." 0:00:30.708,0:00:34.143 I love the way Jiminy Cricket[br]is always there 0:00:34.167,0:00:37.226 with a nerdy, ethical thing 0:00:37.250,0:00:41.184 just as Pinocchio's coming up[br]with some kind of good plan. 0:00:41.208,0:00:44.143 I think of him as speaking[br]truth to puppet. 0:00:44.167,0:00:46.643 I always wondered what it was[br]about Jiminy Cricket 0:00:46.667,0:00:48.101 that made me love him so much 0:00:48.125,0:00:49.393 and one day it hit me. 0:00:49.417,0:00:51.583 It was because he sounds[br]like my grandfather. 0:00:52.667,0:00:55.809 My grandfather was[br]a very sweet and cuddly man, 0:00:55.833,0:00:58.292 and I loved him to the moon and back. 0:00:59.417,0:01:02.143 But I shared him with a big, wide world. 0:01:02.167,0:01:03.893 His name was Roy O. Disney, 0:01:03.917,0:01:06.518 and together with his younger[br]brother Walt Disney, 0:01:06.542,0:01:10.393 he came from a very humble[br]upbringing in Kansas 0:01:10.417,0:01:14.792 and started and ran one of the most[br]iconic businesses in the world. 0:01:15.833,0:01:18.726 Two things I remember the best[br]about going to Disneyland 0:01:18.750,0:01:20.101 with my grandfather. 0:01:20.125,0:01:23.559 The first thing was[br]he always gave me a stern warning 0:01:23.583,0:01:26.268 that if I ever sassed[br]anybody who worked there, 0:01:26.292,0:01:28.667 I was in deep doo-doo when we got home. 0:01:30.250,0:01:32.351 He said, "these people work really hard -- 0:01:32.375,0:01:33.768 harder than you can imagine, 0:01:33.792,0:01:35.792 and they deserve your respect." 0:01:36.750,0:01:40.809 The other is that he never[br]walked by a piece of garbage, 0:01:40.833,0:01:42.976 inside of Disneyland or anywhere else, 0:01:43.000,0:01:45.309 where he didn't bend over to pick it up. 0:01:45.333,0:01:48.708 He said, "no one's too good[br]to pick up a piece of garbage." 0:01:50.083,0:01:51.434 In Grandpa's day, 0:01:51.458,0:01:53.958 a job at Disneyland was not a gig. 0:01:54.917,0:01:57.184 A person could expect to own a home, 0:01:57.208,0:01:58.809 raise a family, 0:01:58.833,0:02:01.434 access decent health care, 0:02:01.458,0:02:05.184 retire in some security without worrying 0:02:05.208,0:02:08.184 on just what he earned there at the park. 0:02:08.208,0:02:10.559 Mind you, Grandpa fought the unions, 0:02:10.583,0:02:11.958 and he fought them hard. 0:02:12.583,0:02:14.559 He said he didn't like to be forced 0:02:14.583,0:02:17.143 to do something[br]he wanted to do voluntarily. 0:02:17.167,0:02:21.518 That was rank paternalism of course[br]and maybe even a tiny bit of BS. 0:02:21.542,0:02:23.125 He wasn't an angel, 0:02:23.917,0:02:27.059 and everyone wasn't well[br]and fairly treated across the company, 0:02:27.083,0:02:28.542 something that's well-known. 0:02:30.208,0:02:35.101 But I think in his core[br]he had a very deep commitment 0:02:35.125,0:02:39.542 to the idea that he had a moral obligation[br]to every human being that worked for him. 0:02:40.417,0:02:44.667 That actually wasn't such an uncommon[br]attitude for CEOs of the day. 0:02:45.542,0:02:49.059 But when my grandfather died in 1971, 0:02:49.083,0:02:51.518 a new mindset was beginning to take hold 0:02:51.542,0:02:55.125 of the American and eventually[br]the global imagination. 0:02:55.875,0:02:59.934 Jiminy Cricket got shown the door[br]by economist Milton Friedman, 0:02:59.958,0:03:01.226 among others, 0:03:01.250,0:03:04.250 who popularized the idea[br]of shareholder primacy. 0:03:05.167,0:03:10.333 Now, shareholder primacy is a pretty[br]reasonable idea when you think about it. 0:03:11.125,0:03:12.934 Shareholders own the company, 0:03:12.958,0:03:17.226 shareholders want profits and growth, 0:03:17.250,0:03:20.559 so therefore you prioritize[br]profits and growth. 