Why Would the Jedi Council Be an Awful Solution for Your Company Management?
Everyone born after the 70s has dreamt at least once about becoming a Jedi Knight. Roaming the galaxy in your spaceship, interacting with a myriad of interesting species and, of course, and being a member of the elite society as old as the galactic civilization itself. However, the most fairytale-like feature in this universe is not the force or the alien species, but the very fact that the Jedi Order survived millennia under such bad management. Many people might raise their brow in wonder on this statement. After all, Jedi masters have always been powerful and wise. Still, those at the top of the corporate ladder know that Jedi Council is the last organization you want behind the helm of your business. Here are several reasons why. Taking Too Much Time to Decide The last two words you could describe Jedi counsel with would be impulsive and hasty. If all, there isn't probably a precedent in canon or the extended universe where a Jedi Council made a decision overnight. Unfortunately, it is exactly this kind of decision-making that top management needs from time to time. Reluctance or failure to act often result in a catastrophe. Of course, businessmen all over the world are constantly advised not to make decisions until they have reviewed all the data, but sometimes, by the moment this data arrives, it may already be too late. A perfect example of this is the fate of Yahoo that waited for the right moment and missed it entirely. In 1998, Yahoo refused to buy Google for $1 million dollars because they were waiting to see what will become of this young company. In 2002, they offered Google $3 billion and then refused to follow up on the counter offer of $5 billion. Their next failure to act was when Microsoft offered them $40 billion in 2008. Eight years later, they were sold to Verizon for roughly $4.8 billion. As you can see, the inability to act at the right moment and constantly waiting for some even bigger revelation resulted in what is today known as the saddest deal in tech history. Failure to Change under Circumstances Of course, not everything about the Jedi Council principles in business is necessarily bad. One of the good things they bring in the business is the fact that they never back out on their word. This means that their clients never have to resort to safety measures such as activating a banking guarantee or a surety bond. On the downside, this also means that once they have set a course, there is no backing down, which may on occasion prevent them from cutting loses in time. Code of honor or pride, it matters not, since one of the most important things that a business world needs is flexibility. Sticking to the original plan to the very end seldom ends well in the volatile landscape that most modern industries are. In order to see how failure to change may bring business to ruin, one shouldn't look further than Blockbuster Video. In 2004 at their peak, this conglomerate had over 9,000 outposts. When the era of the internet reached its prime, they failed to see the opportunity behind it. In 2000, they were offered the unique chance to buy Netflix for no more than $50 million. This opportunity would have allowed them to refocus (or even pivot) at the right moment and thus remain afloat. Needless to say, Blockbuster Video became defunct in 2013, while Netflix is today in its prime. That, of course, doesn't mean they won't meet the same faith if they fail to learn from the mistakes of their predecessors. Failure to Recognize Talent While the highest ranking members of the Jedi Order (mainly master Yoda and Mace Windu) are usually perceived as sympathetic figures, they did make more than one mistake in the Star Wars Saga. One of them was rejecting and underappreciating young Anakin at every step. Sure, some may defend them by pointing out that they sensed the dark side in him years before it came to prominence, but others may claim that they carry a part of responsibility for that, as well. As an orphan/slave from Tatooine, all Anakin ever wanted was some recognition. When he failed to get it from the Jedi Council, he looked for another "employer." Every football fan knows that Real Madrid rejected Ronaldinho because he was too "ugly" for their team. This is also why they took Beckham instead. This was probably the single worst move their management made in this century, since he later went on to decimate their ranks on every duel Real had with Barcelona. One thing everyone in the business world needs to learn from this is that, by failing to recognize a great talent, you are not taking them out of the equation. You are adding them to the arsenal your enemy/competition is going to use against you. Being Too Secretive Finally, if there is one thing that every single fan of the franchise will admit, it is that Jedi Council simply had too many secrets. Of course, there is always some classified information not for meant for everyone, but hiding facts from your employees, especially if they're vital for their work, most often tends to backfire. For example, by telling Luke the truth about his father, Yoda and Obi-Wan might have prepared him better for their encounter. Earlier on, by keeping Anakin in the dark, they only showed him their distrust, which might have also led to his downfall. The examples of when lies and secrets resulted in disaster in the business world are too numerous to count. Conclusion: As you can see, even though they did pretty well for thousands of years in the fictional universe, it is highly unlikely that a Jedi Council-led company would fare well in the today's business world. Their numerous shortcomings and virtue-like flaws can be serious obstacles to any business' road to success. When reading a book or watching a movie, nothing prevents you from rooting for the good guys. Still, when choosing a board of directors for your company, it might be wise to look for a bit more of a sith-like qualities.
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