Team building lessons from Bollywood 


This article was published in magazine Express Pharma on Jan 15, 2011. Some Bollywood movies can teach a lesson or two in management, says Srinivasan Iyer, Lead Consultant, MPower Business Facilitators Ltd.


Scene I -Your medical representative in Ambala complains that his contribution is not recognised.
Scene II - Your R&D head walks out of the board meeting. Why? He can't see eye to eye with your supply chain head. And the supply chain head is not happy with the way your AVP-Marketing and his team functions
How can you resolve these conflicts? Should you give them training on interpersonal skills and conflict management? Or would it be better to organise a team building intervention? How about taking them all out for a movie?
Bollywood is not only about prancing around the trees, surrealistic storylines and mindless violence. Once in a while there comes a movie that teaches a lesson or two in management. The good news is this genre of movies is gaining popularity as Bollywood is experimenting and reinventing itself. It's time your entire management team watched a movie together and applied the learning in the corporate workplace.
From 'reel' to real life
'Munnabhai MBBS' has a magical cure for conflicts and low workplace morale. It's the 'Jadoo Ki Jhappi' (a loving hug). Remember the scene in which a grumbling sweeper is given a hug by Munnabhai and lo, he transforms into a lovable person. The sweeper in the story is symbolic of employees in an organisation, especially the front-line executives and workers who are told about their weaknesses constantly in the appraisals and are rarely recognised for their contributions to the organisation. All they need is a loving hug and a public recognition of their small contributions. If only managers realise this, they can inculcate a sense of belonging and pride in their team members.
Not all of us have the same abilities. Yet every employee has a unique talent. I feel that the most important role of every manager and leader is to identify the innate talent of his team members and give them adequate opportunities to maximise his potential and contribute to the organisation. 'Taare Zameen Par' was about dyslexia. It was also about recognising the talent of an individual, building his self esteem and inculcating a desire in him to succeed in personal and professional life.
Globalisation is here to stay. As multinationals with huge financial muscle romance the Indian consumer, can our home grown pharma companies in the SME sector out there in Andheri, Vizag and Chandigarh survive the onslaught? What is it that motivates a Ranbaxy, Cipla or Dr. Reddy's Laboratories to challenge global heavyweights 10 times their size?
For the larger competitor, it's about expanding the market and the customer base while for the underdog, it's a question of survival. And when it is a question of survival, you have only two choices: to fight or to perish. In times like these, organisations need a visionary leader like Bhuvan of 'Lagaan' who can lead by example. He knows how to connect with the masses, how to motivate them to change and constantly inspire them to stretch beyond what they think is possible.
'Lagaan' is a case study in reputed management institutions across the world. For me, the making of 'Lagaan' is itself a wonderful management idea. If you blend two passions of your people, namely cricket and patriotism, you have a powerful medium to convey your message. The head honchos of our companies need to give it a thought. A message conveyed through a heart-to-heart interface with the people using stories and anecdotes touches their hearts more than a highly thought and intellectual letter. If you still have doubts about this, think of how Jack Welch transformed General Electric.
Organisations across the world are about teamwork. From the boardroom to the shop floor, it's all about working in teams. Do you play for yourself or for the team? Can you put the team objectives above your own personal goals? Can you rise over petty disputes to achieve the corporate objectives? Are you there for the team when it needs you the most? Are you a star player or are you a team player?
As you watch 'Chak De India', you cannot help asking these questions to yourself. You organise team building workshops and outbound programmes for your people. How about a collective viewing of 'Chak De India' by the team?
One landmark film that changed the destiny of the nation and sparked off a revolution was 'Manthan'. It is a story of a young urban group headed by a veterinary doctor that is sent by an organisation to a poor village to start milk cooperative. Nothing can prepare them for the odds they have to face in achieving their goal. The leader soon realises that his team is no match against the lobby that rules the village with an iron hand namely, a private contractor with vested interests and the village headmen with muscle and financial power. The movie is about how the simple village folk decide to carve their own destiny by setting up the milk cooperative. 'Manthan' is the real story of five lakh farmers of Gujarat, mostly women, inspired by the visionary leadership of Verghese Kurian.
What is remarkable is the film was financed by all these poor farmers who contributed one rupee each. It is the only full length Indian feature film financed by farmers. And I don't know of any such experiment anywhere in the world. The Anand pattern of diary development popularised by the film was adopted all over the country and the nation witnessed a white (milk) revolution.
Bollywood does have important lessons for our managers. These are just some movies that I have stated, there are many more. Films are a powerful, popular and persuasive medium to drive home a message. Don't you think that it's high time your team watched a movie together? 


(The author can be reached at srini@mpowerexcellence.com)