Just Don’t Be A “Munnabhai”!
OR
10 Things Not To Learn From Munnabhai
(Life Coaching Series)
Watch this video in case, you don't like reading just like Munnabhai...!
In my experience, I have observed that
ineffective leaders often don the garb of Munnabhai and try to steal the show
with their mere presence rather than doing something worthwhile. It is very
imperative for organizations to identify such tendencies in their leaders and
coach them for effectiveness.
Hence, rather than what we can learn from the
character of “Munnabhai”, I will be focusing on what kind of unlearning needs
to be done in order to be a good leader. Here are the key takeaways:
1.
Stick to the agenda – Just as in the movie Munnabhai interrupts during an inaugural session
asking a seemingly naïve question - Do we have to fill the form?, we all have co-workers who might do that in
regular meetings. The insecure leader often tries to divert the flow of
conversation into something that is not part of the agenda. Such leaders often
cause disinterest in the project and can even sabotage your useful time. I can
quote Elon Musk here – “Walk out of a meeting if you feel it is not useful”.
2.
Do not run a parallel story – Storytelling is an art and it goes a long
way in getting the buy in from the stakeholders, be it your customer or the top
management. In the movie, Munnabhai attempts to create parallel stories at
various points like setting up a makeshift hospital and pretending to be a
doctor when his parents come to visit or when he cooks up a false story during
a marriage proposal, etc. He keeps repeating the formula until a time comes
when he inflicts self-injury to prevent himself from being rusticated from the
medical college. Many leaders often fall into this trap where they try to run
parallel stories in order to influence the outcome of a particular task or
project in their favor. Eventually they end up hurting themselves or the
organization.
3.
Avoid gimmickry – A blatant mockery of the medical profession is made in the movie
especially when Munnabhai calls to treat a paralytic patient humanely by
addressing him with his name instead of using the word “subject”. Well, it can be
dismissed when done for entertainment purposes. As opposed to the theme of the
movie, it is a well-known fact that emotions can hinder the precision of a surgeon. Likewise, in a business setup a leader must never attempt using
gimmickry and hope for magic just as in the movie where the patient
miraculously starts responding to Munnabhai’s tricks. For example, too much use
of jargon where most of the team or stakeholders do not get it, is a waste of
everyone’s time, energy and resources. Elon Musk’s view – “Focus on the product
and not power-point” is very much valid in this scenario.
4.
Accept what is not understood – There is a scene where Munnabhai confesses
to his bosom friend Circuit that though he had broken bones of many, but he had
no idea that the human body is made up of 206 bones until getting into this
medical school. In a real-world scenario, one does not get the opportunity to
learn after the opportunity itself is lost. Hence, leaders must at times
upskill themselves and accept what is not understood upfront before the
beginning of any project. If the realization dawns at a later stage, it can
lead to wastage and cost a lot of resources to meet up with the loss.
5.
Do not sell dreams – It is a plain simple advice – do not sell dreams unless you are a
marketing or a sales guy. In the movie, a terminal cancer patient is made to
cheer up through a sensuous date with a hooker sent to the hospital. Well, this
might suit the plot of the movie but will crash all your expectations amid
reality. A good leader must never attempt to please his stakeholders for the
sake of personal benefit or any other ulterior motive. The true picture must be
presented with facts and a sinking project must not be used for siphoning off
resources.
6.
Be actionable – There is a scene in the movie where Munnabhai says “Thank You” and
gives a magical hug “Jaadu Ki Jhappi” to one of the housekeepers who usually
remains agitated possibly due to insensitive behavior of others around. Though
this is a beautiful concept that connects with everyone at an emotional level,
ineffective leaders use the very same “formula” to manipulate the perception of
the co-workers. Whenever there is a problem that everyone is trying to solve,
there are some leaders who will suggest something that seems quite attractive
or appealing initially but fails to deliver the results in the end. As a
result, the organization loses on optimization and service delivery results go
nose-diving.
7.
Do not downplay – In one scene, when a seriously emaciated Parsi patient is brought in
for treatment and put on an IV saline, Munnabhai retorts at the doctors saying
“Just feed him through the mouth” implying that there is no need of the standard
treatment. The scene is stretched later, wherein the patient himself gets up to
play carrom and drinks juice after his curiosity is awakened. Many leaders at
times engage in downplaying various matters like the expertise of their team,
criticality of the problem, inherent risk, etc. Irrespective of the reason
behind this sort of behavior, downplaying any critical component of an
enterprise will always lead to rework, rejection and failures.
8.
Do not overshadow – Throughout the movie, Munnabhai overshadows all other characters who
are made to look funny at various points of time. That makes a good script and
screenplay for a comedy movie but falls flat when it comes to ground reality.
Sometimes, leaders spread themselves across all aspects of a project or across
all processes of an organization. They do so to hide their insecurity and lack
of trust with the team. This may deliver quick wins initially as people
perceive you to be a star but will surely make your image wither out in the
long run as they start realizing your true worth or rather lack of it.
9.
Do not bite more than you can chew – The whole movie revolves around the plot of
Munnabhai wanting to become a “real” doctor. He fraudulently secures admission
in one of the best medical institutes, drags on till the end but utterly fails
in his final viva exam. In our zeal to achieve something more, to do what has
not been done before and project a larger-than-life image, we forget our own
limitations and end up overpromising and underdelivering. Many leaders fall
prey to this type of mentality and end with abandoned projects or unsatisfied
stakeholders.
10.
Stay relevant – In one of the scenes, Munnabhai is asked to dissect a body and is
given a scalpel which he holds like a knife. The professor smiles and advises
him to hold it like a pen. This seemingly short yet funny scene describes how
most leaders act in times of distress. I have seen many war-rooms and board
meetings, where when encountered with a new situation or problem, most leaders
usually fail to see the current scenario staring into their face. They almost
always fall back to their prior experience and start quoting what they had done
in a “similar” situation in their previous organization or assignment or
project. What one has done previously may not be relevant at all to the matter
at hand unless it is a case where specialist advice is needed. Thus, such
leaders who lack critical thinking skills may lose their credibility over a
period of time.
All said and done – Just Don’t Be a Munnabhai!
DISCLAIMER: Anecdotal examples from the movie Munnabhai M.B.B.S. are provided to deliver the message. The author is neither endorsing the movie nor criticizing it in whatsoever manner. The takeaways have been developed by the author based on “Reverse Psychology” as part of his life coaching series.
To know more and participate in my life
coaching sessions like this one – “Be WISE Program” (Wisdom is always within I Insights
is not what you alone see I Seity is all around you I Engineering of the self);
click on the contact link provided here.
