Monday, September 03, 2007

Spin_short film



SPIN is a great training or teaching tool. There are many different concepts in this that can be applied to life as well as a tool to be used for management. The four main concepts in this video that strike me as the most important are:
1. Understanding the motivations of people can help you to create a better future and to capitalize on people’s true potential.
2. How events can trigger other events is important to understand, sometimes in life and in managing you need to look at how a decision will affect future outcomes and decisions.
3. Sometimes what seems to be a negative event for most, can be a positive catalyst for someone else. Utilize this to turn a negative into an opportunity.
4. Symbiosis, sometimes many different people possess something that others need and that if they contribute to each other, then the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. It is not a zero-sum game, everyone can win.

At first, the spin master tries to move the basketball into different trajectories without taking the individuals into account. This ends up causing more tragedy than before when he didn’t intervene. When he gets frustrated, he concentrates on the people. When he does, he is able to see their differences in background, their motivations and what wavelength they are on at this moment. At this point he moves the ball to the older man realizing that it may give him what he needs, a glimpse of his youth. When the old man dribbles the ball it gives the dancer the rhythm that he needs to be inspired. When he begins to dance, the little girl is captivated and walks through the gang members which makes them think about the future and how maybe this rivalry is unnecessary. As one of the gang members walks away he causes the bicyclist to swerve and knock the sandwich out of the businessman’s hand which startles the guy walking while talking on his cell phone. A dog runs to the sandwich, and the dog owner walks over to get her dog and ends up meeting the guys who had been on his phone. The older woman in the wheelchair, inspired by the older man dribbling the ball stands up and begins to dance with the older man. The drug dealer having witnessed this beauty around him looks at his money and realizes that he should give it all to the dancer / philosophy major. At the end the little girl ends up dropping her doll and the head breaks off. The spin master at first is about to leave anyway as it doesn’t seem that bad, but he seems to contemplate all of the potential future consequences of his inaction and finally decides to intervene. This is also a great example of taking the extra time to get something done right.

It is important to note that the ball moving towards anyone else was a negative event that would end in tragedy. When he looked at the differences in the individuals and their motivations, he was able to see what each person was seeking or needed at that moment in time. He is able to look ahead multiple steps to see how one thing can affect another. This is important to take into account for decisions in life and in management. The ball that falls out of the bag can be viewed as a negative event, but he is able to capitalize on the fact that this event is a positive to the older man. We see this all the time in our lives as something that seems negative is a positive to someone else. A snowy day is a burden to a commuter, but gets a skier excited. A drop in oil prices can cut profits in certain companies while increasing profit in others. It’s important to look at events more thoroughly so that we can see if there is an opportunity embedded in it. The spin master was able to create a symbiotic environment where everyone seemed to gain something from each other and all of them end up happier than they were previously. Each person had something that the others needed but if the events were slightly different, then nobody would have been rewarded. He was able to look into what motivated each person and see how the attributes of others could be used to help everyone. This is an excellent example of the complex interactions of people and variables in our lives. Having a better understanding of these events and the motivations, differences and mindset of those around us can help us navigate through and manage an increasingly complex world. (Richard Didonato)

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