iNM Magazine Volume 7 | August 2015
Movie2Management
Playing transparent-imperative
Chitrangada Roy
PGDM 2014 - 16
NMIMS Hyderabad
e title above may seem to be a highly
arbitrary choice- 127 hours being the
name of a critically acclaimed Danny
Boyle movie and given the fact, its
being related with managing
appropriately. But if there is one thing
that I can assure you of is that the title
to this article has been considered only
after some amount of reflection.
Many will already have watched 127
hours. However, for the benefit of
those who have not and those who
would once again like to recollect the
proceedings in the silver screen
adaptation of an adventurer's lifeendangering 127 hours, here's the
summary, through which I am sure,
without much effort, I shall be able to
make you visualize how the qualities
displayed in the movie are so precisely
pertinent for everyday management.
“An important managerial
mantra to be learnt here is
playing reasonably
transparent- whether with
your employees or with
your stakeholders”
Aron Ralston (played by James Franco)
decides to go canyoneering in Utah's
Canyonlands National Park, all alone
and without informing anyone and on
the way comes across two women
hikers, who he offers to show around as
a trail guide. ey even discover a
hidden underground pool and after
spending a considerable amount of
time there, Aron parts from them and
goes his own way. While venturing
further into the canyon, he has to walk
along a narrow passage with boulders
suspended loosely, wedged between
the walls of the rock. Aron slips and
falls right into the canyon,
subsequently dislodging a very loose
boulder that comes crashing down
and smashing his right forearm
against the rock wall. Aron, after much
tribulation, manages to get out after 5
days.
Lessons to learn from Aron's story?
Plenty!
40
Aron Ralston, though a seasoned
mountaineer, ought to have relied on
transparency. His desire to venture out
alone into the deserts is not irrelevant.
But all the same, his decision to do so
keeping everyone else in the dark is not
right. Upon meeting the women
hikers, he should have hinted them of
his plans and also kept his parents
informed of his whereabouts. As Aron
himself, later on in life, accepted to
have played the fool in taking such a
step, an important managerial mantra
to be learnt here is playing reasonably
transparent- whether with your
employees or with your stakeholders.
As most of us should remember,
Satyam computers had to pay the price
for prevaricating regarding their
profits as did Ralston pay the price for
his secretiveness. e film closes with
a title card that shows Ralston, having
learnt his lesson the hard way, now
never forgets, if going out trekking
alone, to leave a trail behind!
Farsightedness- resource conservation
Ralston upon realizing that he has got
trapped in an isolated canyon, miles
away from any human settlement or
any human life, decides to conserve
what little water and food he has left
with him, while also recording a video
diary on his camera. Aron does well
here to have the clairvoyance to assess
hi s situation and b eginnin g to
rationalize the consumption of his
resources. An efficient and effective
manager, similarly, needs to be
farsighted to cater to any future crisis.
For instance, Mallya's temerity, as
regards the Kingfisher Airlines, led to
catastrophic outcomes. His
extravagant and ill-planned
expenditures have not only resulted in
the grounding of the Airlines but also
in branding him as a 'willful debtor'.
Aron Ralston's immediate reckoning of
the dire circumstances and acting
accordingly, is perhaps what has a
sizable role to play in sustaining him
for 127 whole hours, a quite incredible
achievement.