- ISBN13: 9780971154285
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Movies are magical. They can release us from the stress of everyday life. But movies also contain valuable lessons to improve the way we do business. In their entertaining new book, The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons From the Movies, authors Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo show how to use the stories in movies to solve problems in business. From The Godfather to Tootsie, from The Wedding Singer to Babe, the authors use more than sixty of their favorite movies to teach important lessons about branding, customer service, leadership, planning, ethics, and innovation. Readers will learn how to use stories from the movies to communicate clearly with employees, clients, and customers. The book includes mov… More >>
The book brings a new resource to the office – using popular movies to illustrate business leadership lessons. A few clips or reminders of a movie can bring everybody into a conversation about relevent topics. Movies have become such a part of our culture and this is one of the first tools that uses this common area of interest. I keep a copy on my desk and have had great conversations with my team and two requests for another copy!
Rating: 4 / 5
“The Big Picture” is a thoroughly enjoyable trip down movie memory lane that, at the very least, will make you wonder why they just don’t make movies like they used to. Once you’ve read it for fun, you’ll want to read it again to grasp the basic, but powerful business and life lessons Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo have cleverly extracted from movies as diverse as High Noon, Sex and the City, and Amadeus. As I read it – for a third time – I wrote down several “gems.” Some are helpful for keeping business challenges in perspective; others make great content for business presentations. Still others have been useful dinner conversation starters and object lessons when talking with my two teenagers. Totally worth the time to read … each time.
Rating: 5 / 5
What do you think about when you watch a movie? Unless it’s a complete dud, you’re probably not thinking about anything but the movie.
OK, turn that around. What do you think about when you’re not watching a movie? If you compare real-life events to movies, think of the right movie quotes for every situation, and see most movies the week they’re released in theaters, read on. A couple of movie buffs just like you put together what could be the ultimate compilation of business lessons from movies.
Many movies-even date movies and comedies-are full of lessons for business. Authors Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo cover the best of those lessons in The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies. In their new book, they share the business wisdom in 65 famous classic and modern movies. The Big Picture’s combination of clever business analysis with the joy of cinema makes it a fun, insightful read.
Content
The Big Picture is broken down into six parts, which in turn are divided into fifty-one short (4-12 page) chapters. Every chapter is devoted to a different business lesson, indicated in the title section of the chapter. Lesson topics include branding, customers, strategy, leadership, ethics, and more. In each chapter, you learn what a certain movie is about, and what themes and scenes carry the relevant business lesson.
The most gratifying business lessons are the unexpected ones. For example, the authors derive a good lesson from Charlie Wilson’s War. In it, Congressman Charlie Wilson, only one person, managed to make a huge difference in Afghanistan’s Soviet resistance movement. Sadly, his efforts ultimately ended up being in vain, because Congress never passed a motion to rebuild Afghanistan afterwards. The lesson: One person can make a difference, but if you don’t see the job through, it can all go down the toilet.
Many of the authors’ movie selections are also refreshing. Who knew you could learn about the importance of delivering bad news as soon as it happens from Adam Sandler’s “The Wedding Singer”? Despite many clever and original movie choices, however, a few lessons, like build relationships in good times (shown through The Godfather), are rather obvious.
The authors sometimes banter with one another, or give you different individual insights in the same chapter. That keeps the book fun.
Thoughts
The Big Picture could be a great resource for presentations, speeches, training, and any other business activity that could use good movie references. The authors make it easy for you to find a cinematic example to express your business point. This may be a good book to keep around as a reference if you speak or team-build frequently.
The authors’ well-written commentary made me want to see a number of movies again–or for the first time. That said, I’m not a movie buff. I like movies, but it’s not a habit of mine to think about them outside of the movie theater. For that reason, the book felt more laborious to me than I think it would have to a true movie fan.
I also noticed that it was more fun to read about the movies I’d already seen than those I hadn’t. This also makes me think that someone who has seen-and remembered-a lot of movies would enjoy this book a little more than a casual movie watcher like me. That’s also why I gave it 3 stars. The writing is great, the ideas are original and good, but as a casual movie watcher (rather than a full-blown movie fan), I just couldn’t get that into it.
All in all, if you’re a movie buff, The Big Picture will gratify and instruct. It’s also useful if you want a good reference book for motivational, team-building, and training speeches. I recommend it for movie lovers, movie critics, and anyone with a heart for cinema.
(Review by Drea Knufken as posted on [...])
Rating: 3 / 5
The Big Picture is a wonderful read. Full of examples drawn from movies both new and old, it will remind you of much you knew, and some stuff you may not have thought of before. It is a great source as you prepare for your next meeting or presentation. I am sure the authors wouldn’t mind if you borrowed a little bit. After all, Kevin comes clean on his borrowing of Hoosiers for a Little League team he coached ! Nice to see two guys who “get it”, translate a lot of theoretical concepts into very pragmatic dialogue. Pick it up. You won’t be disappointed. And it will probably expand your Netflix list big time when you start remembering all the movies you will want to watch again. Has anyone seen Mr. DeMille ?
Rating: 4 / 5
One of the best business books I have read. (Death to all Sacred Cows is the other.)
Many business books are too obtuse and essentially not practical: hard to apply the learning. What this little gem has going for it is vivid examples to underline the authors points that we all know and therefore can easily apply.
Rating: 4 / 5