The Rundown — Lessons in Strategy
Action, Adventure, Comedy… Assessment, Analysis, Choice
The Rundown opened in theatres in 2003. Since then, the Rock err… Dwayne Johnson has been everywhere and Seann William Scott may or may not have had a decade long tennis career before going back into hiding in 2012, presumably in a Brazilian rain forest.
Andy Roddick jokes aside, it was a fun movie. One filled with plenty of material for a course study in strategy, decision-making, and bad analogies. Christopher Walken’s Hatcher delivers with aces on the latter, but we will save refrigerators and tooth fairies for another article.
The story line brims with action, adventure, and comedy. It is well worth the hour and three quarter run time, even if you watched it before. If you can catch it on cable or an airplane, all the better. The story line also brims with something a little less expected — examples of assessment, analysis, and choice.
The Story Starts with Infographics…
The movie presents a handful of situation assessment montages. We are first given Monday Night Football style infographics as Beck is assessing his opposition in the early story. He is up against an array of professional football players. Interestingly, analogy is heavy here, too… but I digress.
Inventory, breakdown, assessment, quantification — there is a light touch (it is an action-comedy after all), but it is clear and recurring. Later we will get a similar take of rebels and ammunition. We are never given Beck’s real backstory to have any sense of where his assessment skills come from, but they are almost more impressive than his MMA (or is it WWE?) fighting abilities.
To state that many movies and shows gloss over this element of strategy development is probably an understatement. The Rundown however, not only uses it but leverages it to develop the drama and context of the movie. If you are developing good strategy you better follow their lead. You don’t have the luxury of glossing over this step.
Option A … Or Option B
Beck attacks every new situation by creating two plans. He analyzes his path forward and offers his opponents a choice of giving him what he wants willingly or …not. It is another repeat theme. The movie plays with this nicely as a component of Beck’s character and even gives Travis some play.
Knapmiller, you have two choices. Option “A,” you give me the ring. Option “B,” I *make* you give me the ring.
There are a few important take-aways here for would-be strategists. Set a goal. Break it down (analyze). Build at least two paths forward. Beck offers them as a choice, but really he is laying out primary and secondary paths to a similar objective. Some refer to Option B as the compensation strategy. It is always good to have another option should the first fail to come together.
The Rundown was a fun movie. Watch it again with an eye to strategy. Consider as well, are your strategy sessions up to the level of Beck? He is a fictional, action movie hero — he might not need assess, analyze, and provide choice to create a successful outcome (or entertaining movie). You will likely not be so lucky.
Thanks for reading!
