---
title: "Disrupting your own working business"
description: "The steps Iger took in 2017 to push Disney into direct-to-consumer streaming."
canonical: https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-ride-of-a-lifetime/disrupting-your-own-working-business/
updated: 2026-11-03
---

# Disrupting your own working business

> The steps Iger took in 2017 to push Disney into direct-to-consumer streaming.

Robert Iger's framework, from The Ride of a Lifetime, pp. 122 to 222.

Framework 6 of 7 from [The Ride of a Lifetime](https://tomsharman.com/bookshelf/the-ride-of-a-lifetime/index.md) by Robert Iger. Category: Content and packaging.

## The steps

1. **Say it publicly with conviction.** He called this 'management by press release', where candour outside the company motivates people inside.
2. **Buy the technology.** Take control of BAMTech instead of spending five years building a platform.
3. **Run technology and content in parallel.** Build the apps while a content team develops originals.
4. **Ask existing studios to do the work.** No separate Disney+ studio; executives were told to pay attention to the new thing.
5. **Redesign incentives.** Stock grants vesting on Iger's own assessment of how well executives worked together.
6. **Be present for your people.** Hold town halls and return calls and emails in a timely way.

## Where it comes from

From chapter: Part Two: Leading, pp. 122–222

## The animation

24 seconds, 4:5, no sound.

- MP4: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-ride-of-a-lifetime/disrupting-your-own-working-business.mp4
- MP4, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-ride-of-a-lifetime/disrupting-your-own-working-business-dark.mp4
- Still: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-ride-of-a-lifetime/disrupting-your-own-working-business.png
- Still, dark: https://tomsharman-downloads-006143767029.s3.eu-north-1.amazonaws.com/downloads/bookshelf/the-ride-of-a-lifetime/disrupting-your-own-working-business-dark.png