Business lessons from batman
June 20, 2005 | 12:00am
There’s no doubt about it – Batman Begins is the best of all the seven movies ever made on my childhood superhero and Bob Kane’s comic book creation, Batman. Thanks to the brilliant director Christopher Nolan, screenwriter David Goyer and actor Christian Bale.
Its worldwide release just before the Father’s Day weekend was quite timely for this film resonates with themes about honoring the memory and upholding the legacy of one’s father. Bruce Wayne, aka Batman, furiously sought to avenge his father’s cold-blooded murder, but he eventually saved his own soul and became a hero whose efforts to fight evil honor his dad’s nobility of spirit.
The film magnificently explores the saga of how the Batman legend started. The movie delves into the Dark Knight’s metamorphosis from a confused and angst-ridden rich orphan into a dynamic force for good in corruption-plagued Gotham City. After witnessing the cold-blooded murder of his parents as a child, angry and disillusioned business conglomerate heir Bruce Wayne (played superbly by Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice.
In this film, Bruce Wayne studied at Princeton, speaks fluent Mandarin, is a health buff, leads a double life as rich playboy by day and a crime-fighting, masked hero by night. His love interest is his childhood friend and an incorruptible prosecutor (played by Katie Holmes, real-life girlfriend of Tom Cruise). After a long and mysterious absence, which led him to a journey of rediscovery, Bruce returns to a decaying Gotham City where he creates his unique crime-fighting alter-ego Batman. This masked, caped crusader galvanizes his physical strength, intellectual powers, economic resources and the best high-tech devices to battle the dark forces destroying the city which his late father had sought to save.
Batman Begins, mind you, is not just for jumpy kids or swashbuckling teenagers who like to fantasize about doing daredevil acts. Its excellent and believable story has refreshing lessons relevant to all aspects of our lives, whether it be business, professional or personal. What are some lessons we can learn from Batman Begins?
Learn the ways of professional management, but wisely safeguard your own interests with appropriate checks and balances.
At the start of the movie, young Bruce Wayne’s physician father explained to him that he had entrusted the day-to-day operations of the Wayne business empire to an elite group of professional executives. However, the adult Bruce Wayne was astute. He did his own research and made corporate maneuvers to control the business group by buying majority of the shares during the public listing of shares. By doing so, he thwarted the selfish attempts of the chief executive officer to wrest control away from the Wayne family. When Bruce Wayne disagreed with the CEO, he put his foot down, decisively fired him and appointed research and development head Lucius Fox (played by Morgan Freeman). Lesson? Relying on professional management is essential to the tremendous growth of business or organizations, but the owners or the boss should not totally abdicate authority. He should also check on overall strategic directions and critically assess and supervise the performance.
Overcome your physical, psychological and other fears by confronting them.
One of the strengths of Batman Begins is its sensitive and credible portrayal of Bruce Wayne’s battles with his inner demons and fears – from a childhood phobia of bats due to an accidental fall into a well to guilt, bitterness and other anxieties. While lost in the underworld of poverty and criminality, Bruce was later snatched from jail and initiated into the secret criminal group called League of Shadows led by the villain Japanese warrior Ra’s al Ghul (played by Japanese actor Ken Watanabe) and his aide Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson).
This shadowy group sharpened Bruce Wayne’s outstanding fighting and other skills. They guided him to directly confront and overcome his fears. Bruce Wayne not only conquered his lifelong phobia of bats, he eventually used it as his new alter ego’s symbol. Bruce Wayne not only overcame his misplaced guilt, his bitterness, his vengeful heart; he was also able to rechannel his furies and passions to his fearless heroic exploits. Like Bruce, we should overcome our fears, not run away from them!
When you fail, don’t despair but rise again.
One of the poignant and recurring lines in this movie is the admonition for people not to be defeated by a fall or failure, but to always rise up again. From the boy Bruce Wayne’s accidental fall and rescue by his dad to the League of Shadows’ burning down the Wayne mansion and almost killing Bruce Wayne, there were evocative scenes throughout the movie which dramatize the thrill of overcoming failure with hard-fought triumphs. Whether in business or in one’s personal life, never be paralyzed with fear or despair when you fall down or suffer a temporary failure. Always learn valuable lessons from your setbacks and make a comeback.
Uphold justice and high principles, not vengeance and petty personal concerns.
In the movie, Bruce Wayne was tormented between the quest for vengeance and justice, between an idealism to promote peace and the will to acquire power. When Bruce attempted to use his own gun to shoot his parents’ murderer – who was freed by the corrupt court system of Gotham – and failed, his prosecutor-lady friend slapped his face in anger and reminded him not to violate the law with revenge. The end does not justify the means. Rule of law must prevail in civilized societies.
Use the best technologies available, or develop them.
Among the thrilling fun parts of this well-made movie are those scenes where Bruce goes down to the conglomerate’s neglected research and development division to shop around for fancy technological gadgets and weapons, and he went to test- drive the incredible Batmobile. In business, in politics or war, the ability to develop or discover the most modern technological innovations can often spell the difference between success and failure. Be always one step ahead of your competition, acquire technical know-how and aggressively push innovations in the way we do things. Reinvent ourselves. Innovate or perish! Arm ourselves with all the best arsenals of state-of-the-art technologies and information to win.
Never accept or compromise with evil, corruption, lies, and cynicism.
Like an allegory of our contemporary society driven through the heart and soul by the most damaging political scandals, Gotham City was once a marvelous place but is now on the decline due to pervasive corruption and cynicism. Politicians, judges, police and others in Gotham City have become corrupt to the core of their beings.
For evil to triumph, it is sufficient that the silent majority of decent people do nothing and just meekly accept evil, lies and double standards as normal. The honest police officer, the incorruptible prosecutor in Gotham City are among the few righteous and fearless people whose moral courage helped Batman vanquish the tentacles of evil.
How can a society truly flourish if there is unchecked corruption like in Gotham City? How can any nation-state truly thrive in peace, harmony and economic dynamism if the people are bedeviled by fear of arrogant criminals, weighed down by insufferable social injustices, or torn asunder by moral contradictions and hypocrisy?
Harness wealth, power and talents to promote the common good.
Bruce Wayne, the wealthiest person of Gotham City, didn’t just fritter away his social prestige, authority, economic wealth and high education on frivolities or mere self-aggrandizement. Inspired by the noble example of his murdered father and motivated by genuine decency in his heart, Bruce Wayne, as Batman, harnessed his unique God-given advantages for the promotion of the common good.
An important and very Christian lesson from Batman is that we should live our lives with a higher moral purpose, that we should wisely harness our blessings and resources to make this world a better place. The exciting and well-written saga is about Bruce Wayne/Batman overcoming his human frailties to aspire for heroism, turning his privileged life into a selfless crusade for justice and truth. To whom much has been given, much is also expected.
Who among our most successful, powerful, wealthiest, talented, well-educated and socially-privileged men and women would be inspired to lead Bruce Wayne/Batman-like lives of selfless public service in order to save our society from innumerable economic, political, cultural and moral crises, and rewrite the destiny of the Philippines?
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