Movies, Politics, & Business

Posted by AndyM on November 11, 2008 under Business Growth | Be the First to Comment

I have always been enamored with the movies…not so much with the creative aspect, but with the business model.  Look at the credits.  Hundreds of people assembled for a few months (sometimes for a few years) in a sizable organization…all to produce a single end product.  A massive “corporation” of sorts assembled to produce the product, then disassembled, its members to scatter and find their way into other undertakings of similar form.  Fascinating! 
 
In this political season, I just realized that political campaigns are very similar…massive teams assembled with a singular goal, then disassembled once election day passes.  There is something to be learned from this dynamic.

In this political season, I just realized that political campaigns are very similar…massive teams assembled with a singular goal, then disassembled once election day passes.  There is something to be learned from this dynamic. 

Focus on Results, not Activity
If a movie producer or director decided to make a career out of one project, working for 30 years “making my movie,” he or she would have to be independently wealthy.  Movies don’t start to make money until they’re done.  What if the only way you could make money in your business was to build it up to the point of selling it?  Do you think you would document that customer support process you’ve been meaning to?  Do you think you would delegate those day-to-day tasks that don’t require your attention so that you could create, manage, and monitor your marketing systems?  You bet!
 
As a business owner, it can be comforting to spend all of your time in the “doing” of your business, avoiding the “making” of it – but the hidden risks are enormous.  A movie maker that just keeps shooting more and more footage without sticking to a plan that gets the movie “done” is going to be in serious trouble.  Likewise, a business owner who just stays “heads down” busy won’t have much to show for it when he or she finally sits up to see what’s been accomplished.

Immovable Milestones
Primaries and caucuses happen – they don’t wait around for a campaign to “catch up” if they don’t have their message together, their canvassing plan underway, etc.  Similarly, movie makers can’t squander a sunny day, or fail to have the cameras rolling for that one-time explosion.  Try acting as though the milestones you set for yourself are fixed – executing late results in complete failure.

Movie Makers — Really “Serial Entrepreneurs”
Sure you could say “I’m a director” and “I’m a consultant” or “I’m an electrician” are all similar statements.  But a movie director will finish a project, then completely reinvent him or herself around a different mission, with different players, a new budget, etc.  Such people are directors throughout, of course, but are very likely to describe what they are doing (directing a specific new action movie…), not just describe what they do in general.  So what is your current mission?  Are you just a plumber, or are you “currently building a leading, regional, plumbing contractor business?”