Ethan Hunt is at his best again. Jumping off of cliffs, riding his bikes, shooting the bad guys and saving the world. Yesterday, I went and watched the latest edition: Mission Impossible – Fallout and thoroughly loved it.
Today over coffee, I was talking to one of my friend about the movie and while thinking about it, I realised a few things, nothing world shattering but still interesting for me. So, I thought, I will share it here on my blog.
What does this movie franchise or for that matter, any successful movie franchise has in common:
Lessons I learnt from the movie:
Predictablity:
These films are made using a specific formula. The story is extremely predictable. For example, in the Mission Impossible series, the movie will start with an impossible situation, which Ethan and team will bring under control. Then something will change putting them and the entire world in danger. Ethan and his team will together save the world just at the brink of time. In the middle there will be a few chase sequences, a few emotional scenes and a betrayal or two imbibed in the plot. Every one of the Mission Impossible stories have exactly the same elements.
And the audience goes to watch the movie expecting exactly the same sequence of events. What changes is the setting and the scale of the execution or production, in this case. It is this predictability that is what is most attractive of these franchisees.
Variability within the Predictability:
What successful franchisees do really well is they are able to add some surprises and variability within the construct of the story framework, enough to keep people engaged and not get bored, while at the same time not deviating too much from the original framework.
This satisfies our need for variety, surprise and at the same time the need for stability and provide a known environment.
Importance of the One vs Collective
I liked the fact that the movie shows Ethan Hunt placing as much importance to individual life as much the countless lives. Some times, we forget that each individual is as important, if not more so than the collective. Sometimes, we forget this when we start looking at spreadsheets and forget that the numbers in these spreadsheets are all individuals and each individual is as important as the collective. We can not choose between one and the other. It does not end up being a wise choice.
Trust is the secret recipe
One of the turning points in the movie is when Ethan Hunt uses his boss and Benji (team mate) to trap Walker (the villain) into telling the truth and admitting whose side he really is on. This entire thing can only work if Hunly (Ethan’s boss) & Benji have complete trust on Ethan and his plan, despite mounting evidence suggesting that he shouldn’t be trusting Ethan at all. This trust is earned by Ethan because of his choices he has made in the past.
There is another version of trust that exists between Sloan and Walker. Walker is able to deceive Sloan (his boss) at every turn. I think the lack of trust started with Sloan when she explicitly asks Walker to deceive on his team (Ethan) during the mission if needed. So, no surprises when we come to know that he has been deceiving her all the time.
Never Lose Hope:
One thing that every Mission Impossible movie has in common is that it puts Ethan and his team on an almost impossible mission and one that they eventually pull out. One of the reason they do so, seems to be that they never lose hope. Not till the very last second.
Hope I think is one of the strongest feelings that we can cultivate among ourselves and our teams. When we start losing hope, is when we start losing.
Team Work:
If there is one thing that defines the movie franchise, it must be team work. It is clear right from the first scene of the movie, that Ethan, by himself will never be able to accomplish what is expected. He will always need a team, a team that he can trust and who can trust him back.
There is no lone hero, saving the world. Same is the case in the world of business, in particular, and in life, in general. There are no lone heroes who will save the world. It takes a team to accomplish anything worth accomplishing.
In Conclusion:
There is life lessons all around us – in the movies we watch, in the interactions we have with people around us, in the TV or web series we watch, the books (fiction, non-fiction) or on social media. If we want to continuously, there are opportunities all around us. All we need to do is to look for them, just like I did.
PS: You can buy my latest book – Thrive: Mindsets & Skillsets needed to succeed in a world dominated by smart machines & intelligent algorithms
