Summer is fast approaching, with the usual slowdown in mandates in many sectors of activity. For some professionals, it’s time to get their desks in order and why not, take a step back and reflect on their practice. Here are 3 suggestions of fiction series to inspire or entertain managers and HR professionals.
1 – Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
Ted Lasso is an American soccer coach who has been recruited to save a European soccer club (AFC Richmond) and restore its former glory. You read that right: an American soccer coach who doubles as a soccer coach… The series’ slightly far-fetched premise serves to show how Ted Lasso’s management philosophy transcends sport or an organization’s culture.
Coach Lasso embodies the perfect “manager” of our time: he oozes authenticity, caring, empathy and resilience. He’s good-humored and optimistic, and seeks to tap into the intrinsic motivations of each player to bring them to their full potential.
And you know what: it works. At least, it makes you want to believe it. To believe that kindness is a much better tool to “elevate” team members – through positive reinforcement, mostly, but not always – than authoritarian or denigrating practices. Two seasons to watch on Apple TV+.
To whet your appetite, here are three quotes from Ted Lasso:
Taking on a challenge is kind of like riding a horse, right? If you don’t feel discomfort doing it, you’re probably doing it the wrong way.”
As a great one once said, the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
If the internet has taught us anything, it’s that sometimes it’s easier to speak your mind anonymously.”
2 – Our flag means Death (HBO Max)
Can a boss be too kind, too understanding, too benevolent…? This is the question asked by David Jenkins, the author of the surprising series Our flag means death (Le pirate gentleman in French), launched by HBO in March 2022.
In the age of piracy, an aristocrat named Stede Bonnet abandons the comfort of his castle to become a pirate, but a “gentle” pirate, who takes safety very seriously, refuses to bully his crew and only seeks “safe” missions to limit damage and loss of life. So much so that, at the beginning of the story, this ship is sailing happily across the ocean and not attacking anyone.
Soon, however, there is discontent among the crew, who are thirsty for glory, blood and booty. Events will force the gentleman pirate to assume a firmer leadership, without losing his sensitivity. A most interesting reflection for a manager who wonders how to deal with the different personalities of his team while exercising a “benevolent” leadership.
3 – Human Resources (Netflix)
In a completely different vein, the makers of the completely crazy animated series “Big Mouth” got permission from Netflix to explore the adult world of one of their “hormonal” characters. On Google, the series is described as follows:
“Human Resources presents the daily lives of ‘hormonal monsters,’ ‘depression cats,’ ‘shame wizards’ and other creatures that help humans through every stage of life: puberty, parenthood and even twilight.”
The characters, each stranger than the last, meet every day at the office to make the most outrageous remarks that one can imagine around the cubicles and at the coffee machine. Anti-politically correct as one could wish, this series will make the Richard Martineau’s of this world, who think that “one cannot say anything” in society and at work, rejoice.
More seriously, this series tries to find compromises, “common reasons” within a team where the members have diametrically opposed desires. Here’s how Nick Kroll, one of the series’ writers, describes the proposition:
With adults, it allows you to explore new topics. For example, the sensitivity training episode [first episode] allowed us to talk about what workplaces have become: there are things that don’t pass muster today, probably with good reason. The beauty of having monsters and designers as the main characters is that you can exaggerate situations to make them ridiculous, while exploring the idea that not everyone has the same office culture. And so, how can hormonal freaks give free rein to their sexual urges while remaining respectful of their co-workers?”
Happy listening!
