Management lessons from Madagascar 3

Yesterday, I watched the third part of the animated film franchise Madagascar, and it was clean wholesome 3D entertainment totally worth the price of admission. Just having finished 2yrs in bschool at IIM Ahmedabad, my mind was still on MBA mode in the background, trying to dissect and glean management lessons from all and sundry! I did not watch the first two parts of the movie but that did not detract from my understanding. A brief review of the film as on the blog http://vagabondmind.blogspot.in/2012/06/madagascar-3-europes-most-wanted-review.html states Our famous quartet(of circus animals who have escaped from the New York Zoo)-, Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett-Smith) are in Africa. The penguins have left them and taken off in a plane to engage in some gambling. The heroes swim their way to Europe to get to the penguins and fly back home. Plans fail and events start unfolding at a frenetic pace. Animal control chief Chantel DuBois wants Alex’s head on her wall. The New Yorkers somehow manage to convince – Circus Zaragoza who is touring Europe in a train. We meet a few new characters - Vitaly the Tiger, Gia the Jaguar, Stefano the Sea-lion and others.  The story moves forward with the train moving to Rome and then to London. The action at London is a treat to watch in 3D with excellent pyrotechnics and some breathtaking acts. Finally, the New Yorkers get back home. But are they happy? For a more complete review, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madagascar_3:_Europe%27s_Most_Wanted

The background now set, the lessons in brief are

1. Fake it till you make it! The escaped quartet had taken refuge with the circus under the pretense of being circus animals. Leveraging that credibility, they persuade the other (real) circus animals to try the often risky acts that they conjured up.
2. The power of passion:-As Alex talks about later in the film, the famous Canadian circus Cirque do Soleil that uses humans instead of animals in their performances, cannot compete with the real animals when it comes to passion. Hence, he inspires the animals to give their 101%.
3. Getting buy in for change:-Vitaly the tiger represents the old guard-trusty, competent yet resistent to change the way things have been done! However, Stefano and Gia the Jaguar reassure him of his importance in the scheme of things, stating that they will not move ahead without him. This makes him agree to try out his old act(jumping through loops again!)
4. Business process reengineering! This is quite evident in the new way the circus acts were reengineered. After all, if one keeps on doing what does not work, that is insanity. Having Vitaly use non flamable hair conditioner instead of the inflamable hair oil to jump through flaming loops, is another example of the same. 
5. The importance of integrity:-Though the penguins are able to foil DuBois' plan to capture Alex, the latter is forced to confess that the four of them are just zoo animals trying to get home, disappointing the others who feel used and lied to, as they had blindly trusted the four and done risky and new acts. While the film ends on a good note, in real life often, one lapse of integrity proves expensive in the zero tolerance envt of organizations. So 'fake it till you make it' is fine for internal use, but not necessarily for external use, as the Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson found out to his expense after being fired for inventing a non existent credential.

I am sure that academics with much more time for research/thinking than I do, will come out with a case study/session on this, but this is all I could do! Adios! 

An Indian Disney-a far fetched dream

Few kids(atleast middle class ones!) would have grown up without seeing/hearing of the famous comic characters Mickey Mouse/Donald/Goofy, and watching a diet of famous children's films Snowwhite/101 Dalmatians etc. These content examples are eternal, which is a testimonial to the quality of their creator and IPR managers. For decades, Disney has stuck to its proposition of clean family oriented media, and has profitably monetized it. Every generation discovers that content anew, and often even veteran cynics would get goosebumps from watching some of those films/serials. The runaway success of dubbed versions, show that Disney has managed to transcend barriers to communicate.

In contrast, India has very few such examples. Barring Ramanand Sagar's famous 'Ramayan'/'Mahabharata'(which are now sold by Moser Baer in DVD form), Amar Charitra Patrika comic characters(Suppandi) & Chandamama, one would be hardpressed to name such long lived content. Now, kids grow up on a diet of dubbed Western serials(like Disney ones) or else Hollywood films.

I recently watched the 1991 blockbuster 'Saudagar' starring Dilip Kumar & Raj Kumar. The film is a bit too long for today's standards(3hrs+) but has 2.8lakh views on Youtube(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRTgTzUa-aA&feature=watch-now-button&wide=1). The film tags at heartstrings in multiple ways-music(that haunting song imli ka bhuta), friendship, enemity, becoming friends on Holi, romance, betrayal and death. This film, as many others before it, make today's films seem shallow by comparison. I hasten to clarify that the old school films(pre 1990s) were quite unrealistic(even in Saudagar where do you have a king ruling in 1991 India?) but met the viewers taste. In contrast, today's viewers especially the multiplex crowd(an increasing number) like to read/watch stories about themselves. And shorter the movie the better. That cuts the scope for the director to comprehensively tell a story. A Bheja Fry or a 'A Wednesday' are certainly great films, but are unlikely to stand the test of time, like how Saudagar/Sholay have done.

Why should we care? Media companies(book publishers, film producers, newspapers) are increasing facing shorter life cycles and viewer saturation. Deprived by piracy of the once monumental initial week collections/book sales, they are dependent on backlist and extended period content exploitation. Given this scenario, quality should be at a premium. Of course, who defines 'quality' is a tricky question. If the sole objective is to take out a 1yr P&L, then even a low budget masala B grade film will do. But for creating a sustainable media empire, a Saudagar is likelier to do it than a Singham.

What the film 'Rajneeti' can teach us about business and life

What do you get when you cross the 'Godfather' and the famous Indian epic 'Mahabharata'? An awesome hybrid called Rajneeti, made by one of India's best independent film makers Prakash Jha.  Read about the film on Wikipedia(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raajneeti). It resembles Godfather in the characters(2 brothers-one hot blooded like Sunny Corleone and other cold blooded planner like Michael Corleone who reluctantly takes power after the death of his brother), action scenes(policeman trying to murder the godfather, revenge, death of characters in car blast). Mahabharata resemblance is in the successor nomination(favouring brother over son like how Pandu was seen the successor,  abandoned child(like Karna, Ajay Devgan), Krishna like Nana Patekar, Duryodhan like Virendra Pratap Singh etc.I could go on and on but it is best to read the books/watch the films.

But some lessons one can takeaway from this.

1. Even the 'good guys' play bad:- vote rigging, murders, suppressing dissent(thus provoking cousins to revolt), tampering with electoral nominations, false promises 
2. Playing to the gallery:- The public court was used to great effect in the film('janata ki adalat') and it applies even more in this media savvy age
3. Organization counts:- Nana Patekar's character proved the difference between the two warring families, as he supplied the cash/brainpower/organizational on ground power. He played the dual role of Shakuni(supporting his nephews, grey area) and Krishna(convincing his nephew Samar to shoot the character representing Karna). 
4. You get burnt if you play with fire:- Entering politics(or business for that matter) means your actions will be endlessly scrutinized. Personal and business attacks become part with the course. 
5. Crush the enemy even after an overwhelming win:- In the film, even on the eve of the landslide victory, the enemy is lured to its death. This ensures no lose ends. Even in life, going that last 1% is important('attention to detail'!) to ensure 'no comebacks'. 
6. Good and bad is shades of grey: Most versions of the Mahabharata(barring Ira Pande's Yuganta) lionize the winners(Pandavas) at the expense of the losers. Prakash Jha's sensitive shooting and plot, does show the viewers that injustice was done on both sides, and that it is the winner that dictates the history books!

 This post is atypical for me, and probably more on the cynical side. Still, this is what I feel.