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Movie Magic At Work
By Ron | June 28, 2010
When I was working in Silicon Valley I witnessed the battle of the brains – the left side and the right side which brings me to my latest movie review: “Extraordinary Measures” starring Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser.
Fraser plays a pharmaceutical company executive who has two children dying of Pompe disease. Harrison Ford happens to be a scientist who he tracks down because Harrison is zeroing in on a cure. Brenden convinces Harrison to leave his university setting to start their own company dedicated to finalizing the medicine.
Harrison plays an exaggerated version of the engineers I knew and loved at the electronic companies where I worked – all left brain (analytical, data-driven, not too good at interpersonal relations). Brenden, on the other-hand, is the administrative type - all right brain (people-oriented). The two clash over and over again. Does this sound familiar, you HR folks?
Things get really dicey when they are forced to merge their floundering company with an industry giant. Believe me, this part really rung true to me - Harrison Ford rebels against the big corporate rules while Brenden’s boss benchs him (they only tolerate him to get to Harrison’s technical knowledge). The culture clash is not unlike any thing I saw between the the large computer company which gobbled-up the disc drive company I worked for. The engineers were forever challenging the policies and procedures forced down our throats from the big company back east.
I loved the scene where the Fraser character calls a meeting in the cafeteria with all of the employees who are working on the drugs for curing Pompe. He introduces his sick kids to the team which obviously has a huge motivational effect on the team. I have done similar things aimed at getting employees excited about their work.
The flick has a happy ending with Harrison Ford providing Brendan’s kids with the right meds he invented. Just like in Silicon Valley, our engineers would develop the latest, hottest products just in time to meet the market demands.
Sometimes, the movies do mirror real life.
Topics: HR | 1 Comment »
June 28th, 2010 at 10:40 am
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