Ed: Originally posted on March 22, 2005 - here.
Wonder If any of you have ever heard of this Movie; nice one! I just chanced upon it on the Movie Server and thought why not!! But it really turned out to be a fantastic flick ... and had a great message in it ... what's more is that what it said is what I myself have been feeling for the past few days. Here's the link
http://www.ingoodcompanymovie.com/
Its about this 52 year old salesman Dan Foreman(Dennis Quad) who works for a sports magazine but suddenly finds himself demoted and being 'bossed' over by a 26 year old Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) when the magazine is taken over by a another company. At first this new exec is all booming with ideas about the company's new 'synergy' strategy. 'Synergy' is shown as some shitty management jargon which is far from the company's real-life business. While during the movie Dan has to lay off his old buddies while not agreeing with the company's new policies and has a hard time; the end makes things different. Dan cracks a big account by making a wonderous sales pitch ignoring the 'synergy' and selling just his magazine!!
And when Dan and Carter are coming back form this deal Carter realizes that Dan is able to make his sales pitch not because he has some management jargon or big marketing funda with him but just because Dan believes in his stuff!!
Carter: "I... You actually believe in this stuff huh!"
Dan: "Of course I do - why else do you think would I do it!"
Finally the company is sold back to its old owners and Dan is the Boss again while Carter looses his new fangled corporate job. Dan offers Carter a job as his assistant. And this is what Carter tells him - "Well Dan! I really appreciate that....but I don't know what I want to do with my life, I know that I want it to mean something to me as this thing means something to you!"
That's a lesson buddy!! I too am a firm believer in the fact that one succeeds doing what he/she loves and believes in; not because some B-School or some management guru gives a new potion or a new strategy which we have mugged up by heart. Business runs on courage, confidence and passion!! And no strategy can substitute for them.
New M.B.A.'s (like me?) who think that they can do great business for any company that pays them a fat paycheck are greatly mistaken! Probably an uneducated Gujju like Dhirubhai was much better at creating wealth than a whole lot of us who do little more than get a fat paycheck and deliver lots of BS in return for it to our company . . .
All MBA's reading this stuff!! Think! Think Hard!! Are you doing what you love to do? And are you delivering value - real value; no jargon - to your company?? If not!! Find out the bug that itches you the most and get bitten by it!! Do what you believe in - I am sure you'll do it much better than something that you don't !
Disclaimer: I don't mean to say that an MBA is no good at all - in fact you can scroll down a few posts to check out 'MBA Helps!'. And mind you, all big corporates need MBAs to run their business. But mere education without understanding and most importantly 'belief' in the business will lead us nowhere!
Wonder If any of you have ever heard of this Movie; nice one! I just chanced upon it on the Movie Server and thought why not!! But it really turned out to be a fantastic flick ... and had a great message in it ... what's more is that what it said is what I myself have been feeling for the past few days. Here's the link
http://www.ingoodcompanymovie.com/
Its about this 52 year old salesman Dan Foreman(Dennis Quad) who works for a sports magazine but suddenly finds himself demoted and being 'bossed' over by a 26 year old Carter Duryea (Topher Grace) when the magazine is taken over by a another company. At first this new exec is all booming with ideas about the company's new 'synergy' strategy. 'Synergy' is shown as some shitty management jargon which is far from the company's real-life business. While during the movie Dan has to lay off his old buddies while not agreeing with the company's new policies and has a hard time; the end makes things different. Dan cracks a big account by making a wonderous sales pitch ignoring the 'synergy' and selling just his magazine!!
And when Dan and Carter are coming back form this deal Carter realizes that Dan is able to make his sales pitch not because he has some management jargon or big marketing funda with him but just because Dan believes in his stuff!!
Carter: "I... You actually believe in this stuff huh!"
Dan: "Of course I do - why else do you think would I do it!"
Finally the company is sold back to its old owners and Dan is the Boss again while Carter looses his new fangled corporate job. Dan offers Carter a job as his assistant. And this is what Carter tells him - "Well Dan! I really appreciate that....but I don't know what I want to do with my life, I know that I want it to mean something to me as this thing means something to you!"
That's a lesson buddy!! I too am a firm believer in the fact that one succeeds doing what he/she loves and believes in; not because some B-School or some management guru gives a new potion or a new strategy which we have mugged up by heart. Business runs on courage, confidence and passion!! And no strategy can substitute for them.
New M.B.A.'s (like me?) who think that they can do great business for any company that pays them a fat paycheck are greatly mistaken! Probably an uneducated Gujju like Dhirubhai was much better at creating wealth than a whole lot of us who do little more than get a fat paycheck and deliver lots of BS in return for it to our company . . .
All MBA's reading this stuff!! Think! Think Hard!! Are you doing what you love to do? And are you delivering value - real value; no jargon - to your company?? If not!! Find out the bug that itches you the most and get bitten by it!! Do what you believe in - I am sure you'll do it much better than something that you don't !
Disclaimer: I don't mean to say that an MBA is no good at all - in fact you can scroll down a few posts to check out 'MBA Helps!'. And mind you, all big corporates need MBAs to run their business. But mere education without understanding and most importantly 'belief' in the business will lead us nowhere!
1 comment:
Hi Nikhil, great post man.
I have seen this movie 2 or 3 times, n its a good movie. Nothing great, but not one of those timepass kinds. It sure does show u that only ammbition is nothing, it shud match with ur interests. Carter is the new guy who wants to show off his skills, he doesnt mean bad for the others, he just wants to show his mettle. but he burns out quickly, in his quest of being at the top he forgets the other things in life, like interests, relationships etc. And he burns out while he is still in his 20s. This movie shows all this in a mild comic way , Topher Grace being a good comedian helps! Nikhil good movie u reviewed coz many people just watch the main stream films and miss the good, small budget ones. This one is surely worth a watch.
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