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The six films in the Star Wars trilogy teach us many things. They teach us about life, love, and hope. They teach us the value of sexy special effects. They teach us the dangers of inadequate parenting skills. As many prominent management gurus have observed, they also teach us a lot about management.

Here are eight things to demonstrate that you too, in the words of the immortal Yoda, can a good manager be!



Don’t teach your apprentice everything you know

In every reporting relationship the boss has a duty to transfer skills to the subordinate. Some bosses even go so far as to ‘mentor’ their juniors in unique and compelling ways. However, it is critical to make sure that certain skills and knowledge are never passed on to the junior, in case he is seduced by the dark side and decides to replace you. Long-serving CEOs have long known this, which is why they are long serving CEOs. Thus, Obi Wan Kenobi’s relationship with Anakin Skywalker is an example of Suicidally Comprehensive Mentoring, where he teaches him everything, including very poor dress sense. The relationship to emulate is the one between the Emperor and Darth Vader, where the boss keeps his junior pretty much in the dark, and periodically administers severe electric shocks. Treat your subordinates like this, and your career will thrive.


Be sure to have cool gadgets

Luke Skywalker was a disadvantaged farmboy. He was dirt poor and had very little of anything—not even a personality. But he did have one thing—he had two cool robots. One was gold and flashy, and the other was extremely bright and spoke a language no one could understand, a bit like your own systems manager. It’s true he bought them second hand, but nobody knew that, and he kept them clean and shiny. Darth Vader on the other hand, had no gadgets. In the battle for control of the universe, Luke wins. This is not a coincidence. So in the battle for control of your company, make sure you are armed with cool gizmos, and keep them clean and shiny.


Make Your Voice Heard At Meetings

If there’s one thing Star Wars teaches us, it’s the importance of speaking up. Speaking up is the difference between glory and oblivion. Six or seven times during these movies, Luke Skywalker and a bunch of pilots attack a gigantic black ball called the Death Star. Each time, most of these pilots are vaporised by enemy lasers. It is crucial to note that all the pilots who die have non-speaking parts. They either say nothing at all, or at best mutter “Roger, Blue Leader”. If you are at a meeting, speak, make yourself heard. For, when the dark cloud of downsizing descends, it is the silent ones who shall face oblivion.


Do not document your weaknesses

It is ideal, of course, that you or your company should not have any weaknesses. But you know that’s not true. So here’s one more thing we learn from Star Wars. Do not document those weaknesses. If you must document them, do not place these documents within easy reach of the competition. The empire spent gazillions of space dollars constructing multiple versions of the aforementioned Death Star. Each time, the Death Star had a fatal weakness—a small exhaust shaft near the men’s loo on the 17th floor, into which if a torpedo was skillfully put, the whole edifice would disintegrate. Each time, the imperial engineers recorded this fatal flaw in the blueprints, and then made the blueprints easily available to all and sundry. This allowed the rebels to repeatedly blow up the Death Star, for the price of a torpedo and a few hundred pilots, who, as we have already noted, did not even have speaking parts.


Spend lots of time on your hair

Queen Amydala is a member of the senior management of the Planet Naboo—the sort of position we all aspire to. As long as she has incredibly elaborate hairdos, occasionally enhanced by fruit baskets or minor wildlife, her life is smooth, involving stately processions and candle-lit dinners. The moment she starts neglecting her hair and starts wearing more ‘practical’ hairdos, she is abducted, shot at, tortured, and assaulted by assorted monstrosities. So in order to maintain that aura of authority, senior managers must never, ever neglect their hair. Remember this —whatever you give to your hair, your hair will give back to you.


Make occasional goodwill gestures

Most successful managers take pride in their ruthlessness. There is no room for sentiment in business (although there is room for business in sentiment, as Hallmark and Archies so wonderfully demonstrate). But George Lucas shows us that occasionally, being nice can be useful also. When Anakin has been bathed in molten lava and is crawling to certain death, barbequed and limbless, who is it that saves him? None other than the Emperor, who spends all six movies being uniformly mean to everyone. Yet, here, he tenderly nurses Anakin back to health. In return, Darth Vader swears undying loyalty, squishing the enemies of the Emperor. So even if you’re a successful manager, make the effort, do something nice once in a while.


Don’t play minor roles in other ventures

Sometimes, people will approach you, asking you to ‘help out’ with their company. Usually this means they won’t pay you much money, but you may be tempted by the ‘prestige’. Don’t fall for it. As in so much else, learn from the Jedi. Sundry actors have taken bit parts in the Star Wars movies. Before you even notice them, they vanish, and soon, so do their careers. Liam Neeson has vanished. Samuel L Jackson appears only on talk shows. Jimmy Smits is currently working at McDonalds. As you can see, there’s a pattern here.


Get out of the conference room

Senior managers tend to spend most of their time in ‘meetings’, particularly during summer when it’s hot and the natives sweat a lot. Throughout the Star Wars series, members of the Jedi Council spend their entire time in meetings, looking gloomy and thoughtful. Apart from Yoda, you will never see any of them outside their meeting room. Ultimately, Darth Vader wipes out the whole lot of them, except for Yoda, who spends the next 30 years in a tree, and Obi Wan, who spends the next 30 years in a smelly robe. The message is clear—air conditioning is good, but too much of it may leave you crushed by the competition.

So go ahead, be a great manager and rule the universe. And in case you want to make a small financial contribution in return for all this advice, just mail your bank account details to shovonc@hotmail.com. And may the Force with you be!


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Original Article: 8 management lessons from Star Wars

News Source: FINANCIAL EXPRESS

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Thender

Okay..............

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Shenandoah, American Legion Post #88 Color Guard, State Color Guard Champions for 2008 - 2009

Two in the mouth is worth one in the bush.

Two2mnyxs

Lmao Geek

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WOW HAIL HORDE
If you Play and want a good group to run with email me James.hayes@offutt.af.mil

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ob1

...stunning and shocking isn't it?!

I was searching for the latest SW news and a financial article pops up

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jpa

right....

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"Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance."
--Sam Brown

Chubby

But I do love ya ob1!

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Getting Hitched to a Redneck!

lilyvon schtupp

Spend lots of time on your hair

Queen Amydala is a member of the senior management of the Planet Naboo—the sort of position we all aspire to. As long as she has incredibly elaborate hairdos, occasionally enhanced by fruit baskets or minor wildlife, her life is smooth, involving stately processions and candle-lit dinners. The moment she starts neglecting her hair and starts wearing more ‘practical’ hairdos, she is abducted, shot at, tortured, and assaulted by assorted monstrosities. So in order to maintain that aura of authority, senior managers must never, ever neglect their hair. Remember this —whatever you give to your hair, your hair will give back to you.

yes, but leeah was abducted when she had danish for a hairdoo

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"We will NOT allow you to blaspheme The Monkees on this show!"- Todd

ob1

^Good point lil!

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Lynniebits

So maybe it is like this, if you do your "do" like food you may be a target for a kidnapping.
My one question is this...in the original, doesn't the guy Luke knows from back home get toasted as well? I believe he has at least one speaking part. I could be wrong, but I have seen it about a billion times, so I don't think I am.

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Life is too short for bras and uncomfortable shoes.