Tomorrow always comes

The Edge of Tomorrow is a sumptuous film. Purists might disagree, but this movie is to Groundhog Day what Zathura was to Jumanji. But please don't let this comparison put you off: the Edge of Tomorrow is a time travelling movie that works (and many don't). It has a strong narrative coherence which keeps you guessing until the end.

Performances by all the actors, major and minor, are well executed which suggests excellent direction, good casting and to tight editing. The special effects are seamless, naturally. The hand held camera style in the battle scenes disorientates and frustrates me: I end up longing for a long shot. For SciFi addicts like me, this is a must see movie!

All leaders are constantly challenged to decide what action will lead to the best possible result. Most leaders do not have the luxury afforded to Tom Cruise or Bill Murray to test out decisions again and again until the right one is found. (Although both films ultimately break the rule. I won't say how Tom's character does it for obvious reasons. But Bill's character, in the end, gives up trying and Zen affords him and us the satisfactory conclusion to Groundhog Day...)

Although: do leaders, in fact, have that luxury? There is a whole array of methods in manufacturing that are known as the 'Design of Experiments' and Genichi Taguchi was one of its well known doyens. The essence is simple: if you want to improve what you do - vary the method systematically, and apply statistics to work out which changes help and which do not.

When was the last time you carried out a controlled experiment at work?

_____________

This is the thirty third of my new series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I am doing this. Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.