Management Lessons from Kung Fu Panda

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I think in the last five one of the most entertaining movies has been Kung Fu Panda. It is a simple story about a Panda who ends up beating a very dangerous evil fighter named Tai Lung. But yesterday when I was watching the re run on HBO, I realized that there was more than what meets the eye from the movie.

Here are the three management lessons one can learn from the movie.

Number one, management needs to understand that each employee is unique. Different people are motivated by different things. For example the Panda was motivated by his need to eat all the time. He could go to any extent to grab an extra helping. That would include, jumping up 10 feet above the ground and doing a perfect split to eat almond cookies or fighting master Shifu over the last dimsum.

Some employees are motivated by money, others by position or authority. but not all. The more ambitious ones are motivated by a perfect work life balance where they work hard but at the same time spend the right amount of time with family.

Some organizations like Google motivate employees by letting them work on their own personal projects in office time. Others like IBM allow employees to work from home if required. Now all of these do motivate employees to put in their best. This is one area where most Indian corporations have miles to go in developing policies and culture that recognize the individual.

So it is important to recognize that not all fingers are the same. and hence corporations need to plan their employee incentives accordingly.

In the end Master Shifu used the Panda's love for food to train him.

Second lesson, do not treat all competition alike.

Tai Lung the evil warrior was a great fighter. There was no fighter in china who fought the traditional way of Kung Fu who could beat him. In fact he took on the 5 masters alone and defeated them. That made him arrogant and he underestimated the Panda as well.

Now this was his downfall. Panda was not trained in the traditional sense and actually did not look much of a fighter. Tai Lung took the beating of a lifetime, because the harder he punched the harder Panda came back at him. And after a while it became obvious to Tai Lung that it was a lost cause but his arrogance and inflexibility cost him his life.

Often in business we underestimate competition. This is based on our inability to downgrade anyone who is not a competition in the traditional sense. Most auto makers in the US, underestimated the Japanese manufacturers. In India the old business houses did not think too much of Dhirubhai Ambani and many publications did not understand the power of the internet.

History reveals that underestimating competition is dangerous. It is similar to the Georgian knights underestimating the Mongol scouting party under General Subotai. Just because the Mongols looked different and fought differently did not make them less effective. In the end 80,000 Georgian knights lost the battle and their lives to 25,000 odd Mongols.

Finally self belief is the key. Panda always thought that the soup his dad made had this secret ingredient  and that made the soup special. But when his father confessed that there was no secret ingredient   the Panda realized the importance of self belief.

The dragon scroll was actually an empty piece of parchment, where one could see their own reflection. The dragon scroll was a testament to self belief. In the end Panda did win because he belived.

In the late 70's Steve Jobs believed that he could make computers simpler and make them a dependable tool in the hands of individuals. Computers did exist before that but they were mostly in the hands of enterprises. It was Steve and later Bill Gates who created the first wave for the personal computer.

Later in his career Steve believed that Music industry did not understand the digital movement, and he actually told a bunch of experienced music executives the same. The itunes was born as a result of Steve's belief as how music would be consumed by people.

In a corporation if the leader does not believe then the corporation is doomed. and that has happened over and over again all over the corporate world.

In conclusion Panda can teach business leaders a thing or two about management. The question is are their hearts and minds open to listening from a humble Panda?

I rest my case....