0:03:20.583,0:03:22.434 Very sensible. 0:03:22.458,0:03:26.976 But unfortunately, shareholder primacy[br]was an idea that became a mindset 0:03:27.000,0:03:29.559 and then that mindset jumped the rails, 0:03:29.583,0:03:32.684 and it came to fundamentally[br]alter everything 0:03:32.708,0:03:35.184 about the way companies[br]and even governments 0:03:35.208,0:03:37.167 were led and managed. 0:03:38.333,0:03:41.726 Milton Friedman's pivotal op-ed[br]in the "New York Times" 0:03:41.750,0:03:47.559 was followed by decades[br]of concerted organizing and lobbying 0:03:47.583,0:03:49.518 by business-focused activists 0:03:49.542,0:03:54.434 along with a sustained assault[br]on every law and regulation 0:03:54.458,0:03:59.083 that had once held businesses'[br]worst impulses in check. 0:03:59.917,0:04:01.226 And soon enough, 0:04:01.250,0:04:04.518 this new mindset had taken hold[br]across every business school 0:04:04.542,0:04:06.042 and across every sector. 0:04:06.917,0:04:10.893 Profits were to be pursued[br]by any means necessary, 0:04:10.917,0:04:13.184 unions were kneecapped, 0:04:13.208,0:04:14.518 taxes were slashed, 0:04:14.542,0:04:15.851 and with the same machete, 0:04:15.875,0:04:17.976 so was the safety net. 0:04:18.000,0:04:20.268 I don't need to tell you[br]about the inequality 0:04:20.292,0:04:22.375 that's been the result of these shifts. 0:04:23.042,0:04:25.018 We all know the story well. 0:04:25.042,0:04:28.976 The bottom line is that everything[br]that turns a gig into a livelihood 0:04:29.000,0:04:32.018 was stripped away from an American worker. 0:04:32.042,0:04:33.351 Job security, 0:04:33.375,0:04:34.684 paid sick days, 0:04:34.708,0:04:36.018 vacation time -- 0:04:36.042,0:04:37.309 all of that went away 0:04:37.333,0:04:42.518 even as the wealthy saw their net worths[br]bloat to unprecedented, 0:04:42.542,0:04:45.393 and yes, unusable levels. 0:04:45.417,0:04:48.851 Although if you're Scrooge McDuck[br]you could change it all into gold coins 0:04:48.875,0:04:50.167 and backstroke through it. 0:04:51.125,0:04:53.625 So let me just address[br]the Dumbo in the room. 0:04:54.667,0:04:58.458 Yes, I am criticizing the company[br]that bears my family's name. 0:04:59.542,0:05:01.708 Yes, I think Disney can do better. 0:05:02.375,0:05:06.559 And I believe that many of the thousands[br]of magnificent people 0:05:06.583,0:05:08.809 who work at the Walt Disney Company 0:05:08.833,0:05:11.958 wish that it would do better[br]just as much as I do. 0:05:12.833,0:05:14.684 For almost a century, 0:05:14.708,0:05:16.809 Disney has turned a pretty profit 0:05:16.833,0:05:20.601 on the idea that families[br]are a kind of magic, 0:05:20.625,0:05:22.851 that love is important, 0:05:22.875,0:05:24.667 that imaginations matter. 0:05:25.208,0:05:27.393 That's why it turns[br]your stomach a little bit 0:05:27.417,0:05:30.934 when I tell you that Cinderella[br]might be sleeping in her car. 0:05:30.958,0:05:33.875 But let's be very clear:[br]this is not just about Disney. 0:05:35.167,0:05:38.268 This is structural and this is systemic. 0:05:38.292,0:05:41.851 No single CEO on his own is culpable 0:05:41.875,0:05:45.434 and no single company[br]has the wherewithal to buck this. 0:05:45.458,0:05:46.976 The analysts, the pundits, 0:05:47.000,0:05:48.309 the politicians, 0:05:48.333,0:05:51.143 the business school curricula[br]and the social norms 0:05:51.167,0:05:54.476 drive the shape[br]of the contemporary economy. 0:05:54.500,0:05:57.059 Disney is just doing[br]what everybody else does, 0:05:57.083,0:05:59.018 and they're not even the worst offender. 