Earlier this month, BBC ran an article about Italian consultants who urge management to watch more movies to learn the lessons of getting ahead instead of reading business books. I like this recommendation because:
1) I usually read about 10-25% of most of the business books on my shelf
2) Movies engage me in a different way than business books do, at least audio-visually
3) I learn a great deal about both business and life from various movies
In the past – and without knowledge of such recommendation – I have written various articles about movies that have profoundly touched me or given me perspective. Two of those articles were published on this blog: All Above Eve, a multi-part series of which I had explored two business-related themes, and Broken Flowers and Ikiru, in which I found powerful life lessons.
I vaguely remembered one of the consultants’ recommendations, Stephen Spielberg’s The Terminal, because I watched it many years ago. However, I was surprised that the consultants hailed Pedro Almodvar’s film Volver as an example of “an inventive way to succeed”.
I enjoyed Volver, and won’t dispute the protagonist’s powerful personal story in the film. Her success in the restaurant business does showcase creativity. I haven’t read the consultants’ book, so my criticisms about choosing this film as an example for management may have been addressed, mainly: The protagonist did not own the restaurant, and lied to the real owner of the restaurant so that she may take advantage of an opportunity.
I sincerely hope the consultants’ choice of this movie as good lesson for management does focus on the fact that deception was involved, and whether such deception was justified even with the success of the protagonist’s restaurant venture. Is it “right” in the first place to lie to a friend who entrusted his business to you, and to then use his establishment to take advantage of a business opportunity that financially benefits you? Even if you split the profits with this friend, is that act of deception “right”?
If the consultants viewed this movie as a positive example for management solely by the protagonist’s success with the restaurant business opportunity, to me this is further encouraging an “end justifies the means” message to professionals. The “end justifies the means” mindset is a reason why backstabbing and unethical business conduct run rampant in today’s workplace: “As long as I’m successful and get what I want, why should I care about how my actions affect other people? People will only look at my achievements and success.”
Others may be concerned about the morality of covering up the murder of her licentious husband in the freezer of the restaurant, or how the protagonist later recruited one of her friends to help bury the body in the woods. Even if I ascribe these as part of the protagonist’s personal story, and therefore more along the lines of her “personal choices” rather than “business choices”, I don’t believe we can separate the two.
I still believe that how we conduct ourselves in our personal lives is a reflection of how we are likely to conduct ourselves professionally – and vice versa.
Source: BBC’s “Bosses urged to watch more movies“.
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