Last night I went to the movies and saw "Social Network." Not only was it a wonderfully paced, exciting movie about the developers of Facebook, but markedly pointed out to me that being a genius is not good enough to to gain true satisfaction from making tons of money from an idea. For those of you unfamiliar with the concept and development of Facebook (FB), Mark Zukerberg, a programming genius at Harvard, scorned by his girlfriend in 2003, purportedly 'stole' an idea from other Harvard students and together with his best friend (Eduardo Saverin) came up with a social networking idea that revolutionized how we seek and maintain contacts and social information in the world. Zukerberg, never interested in the financial aspect of it, wanted to maintain its purity; his best friend, and first CFO of the company who provided the start-up capital, was interested in ways to monetize FB. The entrance of Sean Parker (founder of Napster who moved the operation to Silicon Valley and found the venture capital for its growth) triangulated the friendship of three brilliant men with three different visions. A TEAM GONE WRONG, at least from an operative standpoint.
What resonated with me was the obvious sadness emanating from Zukerberg throughout the movie, first rejected by a girl he was interested in, then being ostracized at Harvard and eventually losing the one friend (Saverin) who was most likely least motivated in using Zukerberg's talent for his own gain. Throughout the legal battles described in the movie is an unhappy Zukerberg and an unhappy Saverin, most likely about their estrangement. While everyone makes money from FB, no one in the movie leaves happily. So much for self-actualization of these brilliant young men.
This group could have been helped, however, to avoid the loss of friendship. What went wrong? The answer is obvious. They were "clever" young men in a potentially "clever" organization that needed an infrastructure to not only manage the business growth but also the relationship development. Had they had the insight (or advice of their venture capitalists) to help align their company values and goals, perhaps their strong relationship might have been preserved. And social networking is all about relationships, isn't it?
Traditional intelligence (the "g" factor) is not a be-all, end-all.
This movie highlights the need for emotional and social intelligence, which are under-developed in these brilliant young men. Had they received assessment and coaching to develop emotional and social competence in leadership positions, they would have found a way to align their differing values and to preserve a wonderful friendship.
So sad. What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment