Tuesday 22 September 2015

A walk on the gentle side

A Walk in the Woods is a film that will amuse, delight & charm you... but it won't stretch you. This is more of an amble than a hike. Robert Redford twinkles (a little) but is out acted by Nick Nolte who lurches across the screen as his crabby counterfoil.

The glowing twinkles come from Mary Steenburgen who lights up a section of the film. Emma Thompson reprises her patient long suffering wife from Love Actually. It is a Sunday afternoon movie but with some glorious shots of US landscapes.


Some of the narrative edge comes from trying to predict when (or if) they will abandon to 2000+ mile Appalachian trail. At what point will they conclude they have "done it"?

Like leadership, knowing when to quit and when to persist is a critical skill, and one that is closely observed by those working with the leader. Can this timing be learnt? I think it can: through careful analysis of achievements against plans, listening to your own intuitions & emotions and watching the reactions of others.

When did you last quit? Why?

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This is Blog 113 in my 2014/2015 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I began doing this (with an update at the end of 2014). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.

Thursday 17 September 2015

To die will be an awfully big adventure

Me, Earl & the Dying Girl is a quirky movie that will have a special delight for all movie buffs as it centres on the hero of the story making a film for a young cancer sufferer. High school student Greg makes parodies of films with his 'co-worker' (not friend) Earl. I am envious of Greg & Earl: if I were a student again, would probably be making movies like them.

There are so many 'teen on a journey to discovery' movies about these days and it would be easy to dismiss this as yet another one. What marks this one out is the way the narrative plays with the audience and takes a jagged line towards its poignant and uplifting conclusion. And the acting is about as naturalistic as you can get. This is a movie to see.


Whilst at university, I once spent several lunchtimes arguing with a couple of cybernetics students about whether there would ever be artificial intelligence that was superior to humans. I think I won the debate by stating that our mortality will always give us the edge. (Perhaps one of them then went off to write the Terminator series of films... or was it the Matrix?!)  

This film is about what happens to your thoughts when you are faced with your own death or indeed the death of someone that you get to know very well. Interesting questions get asked and answered. One of the critical features of leadership is having the capacity to talk about mortality as part of the life of an organisation. Leaders know that sometimes organisations can die. And the threat of this can engineer the kinds of ingenuity and creativity that a company needs to survive in a competitive market place. The leadership judgement comes in how far you push this: go too far and people will fearfully & hopelessly give up. Get it right and people will be inspired to find clever ways to improve.

How far do you push it?

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This is Blog 112 in my 2014/2015 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I began doing this (with an update at the end of 2014). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.

Tuesday 8 September 2015

Solid cardboard!

I have been eagerly anticipating Paper Towns ever since I heard news of its production, (having read the book last summer). Indeed, I even paid to go and see it as I was nowhere near a Cineworld cinema showing it at the time! I was not disappointed: this film is has stayed true to the book and evokes a rite of passage urgency rarely seen. Acting is top notch and in general the whole film is just good fun.

But as with all good movies, there are deeper and more reflective themes too. Having been a teenager once (♬ a long, long time ago, I can still remember... ♬) I can recall some of those questions, feelings and thoughts. I can remember feeling as if I was leaning at 45° over cliff just waiting to launch myself on the adult world. This film will remind you of what that is/was like. Go see it!


I think the leadership theme from this movie for me is that it is OK to go away... (and maybe even do it in a mysterious and dramatic way too!). Sometimes leaders think that they have to be there all the time, practising their leadership, being on show, being present...

But that doesn't always have to be the case. It is important for leaders to take time out, sometimes a lot of time out to recharge batteries, think about strategy, direction and indeed, leadership itself. And guess what, by being absent, leaders create the space for others to emerge as leaders. So when (or even if) the leader returns, she/he returns to a context in which there is more leadership (see the previous post).

When are you going away next?

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This is the Blog 111 in my 2014/2015 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I began doing this (with an update at the end of 2014). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.









Monday 7 September 2015

Back of the class

I wanted to enjoy Bad Education as I liked the concept, hailing as it does from a long tradition of school class based (in both senses) comedy, beginning (for me) with Please Sir. But it just wasn't that funny. True, there are a few laugh out loud moments but these are far and few between (and mostly appeared in the trailer). The film starts with some awkward homage to ET that is not so much offensive and ridiculously over contrived...

Moreover, the depiction of Cornish people is not much short of racism. Maybe I am in the wrong demographic to truly appreciate this film, but I did not hear much laughter from the those who might be, sitting near me in the cinema. Puerile comedy can be funny, but this is not a great example of it.


Is Jack Whitehall the leader? Or do other members of his class occupy that role? Does there always have to be just the one leader? Or can leadership be distributed amongst several people, with individuals taking leadership in different areas?

What role does a leader have in ensuring that leadership is distributed? I think one of the key elements of a effective leader is not holding on to all the leadership but being prepared to coach others / allow others / seek others to share the leadership.

How good are you at sharing?

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This is the Blog 110 in my 2014/2015 series of blogs about leadership ideas to be found in the movies of our time. You can read here as why I began doing this (with an update at the end of 2014). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.