Apr04Perspectives

The movies have a unique way of moving us. Who hasn’t been affected by the drama of a Spielberg film (Saving Private Ryan) or laughed out loud at a Ben Stiller comedy (There’s Something About Mary) or been touched by the pathos of Woody Allen (Annie Hall)? Every kid leaves a movie theater pretending to be is the star or action hero of the latest movie he or she has seen.

There is something about the combination of words, music, action, and graphics that makes movies such memorable experiences, particularly in the hands of a skilled director like, say, Martin Scorcese.

Yet somehow training videos just fall flat. They feel a little wooden and stilted, and when they do try to be hip, it sometimes comes off as embarrassing rather than cool. (Except, of course, IAAPA’s videos!)

Hollywood 101
Since most training programs don’t have the resources of a big-name studio, they often have to rely on amateur talent.

So if training videos can’t beat Hollywood, can Hollywood help our training programs? I think so. When I go to the movies I often see real-life training examples, and I have used some of them to good effect in my training programs. Take Tommy Boy, for example, the late Chris Farley’s hilarious look at friendship and responsibility. The movie opens with Tommy as a small boy running for school because he is late. He misses the bus, drops his lunch, has a dog chasing after him and his school friends mocking him from the back of the bus. Cut to the next scene, 10 years later. Tommy Boy, now 19, is late for a college exam, running across the college quad, has a dog chasing after him, etc. He pounds on the exam hall door and is finally admitted. Tommy gets a “D” and immediately celebrates with a beer party.

“What is the lesson here?” I ask my audience. Well, what happened to Tommy between ages nine and 19? In a word, nothing. He got no feedback, no coaching, no instruction, he had not set any goals, nor was he told that a “D” is not good enough, and as a result, he did not change, or worse, he didn’t see the need to change. I use the movie to introduce the concepts of feedback, communication, and supervision. Such usage is called “anchored learning”—students anchor their learning against a familiar subject and the information sticks. It also helps that Chris Farley is funny; comedy is always engaging.

Speaking of which, what can Jim Carrey’s humor teach us? Take Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. It opens with Carrey dressed as a delivery guy from a fictitious company, UPX. He delivers a package in true Carrey fashion: kicks it all along the ground, traps it in a set of elevator doors, punts it down the street, and runs with it for a touchdown. When he finally delivers it the package sounds as though it is in a million pieces. It is all a ruse of course; Carrey uses the delivery to return a stolen pet.

In one training session, I asked my audience to come up with a name and a mission statement for the fake company, UPX. Almost everything I got was negative. “But you only saw one employee, delivering one package at one time in the day,” I said. “It could be a great delivery company but look at the impact that that one employee can have on your business.” It is a very powerful way to illustrate the impact that individual employees can make on the success of your business.

Movies for Managers
These training tactics aren’t just successful with the frontline or supervisory staff. There are scores of movies that illustrate management techniques, or management failings. A Bridge Too Far (featuring just about every major movie star from the 1970s), which deals with the Allies’ failure to take and hold the bridge at Arnhem, Germany, in WW II, neatly illustrates how plans are tools and not ends in themselves.

Tom Hanks’s recent From Earth to the Moon presents a good primer on strategic planning. The opening scene shows JFK making his “we aim to put a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth” speech. The scene is followed by “Whoas!!” from NASA officials and politicians as they try to make sense of this Herculean task. It is quickly followed by a scene in which NASA managers outline the necessary steps to accomplish this goal. A strategic plan is quickly broken down into its constituent, but no less challenging, parts. Running your park opening might not be a moon landing, but for the people involved it can be every bit as challenging.

Film often reflects real, everyday situations and therefore provides numerous lessons and examples that can be used in our lives and in our classrooms.

There are copyright issues involved in presenting commercial movies to a public audience (although how “public” your trainees are is open to debate). Get good legal advice and proceed with caution.

And if you come across any examples of “movie learning” the next time you go to the multiplex, send me an e-mail. I might need them for future training sessions.

Cut and print. It’s a wrap.