In today’s rapidly evolving economy, professionals need to keep their skills sharp and current. However, finding time for a business or negotiation class can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. When you’re pressed for time, finding the lessons in TV shows can be a quick, easy, and fun way to refresh your skills. You just have to pick the right show.
If you’re looking to improve your business or negotiation knowledge, check out Money Heist. This binge-worthy Spanish drama tells the riveting story of ‘The Professor’, his eight-man heist crew and a brazen plan to rob the Royal Mint of Spain and the Bank of Spain. Here’s a quick look at some lessons that caught our attention.
Money Heist taught us not to be afraid to think big
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Bestselling author David Joseph Schwartz wrote in The Magic of Thinking Big, ‘Think little goals and expect little achievements. Think big goals and win big success’. In Money Heist, The Professor (Álvaro Morte) dared to think big and was handsomely rewarded.
Instead of walking into a bank to steal money, he chose to take up residence and print his own money. By allowing himself to think at an audacious level, The Professor’s team snagged €984 million ($1.1 billion) from the Royal Mint of Spain.
Thinking big is a mentality that can benefit businesses and negotiators alike. In business, thinking big helps drive out inertia and fuels innovation and progress. When it comes to negotiations, how you think can impact what you feel you’re entitled to ask for at the bargaining table.
Leverage can help to improve your bargaining power
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When Rio (Miguel Herrán) gets caught, The Professor (Álvaro Morte) tries to meet with the police to secure his release. However, the police are unwilling to engage as they have the upper hand. The Professor needs leverage, so he robs the Bank of Spain. The police, wanting to avoid the stinging loss and humiliation they suffered during the first heist, agree to negotiate.
In negotiation training classes, leverage is defined as an advantage one side has over the other to influence the discussion. Leverage can help level the playing field, so it’s particularly useful to have when you’re trying to make a deal and the other side seems to have more power.
Hire well, and have clear roles and responsibilities
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The Professor knows that to achieve his vision, it’s not enough to have a great plan. You also need to hire a kick-ass team to execute the plan. As a result, everyone on The Professor’s team has a specific skill. For instance, Nairobi is a forger, Rio is a hacker, Moscow is a digger and Helsinki is skilled at combat.
It can take time and money to find qualified candidates for your organisation. As hiring can be an urgent priority, many times companies try to speed things along and cut corners. While recruiting should not be a drawn-out process, rushing in recruitment can lead to poor decisions that affect team cohesion and performance.
Training can help boost teamwork and performance
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Even though The Professor hired individuals who were exceptional in their own merit, he still put them through five months of training. Training accomplished two important things. First, it helped everyone get to know each other and learn how to work well together. Second, the team was able to practise the plan.
In business, it can be tempting to hire star players and let them run free. However, it’s more important to ensure they’re rowing with instead of against the group. As six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan said, ‘Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships’.
When it comes to negotiations, practice helps you organise your thoughts and work on your delivery so you can achieve a favourable outcome. Also, if you’ve just completed a training class, taking time to practise is the best well to become proficient.
Money Heist also demonstrates that planning is key to success
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When you compare The Professor and his crew to the police, you would cast them as the underdogs. However, in the first heist, The Professor wiped the floor with the police. What becomes clear while the action draws out is that what tipped the scales in The Professor’s favour was the many years he spent hammering out the plan for the heist.
Planning can be a game-changer for businesses. According to The Telegraph, one in every five businesses fails in its first year. One of the top reasons for the failures is the lack of short-term and long-term planning. Planning helps businesses draw up a roadmap that gives them a sense of direction and keeps everyone on track.
Studies show that negotiators who are well prepared are better able to carve out a win than those who wing it. Taking time to plan before a negotiation allows you to identify your priorities and choose which strategy works best. When you know what you want and how to achieve it, you tend to be more confident, which is a key to winning at the bargaining table.
Manage your emotions
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The Professor set ground rules for the heist in an attempt to keep the team’s emotions from throwing a spanner in the works. Each time a character in Money Heist fails to manage their emotions, chaos erupts. For example, Tokyo’s (Silene Oliveira) restlessness results in Rio’s arrest. Palermo’s (Rodrigo De la Serna) anger drives him to help Gandia (José Manuel Poga), a hostage, escape. Gandia goes on to kill Nairobi (Alba Flores). The Professor also acts recklessly when he finds out Nairobi is dead.
Negotiations can test your patience, making it easy to lose control of your feelings. However, you’re more likely to have a positive outcome if you can stay cool when the conversation begins to heat up. This is why negotiation experts also echo similar advice to The Professor’s in their training classes.
What’s do you make of this feature?
Are you going to be watching Money Heist Season 5 Part 1 when it’s released on Netflix this September?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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