Move along there

I am not sure why, but I think Ride Along 2 could have been so much funnier... The two lead characters just seemed to be holding back. Obviously I am no comedy film writer, so I cannot say how this could have been done... (perhaps aiming for a 12A certificate was part of it). But I know there was sufficient twinkle in the eyes of all the actors that made me feel that they had more fun off camera than on it.

And the story was just a tad too predictable. It really did not have to be: and so it felt like lazy scriptwriting and production. The actors do a fine job but the material they had to work with could have been much better. Maybe wait until the DVD comes out...

Being predictable is an interesting challenge for leaders. Should leaders be consistent, a known quantity? There is a safety and solidity in predictability. It creates a stable environment and everyone knows where they stand, especially in relation to the leader. Such a place is a firm base for high performance...

But should a leader want this level of comfort. Shouldn't leaders shake things up and be... unpredictable? If the measure of a leader is anything, it is the degree to which she/he creates a dynamic environment where innovation and energy crackle and pulsate.

How predictable are you: should you be more or less so? 

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Blog 151: in my 2014/15/16 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 and 2015). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.

What are your principles?

Trumbo is a stonking good movie, especially for progressive film buffs like me who do believe, (ironically just like the UnAmerican Activities Committee), that films can be real agents of positive change in the world. It would be interesting to list all the films that have bolstered or even created social movements. Spartacus, one of Trumbo's scripts, may well be one of them.

The acting is tight and up close. The story is very well told and richly brings this part of American history to life. Again I would praise the costumes and sets: so well done, so evocative of the period. It is both a funny and sad film that will make you think, lots! Go see this as soon as you can.

Films like Trumbo raise the question: how far would you go to assert or defend your principles? Would you go to jail for them...? Would you be prepared to die for them...? Most of us never have to make choices of that scale, thankfully. But we do have to 'stick to' our principles, do we not? Otherwise what sort of principles are they?

Every leader needs a set of principles. But uncovering these is not always straightforward: we live them rather than list them. But I think, as this film shows, we have to know consciously what our principles are so that we know when we will need to assert or defend them.

What are your leadership principles?

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Blog 150: in my 2014/15/16 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 and 2015). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.

33 amazing stories

The 33 is an achingly good film which captures the heart of the story of the 33 miners who trapped in a Chilean mine a few years ago. These were brave men who worked together to survive and keep each other alive under almost impossible circumstances.

The story telling is clever in the way it manages to connect the lives of those on top of the earth and those trapped below, particularly with one enchanting scene. I suspect the real circumstances were far more disordered and dishevelled than the film portrays but the love, urgency and desperation is well directed and acted onto the screen. This is a compelling and hugely moving film, and one to see.

This is a story of teamwork both above and below ground. The end of the story would not have happened without each person understanding what everyone collectively and separately had to contribute, and honouring everyone else in the process. It is rare to see such teamwork.

Perhaps it was helped by a there being a very clear objective: get all the miners out alive. This focus made sure than everyone knew what part theirs was to play. The circumstances dictated this. In less challenging situations, it falls to the leader to ensure that there is sufficient focus and direction. All too often teams fall apart over a lack of such direction.

How good are you are establishing direction?

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Blog 149: in my 2014/15/16 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 and 2015). Please subscribe to this blog if you want to read more. Thanks. Click the label 'film' to see all the others.

Cracking Questions: business transformation source code

Every now and then a book comes along that that looks set to transform how business is done in the world. "Cracking Questions" is one such book.

Ludicrous claim or just possibly true? Only you, the reader, can answer that question.

And unlike possibly any business book before, this one comes with  a money back guarantee. So without risk to your bank balance, you can find out whether "Cracking Questions" will change the way you do business for the better, forever (or not).

This book rests on the simple idea: everyone can be an innovator. At the heart of this book are 24 questions which can help anyone discover new ways of getting more with less.

You just have to ask the questions.

Moreover, you won't need teams of besuited consultants to show you how to do this. Nor will you need to consume reams of flip chart paper mapping processes or imagineering customer journeys.

And it's not a long book: a bath time read if you wish (maybe with a top up 2/3 way through).

Is this a book that you can afford not to read?

Might "Cracking Questions" be just the book you have been searching for: one that will help you gain that productivity edge?

"Cracking Questions" is available from all the usual online book stores - publication date: 21 Feb 2016 (with a Kindle ebook already published)

• Amazon UK
• Waterstones UK
• Amazon USA
• Barnes & Noble USA

Read here why I wrote Cracking Questions.

And here is the book blurb:

Inside this book are some cracking questions designed to help you crack open and liberate the creative and ingenious power within yourself and your organisation. These questions will stimulate your thinking about how to do business in entirely different ways. And this could well be the first book on business transformation and leadership that you will not only want to, but will indeed read, from cover to cover. Does that interest you? Have you have been searching for a book that will help you gain the performance edge that you have been seeking? Could this be that book? Have you ever had that nagging feeling that there must be better ways to get more results: ways of really achieving more with less? But you don't quite know how or where to start? This book offers you a straightforward and practical approach to improving productivity. Critically this book is about doing it yourself, with your colleagues: rather than hiring small armies of transformation consultants to fill forests of flip chart paper with process maps. This book comes with a money back guarantee. You have nothing to lose and so much to gain by purchasing this book. What do you want to do with this opportunity?

Publisher: The Choir Press
ISBN: 9781910864319