Pandemic Movie Night
There has literally never been a better time to grab a bowl of popcorn and stretch out on the coach to watch your favorite organizational crisis-management movies for some ideas and inspirations you can apply to today’s challenges. Since, I suspect most of you lack a favorite in this particular category, I’m happy to recommend mine—Apollo 13.
The core of the movie is the story of how NASA’s Mission Control Center, under the leadership of Flight Director Gene Kranz, responded when a mid-flight explosion disables the Apollo 13 spacecraft. So much has changed in the 50 years since this story played out (the exclusively white male workforce being the most obvious) and yet this idyllic vision of effective crisis management has never seemed more relevant. Some highlights:
Meetings. Far and away the best staff meetings I’ve ever witnessed. Gene walks in, let’s everyone know the purpose of the meeting and poses critical questions that need answers. Discussions are vigorous. No one holds back, knowing that if they do, the collective project could fail. Minds are changed when confronted with new information. Gene listens, makes the final decisions and everyone leaves the meeting clear about next steps. Remind you of any meetings you’ve been in recently? Me either.
Delegation. At one point, engineers raise an imminent mission-critical disaster to Gene—carbon dioxide levels are rising and the astronauts will be helpless. Does Gene respond by throwing himself into this crucial challenge? Hardly. He knows he’s not the right person to work on this so he simply tells his team to quickly devise a solution. “The people upstairs have handed this one and we have to come through.” They do.
Leadership. Gene’s leadership is efficient and inspirational. He identifies the most immediate issues and the bigger challenges down the road—before they become emergencies. He calibrates risks and works with facts: “Let’s work the problem, people. Let’s not make things worse by guessing.” Gene leaves no ambiguity about his commitment to success: “Failure is not an option” and “We've never lost an American in space, we're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch!” Terrific movie lines but they also reflect a clarity of purpose and accountability that did not need to be imagined. Read the words of the real Gene Kranz on the occasion of an earlier tragedy.
No heroes. The astronauts return safely to earth because—everyone did their job. Everyone was good at their jobs and gave 100%, but no one, not even Gene, went beyond what they expected of each other and of themselves. This was only possible because of what had happened long before these events occurred. This team had learned to trust in one another and its leadership. They knew how to work together across siloes to achieve their collective goals. They may not have anticipated this particular crisis, but they had trained to handle the unexpected, learning and adapting, in a culture that did not blame and stayed focused on outcomes.
If you find yourself with another long pandemic evening to fill, think about giving it a watch. If you’re looking for a great team activity, you could do worse than setting aside time to watch and discuss.