Point Lookout: a free weekly publication of Chaco Canyon Consulting
Volume 4, Issue 30;   July 28, 2004: Films Not About Project Teams: I

Films Not About Project Teams: I

by

Here's part one of a list of films and videos about project teams that weren't necessarily meant to be about project teams. Most are available to borrow from the public library, and all are great fun.
Apollo 13 Shoulder Patch

Apollo 13 Shoulder Patch

Part Two of this list. >

Courtesy NASA.

People who work together in teams face challenges that go beyond the problem to be solved, and even beyond the technologies employed to solve that problem. They must work together under conditions ranging from calm to crisis. But because people have been working together as long as there have been people, we can learn how to work on projects from almost any story of people.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre
A study of scope creep and team dynamics. Humphrey Bogart's "Dobbs" gives us insight into one particular source of scope creep — ambition. The team dynamics that develop as a consequence of Dobbs's greed are often mirrored in project teams. Director: John Huston. Humphrey Bogart, Walter Huston. 1948. DVD: 126 min. Order from Amazon.com.
Apollo 13
Watch and learn how Ed Harris's Gene Kranz, flight director, makes the right decisions to lead the team back from the brink of disaster. We also see team dynamics under extreme stress, both in the capsule and on the ground, and good examples of CYA and state-of-the-art group problem solving. Director: Ron Howard. Tom Hanks, Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon. 1995. DVD: 140 min. Order from Amazon.com.
NOVA: Super Bridge
A documentary by US Public Television's Nova that follows the construction of a suspension bridge over the Mississippi just above St. Louis. Follow the designers and constructors through a bewildering tangle of delays, technological problems, floods, and biting cold as they deal with all obstacles to make the bridge a reality. Narrator: Hal Holbrook. 1997. VHS: 120 min. Order from Amazon.com.
Mutiny on the Bounty
Make your project For learning about
project management,
film is probably
the best thing next
to actual experience
plan carefully, and don't bet on things working the way you want them to. Captain Bligh went for the gold, and ended up losing — he had to backtrack from Cape Horn, lost a year, and then tried to make up the schedule on the backs of the crew. A study in managing by force vs. leadership. Director: Frank Lloyd. Charles Laughton, Clark Gable, Franchot Tone. 1935. DVD: 132 min. Order from Amazon.com.
Defending Your Life
An example of how not to run a project retrospective. Director: Albert Brooks. Albert Brooks, Meryl Streep. 1991. DVD: 112 min. Order from Amazon.com.
The Last Place on Earth
Originally produced for US Public Television's Masterpiece Theater, this story of the race to the South Pole between two expeditions led by Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen is based on the masterwork of the same name by Roland Huntford. When viewed as a case study in project management, it explores the issues of focus, risk management, conventional wisdom, science, and innovation. Dir. Ferdinand Fairfax. Martin Shaw, Sverre Anker Ousdal. 1984. DVD: 396 min. Order from Amazon.com. Or read the book.
The African Queen
At the beginning of World War I, in September 1914, Rose Sayer, a Methodist missionary, and Charlie Allnut, a Canadian boat captain, find themselves on a desperate journey using Allnut's boat — the African Queen — to escape internment and possible execution by German military in German East Africa. Temperamentally and culturally at odds with each other, Charlie and Rose gradually form an alliance to attack the German patrol boat Luise. How Rose convinces Charlie to undertake this daunting task is a study in team development and the tools of influence. Rose is played by Katharine Hepburn, and Charlie by Humphrey Bogart in his only Oscar-winning role (best actor). Order from Amazon.com

If you look at just one of these per month, you'll be busy for half a year. Do you have favorites of your own? Send them along!  Films Not About Project Teams: II Next issue in this series  Go to top Top  Next issue: Some Truths About Lies: I  Next Issue

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A white water rafting team completes its courseComing December 11: White Water Rafting as a Metaphor for Group Development
Tuckman's model of small group development, best known as "Forming-Storming-Norming-Performing," applies better to development of some groups than to others. We can use a metaphor to explore how the model applies to Storming in task-oriented work groups. Available here and by RSS on December 11.
Tuckman's stages of group developmentAnd on December 18: Subgrouping and Conway's Law
When task-oriented work groups address complex tasks, they might form subgroups to address subtasks. The structure of the subgroups and the order in which they form depend on the structure of the group's task and the sequencing of the subtasks. Available here and by RSS on December 18.

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