In Le Mans 66 (also known as Ford v Ferrari), Henry Ford II arrives at his factory and shuts down the production line to address his workers. He tells them how his grandfather had an idea walking home from a shift at Edison Illumination. It was an idea, he says,… Read More »How Le Mans 66 illustrates psychological safety at work
In Dead Poets Society, unconventional teacher John Keating, played by the late, great Robin Williams, employs a variety of techniques to stimulate his students into ‘thinking differently’. He has them stand on their desks to view the world from a different perspective. He encourages them to walk randomly around the… Read More »Stimulate your creativity with Dead Poets Society
In my last blog post, I looked at how The King’s Speech could help leaders conquer a common fear: presentations and public speaking. But this isn’t just a film about public speaking: there are many other valid lessons for leaders too. It’s still not uncommon for people to be promoted into… Read More »More lessons from The King’s Speech: humility and trust
Organisations with a strong sense of tradition and history can sometimes close the door to new approaches that might yield better results. In Moneyball, Oakland Athletics General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) shakes up one such establishment: professional baseball. Dispensing with traditional player scouting techniques, Beane uses statistical measurement of… Read More »Three major league leadership lessons from Moneyball
Creativity is usually considered a prized asset. But according to recent research reported on Lifehacker.com, many of us tend to reject creative ideas out of hand. The research showed the novelty of new ideas can make people feel uncomfortable, leading them to reject them in favour of the tried and tested. This… Read More »Why we reject creative ideas: lessons from A Bug’s Life