0:05:59.042,0:06:03.601 If I told you how bad it was for workers[br]at Amazon or McDonald's or Walmart, 0:06:03.625,0:06:07.143 or any one of a thousand other places[br]you've never heard of, 0:06:07.167,0:06:11.726 it's not going to hit you as viscerally[br]as if I tell you that 73 percent, 0:06:11.750,0:06:15.393 or three out of four of the people[br]who smile when you walk in, 0:06:15.417,0:06:18.059 who help you comfort that crying baby, 0:06:18.083,0:06:21.684 who maybe help you have the best[br]vacation you ever have, 0:06:21.708,0:06:24.167 can't consistently put food on the table. 0:06:25.167,0:06:27.458 It's supposed to be[br]the happiest place on earth. 0:06:28.583,0:06:31.851 And the people who work there[br]take incredible pride 0:06:31.875,0:06:34.559 that they pursue a higher purpose. 0:06:34.583,0:06:35.851 It's a higher purpose 0:06:35.875,0:06:39.851 that both my grandfather[br]and great-uncle very intentionally built 0:06:39.875,0:06:44.333 when they made it a place that honors[br]an interaction over a transaction. 0:06:45.625,0:06:48.601 Now, I know that a word like magic[br]makes you wonder 0:06:48.625,0:06:50.500 if I've taken leave of my senses. 0:06:51.417,0:06:55.268 I know it's hard to imagine[br]that something as ephemeral as love 0:06:55.292,0:06:58.351 can support a brand as big as Disney, 0:06:58.375,0:07:00.184 and I know that it's hard to imagine 0:07:00.208,0:07:04.851 that things as unquantifiable[br]as moral obligations 0:07:04.875,0:07:06.518 should have any call on us 0:07:06.542,0:07:09.917 when we seek to deliver[br]value to our investors. 0:07:10.958,0:07:14.875 But accounting and finance[br]don't run the world. 0:07:15.750,0:07:17.226 Beliefs, 0:07:17.250,0:07:18.601 mindsets -- 0:07:18.625,0:07:21.143 those are what drive business ethics. 0:07:21.167,0:07:24.559 And if we're going to change[br]those mindsets and belief systems, 0:07:24.583,0:07:27.768 we're going to have to use the most[br]Disney superpower out there. 0:07:27.792,0:07:30.476 We're going to have to use[br]our imaginations. 0:07:30.500,0:07:33.750 You're going to have to invite[br]Jiminy Cricket back to the party. 0:07:35.125,0:07:38.375 Now, Jiminy Cricket might start[br]with some low-hanging fruit, 0:07:39.333,0:07:41.601 like, greed is not good, 0:07:41.625,0:07:45.601 like the world is not divided[br]into makers and takers, 0:07:45.625,0:07:47.226 and that nobody ever, 0:07:47.250,0:07:48.518 without any help, 0:07:48.542,0:07:50.809 pulled themselves up[br]by their own bootstraps -- 0:07:50.833,0:07:53.958 if you know anything about physics[br]you'll understand why that is. 0:07:55.208,0:07:59.018 Jiminy might remind us that every[br]single person who works for us, 0:07:59.042,0:08:00.851 without exception, 0:08:00.875,0:08:02.851 whether they fill out the spreadsheets 0:08:02.875,0:08:04.601 or change the bedsheets, 0:08:04.625,0:08:08.601 deserves the respect[br]and dignity of living wage. 0:08:08.625,0:08:10.458 It's as simple as that. 0:08:10.917,0:08:14.559 And Jiminy might wonder[br]how managers and employees 0:08:14.583,0:08:19.184 could possibly have any kind[br]of empathy for each other 0:08:19.208,0:08:22.851 when their workplaces[br]have become so segregated 0:08:22.875,0:08:25.143 that it seems normal and natural 0:08:25.167,0:08:28.809 that an executive needs[br]an especially swanky place to park 0:08:28.833,0:08:30.893 or eat or go to the bathroom 0:08:30.917,0:08:35.059 or that an executive is too good[br]to pick up a piece of garbage. 0:08:35.083,0:08:40.250 We are, after all, just the one species[br]living together on just the one planet. 