Idea Cafe: What The Dark Knight Teaches Us About Business, by Barry Moltz

Barry Moltz

Barry Moltz has founded and run small businesses with a great deal of success and failure for more than 15 years.

Barry is a nationally recognized expert on business who has given hundreds of presentations to audiences ranging from 20 to 20,000. He has been quoted in almost every major new publication. He was appointed by the Illinois Governor in 2005 to serve on the board of the Institute for Entrepreneurship Education (IIEE). As a member of the Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame, he also has taught entrepreneurship as an adjunct professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology.

His first book, "You Need to Be A Little Crazy: The Truth about Starting and Growing Your Business" describes the ups and downs and emotional trials of running a business. It is in its fourth reprint and has been translated into Chinese, Russian, Korean and Thai. His second book, Bounce! Failure, Resiliency and the Confidence to Achieve Your Next Great Success, shows what it takes to develop true business confidence.
http://barrymoltz.com/

My son and I got up at 4:30 AM to see the opening of the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight" on the big screen of IMAX. Besides answering the age old question of "What does popcorn taste like at 5:00 AM for breakfast?", I learned a few things from Batman, The Joker and Harvey Dent. Strangely enough, I have always looked to super heroes for guidance. Many years ago, I wrote an article about what comic book heroes can teach us about business. So what did the movie, The Dark Knight teach me about business this time?

1. Some people are just insane. Like The Joker, sometimes people are just crazy. There is no reasoning with them. They do not make rational decisions. We have all seen this. For example, your prospect has the pain that your company can solve. They have the money. So far so good . But---They don't buy from you. It doesn't make any logical sense and many times in business, it is just not logical. Stop looking for a reason or a way to make it happen and move on to the next client. Moving on may seem irrational, but it is the right thing to do.

2. Sometimes, the good guys lose. Sometimes in business, the bad guys wins...alot. I don't believe that what comes arounds goes around in business or in life. I don't believe that in the end, the person cheating in business or using bad tactics loses eventually. I don't believe that they eventually get "what is coming to them." We should try to be the good guy and act with trust, honesty and integrity not because we think we will get rewarded, but that it is simply the right thing to do. Why would you want to live your life any other way? Even when I fall short of the mark of excellence that I have set for myself, in the end, business is about being able to support your family while making a positive contribution to our economy and society. How else could we possibly define success?

3. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference between the good guys and bad guys. Without spoiling the end of the movie, in business, roles change constantly and sometimes it is hard to figure out if that other company is an ally or a competitor. To borrow an expression, business does make strange bedfellows. Things can change quickly so just like in Gotham, it is many times hard to navigate and find your way....but you can't stop trying to work with the people that are going to bring out the best in you.

4. We all need someone to believe in. We all have our business super heroes...Bill Gates, Michael Dell, William Buffett...while they may not always live up to our super expectations, it is important that we have them as a guide. But only as a guide not as an idol. We should never try to be them or try to aspire to be them. That is a wasted life. We need to learn what we can from them and make our own path that meets our success goals.

5. There are consequences to upsetting the status quo. Alfred continuously reminds Batman that there are consequences for trying to shut down the ingrained system of mob crime. People die. In business, it perhaps isn't so serious but the risk can be great. Your competitors that currently have the business will fight tooth and nail to keep the status quo. You can bet in it! As a result, don't think that just because your product is better and cheaper customers will automatically switch.

Finally, Heath Ledger gives probably one of the finest performances of any actor ever. Definitely worth the price of admission to see this Oscar performance even if you are not looking for business lessons from Batman!

DISCLAIMER: We hope whatever you find on this site is helpful, but be cautioned that it may not apply to your own situation, or be totally current at any given time. Idea Cafe Inc. and all of its current and past experts, sponsors, advertisers, agents, contractors and advisors disclaim all warranties with regard to anything found anywhere on this family of websites, quoted from, or sent from Idea Cafe, Inc. and its related sites, publications and companies. We also take no responsibility for comments published by others on these pages.

TRADEMARKS: The following are Registered Trademarks or Servicemarks of Idea Cafe, Inc. or M.F. Ward: Idea Cafe®, Online Coffee Break®, The Small Business Gathering Place®, Take out Info®, Biz Bar & Grill®, Complaint-O-Meter®, A Fun Approach to Serious Business™, CyberSchmooz™, and BizCafe™.

What The Dark Knight Teaches Us About Business

By Barry J Moltz