My TOP 5 business scenes from movies
Entrepreneurs have very little time to watch movies and I am not an exception. But some movies embody the nature of doing business or just make me smile. I took the courage of putting together my TOP 5 scenes from movies into this short blog post. We have pitches, hard talks, and humor, of course.
1. The one and only Ryan Gosling in “The Big Short” — “Opportunity” scene
The scene starts with Ryan murmuring and rehearsing near the window and culminates when they orchestrate a dialog:
- You smell that? -
- Opportunity. ;)
- No. Money… I smell money.
- Ah, okay.
The whole scene is precious, it just flows.
2. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill in “Moneyball “— “Firing people” scene
There is no good way to fire people. Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill teach us a lesson on how to do it right. Be honest and direct, cut the bullshit, be a professional, expect your colleagues to be professionals also.
Final sigh is instructional, parting ways is never easy.
Final sigh is instructional, parting ways is never easy.
3. Steve Carell in “The Office “— Salary negotiation
Steve Carell in his portraiting Micahel Scott mocks a type of manager we all saw but never wanted to become. To cite Wikipedia:
Apart from his masterful salesmanship, Michael is lacking in almost any other skills, management or otherwise. Jim Halpert once made a color graph of how Michael spends his time: 80% distracting others; 19% procrastination; and 1% critical thinking. Jim added that he inflated the “critical thinking” percentage so people could actually see it on the graph
In this laughable scene, I enjoy the first part where Michael tries to ‘learn’ and apply management advice. But practice always beats theory in business.
Negotiation is a strong part of every salesman, and at least in one case, Michael succeded with style.
4. Alec Baldwin in “Glengarry Glen Ross”- ABC scene
This is an iconic scene for salespeople.
Alec is rough, pushy, and not politically correct. There is no safe environment at the firm. Not a place we would love to work at. But the mantra and his way of delivering it caught my attention:
A.B.C. — Always Be Closing
I cannot emphasize how important it is to “close” leads, projects, ideas. When you are done — get yourself some gratification. But if you feel that you did nothing important today “…put that coffee down… coffee is for closers!”
5. Jon Favrea and Courteney Cox in F.R.I.E.N.D.S. — “Good news” scene
The best part of this scene is where Pete (IT startup founder) shares his dreams with Monica. Pete throws her off course, saying how he has a new ambition — to become the [SPOILER]. Like every businessman, his goals are high and once he achieves them he immediately sets another one. But sometimes our dreams and goals are just not physically achievable and we lose something much more important in pursuing them…
The play and the plot-twist in this scene makes me laugh every time I see my fellow entrepreneurs investing more time in sports than business)