0:08:41.292,0:08:45.684 Jiminy might ask us[br]to question some of our dogma. 0:08:45.708,0:08:50.518 Does a CEO really need to be paid[br]as much or more than every other CEO 0:08:50.542,0:08:52.976 or is that just creating[br]a competitive dynamic 0:08:53.000,0:08:55.250 that's driving numbers[br]into the stratosphere? 0:08:56.208,0:09:00.351 He might wonder if boards really do know[br]all that they really need to know 0:09:00.375,0:09:03.542 when they don't have frontline workers[br]ever at their meetings. 0:09:04.708,0:09:07.833 He might ask if there's such a thing[br]as too much money. 0:09:08.750,0:09:12.226 Or he might wonder[br]if maybe we can make common cause 0:09:12.250,0:09:14.268 with consumers, with workers, 0:09:14.292,0:09:16.184 with companies, with communities, 0:09:16.208,0:09:18.018 for all of us to come together 0:09:18.042,0:09:21.893 to redefine this incredibly narrow idea 0:09:21.917,0:09:24.958 of what the purpose[br]of a company really is. 0:09:26.458,0:09:31.351 Jiminy would want us to remember[br]that nobody works in a vacuum, 0:09:31.375,0:09:33.768 that the men and women who run companies 0:09:33.792,0:09:38.184 actively cocreate the reality[br]we all have to share. 0:09:38.208,0:09:40.393 And just like with global warming, 0:09:40.417,0:09:44.393 we are, each of us, responsible[br]for the collective consequences 0:09:44.417,0:09:47.125 of our individual decisions and actions. 0:09:48.417,0:09:51.768 I believe that the most profitable[br]business ecosystem 0:09:51.792,0:09:53.143 in the history of the world 0:09:53.167,0:09:54.434 can do better. 0:09:54.458,0:09:58.226 I believe we can take[br]just a little bit off of the upside, 0:09:58.250,0:10:02.601 take a tiny bit of pressure off[br]the speed at which things are happening. 0:10:02.625,0:10:05.518 I believe that everything[br]we lose in the short-term 0:10:05.542,0:10:07.351 will more than make up for itself 0:10:07.375,0:10:13.000 in an expanded landscape of moral,[br]spiritual and financial prosperity. 0:10:13.875,0:10:16.143 I know what the cynics say, and it's true: 0:10:16.167,0:10:18.184 you can't eat your principles. 0:10:18.208,0:10:20.726 But you can't breathe[br]a basis point either, 0:10:20.750,0:10:22.208 and neither can your children. 0:10:23.125,0:10:26.726 I know I idolized my grandfather[br]probably too much. 0:10:26.750,0:10:28.934 He worked in very different times 0:10:28.958,0:10:31.309 and those are times[br]none of us want to go back to 0:10:31.333,0:10:33.684 for all kinds of good reasons. 0:10:33.708,0:10:36.934 I know there are a lot of CEOs today[br]who are just as well-meaning 0:10:36.958,0:10:39.726 and just as decent as my grandfather was, 0:10:39.750,0:10:42.893 but they're working at a time[br]with very different expectations 0:10:42.917,0:10:45.250 and much more cutthroat context. 0:10:45.958,0:10:47.643 But here's the good news. 0:10:47.667,0:10:51.309 Expectations and contexts are made 0:10:51.333,0:10:53.559 and they can be unmade, too. 0:10:53.583,0:10:56.559 There is so much to learn[br]from the simple integrity 0:10:56.583,0:10:59.792 of how my grandfather[br]understood his job as CEO. 0:11:00.625,0:11:03.976 Behind every theme park[br]and every stuffed animal, 0:11:04.000,0:11:06.958 a handful of principles[br]governed everything. 0:11:07.750,0:11:11.917 Every single person[br]deserves respect and dignity. 0:11:13.042,0:11:16.768 No one is too good[br]to pick up a piece of garbage, 0:11:16.792,0:11:19.958 and always let conscience be your guide. 0:11:20.792,0:11:24.518 We could all do worse[br]than listen to Jiminy Cricket. 0:11:24.542,0:11:25.792 Thank you.