He said to his boss, “We can’t do what you’re asking!” His boss’s response was….. interesting.
Yesterday, I dug out these old Star Wars toys to shoot a photo for my kids. This got me thinking about how they did the special effects in the old Star Wars movies. So, I watched a documentary series called Light and Magic about the team that worked on Star Wars.
There’s a great section of the documentary where one of the special effects guys talks about a shot that had never been done on film before.
The director George Lucas asked whether the shot was possible. The effects guy immediately said, “That can’t be done”…….to which Lucas calmly replied, “Just have a think about it.”
He shook his head, but agreed to think about it…….and it took the special effects guy 15 minutes to figure out how to get it done. The result was a groundbreaking moment in filmmaking.
This got me thinking about how we react as leaders when we receive unwelcome news from our people. Do we get frustrated or annoyed……or get into a bun fight about who’s right and wrong?
Or do we do what George Lucas did…..remain calm and considered…. creating an environment where people can voice their views and feel empowered to collaborate with others to solve problems?
Sometimes fast thinking doesn’t serve us well, and it pays to slow down and let our brains (and the brains around us) work the problem.
If you disagree with what I’m saying……”Just have a think about it.”