5 Business Lessons from Christmas Movies
"For all of its faults, it gives most hardworking people a chance to improve themselves economically, even as the deck is stacked in favor of the privileged few. Here are the choices most of us face in such a system: Get bitter or get busy."
1. "It's a Wonderful Life" - George Bailey experiences life as if he'd never lived. Without George, the little town of Bedford Falls spirals into the greedy hands of cold hearted capitalist, Mr. Potter. George's honesty and transparency with his clients inspires us to remain true to our purpose in business and highlights the value of genuine honesty. Call it the Bailey Doctrine. It's a wonderful strategy!
3. "Nightmare Before Christmas" - Jack Skellington has grown tired of Halloween and is inspired by a portal to Christmas town. Jack wants to implement Christmas into his village of ghouls and goblins but fails to capture the true meaning of Christmas and the result is a confused conglomeration of the two holidays. The lesson here is to be aware of your customer and your target buyer. Sometimes pulling from inspiration requires a more analytical adaptation and not a copy and paste.
5. "Vacation" - The story-line is familiar to most, as Chevy Chase tortures our giggle box with unfortunate circumstances and untimely faux pas which demonstrate just how wrong things can go at times. The lesson is clearly to seek perfection yet expect obstacles, flaws, and failures. Successful business planning and practice is based on correcting errors. The beauty lies not in the achievement of perfection, but the process of searching for it.
2. "Miracle on 34th Street" - The posing Santa Claus at Macy's decides to make referrals to the department store across the street in order to best serve the customers. While it may seem this is bad policy for business, it actually has the opposite effect. Customers become more loyal, creating buzz, and expanding the customer base relying on honest referral and service. In an era where service is increasingly impersonal and cold, a strategy of honest, customer-centered service can really pay off.
3. "Nightmare Before Christmas" - Jack Skellington has grown tired of Halloween and is inspired by a portal to Christmas town. Jack wants to implement Christmas into his village of ghouls and goblins but fails to capture the true meaning of Christmas and the result is a confused conglomeration of the two holidays. The lesson here is to be aware of your customer and your target buyer. Sometimes pulling from inspiration requires a more analytical adaptation and not a copy and paste.
4. "Elf" - In this hysterical Christmas comedy, we see through the eyes of a grown adult man who happens to be a genuine Christmas Elf without any patience for imitation, or phony Christmas spirit. Buddy comes from the North Pole, and by his innocence demonstrates how truly disenchanting a lazy imitation can be. The takeaway lesson here is to remember to be authentic in your attitude and your product. The customer is sure to sense an insincere interaction as well as an inferior product.
5. "Vacation" - The story-line is familiar to most, as Chevy Chase tortures our giggle box with unfortunate circumstances and untimely faux pas which demonstrate just how wrong things can go at times. The lesson is clearly to seek perfection yet expect obstacles, flaws, and failures. Successful business planning and practice is based on correcting errors. The beauty lies not in the achievement of perfection, but the process of searching for it.
"For all of its faults, it gives most hardworking people a chance to improve themselves economically, even as the deck is stacked in favor of the privileged few. Here are the choices most of us face in such a system: Get bitter or get busy."
- Bill O' Reilly
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