The other day I was watching the film The Maze Runner with my oldest daughter. It's an interesting, unremarkable, but decent science fiction film with a premise, story development and characters that are original and well-executed enough to entertain, which is its purpose.
The film
For today's article to make sense we have to do a brief review of the film, so for anyone who hasn't seen it (and intends to see it)....
Spoiler alert: the film tells the story of how some young people (more like teenagers) are appearing in a forest glade without knowing how or why they are there. They do not remember anything, only their name after a few days. There they meet a community of other teenagers to whom the same thing has happened and who have been living there for years, alone, without adults, without knowing where they are, what they are doing there and, most importantly: how to get out. How to get out because the clearing where they live is surrounded by huge walls that enclose their forced residence. These walls are opened for a short period each day and a group of chosen ones (the runners) go out to explore the labyrinth that hides behind the walls in the hope of finding a way out.
Each day they go out, map a part of this dynamic maze (which changes its configuration of towering walls every day) and bring back new information for the map they configure of the immense puzzle.
The main characters
While watching the film, the work in the form of archetypes of the characters was very clear. The script sets the outlines of the characters and their attributes, which are key because it is they, the characters, who must push the story forward with their actions and inactions.
This is precisely what stood out for me about the story, so I watched it as a sci-fi film to have a good time with my daughter and, at the same time, I could not help seeing it as a metaphor of three archetypes, three types of mentalities, which lead to three types of roles in professional life that are very different and with their own very distinctive characteristics: the entrepreneur, the executive and the status quoist.
Alby: the Executive
Today’s article is the first of a series comprising 3 articles and it’s going to be centered around Alby, the executive.
When Thomas, the protagonist, appears in the forest glade for the first time, there is already an organization in place as to how things work there. The one who has set that structure and organization in motion, with its places, rules and assignment of roles to the teenagers who have been there for some time is Alby, the executive, who is accepted by everyone as the leader in a natural, frictionless way.
Alby has a kind, protective leadership style, while at the same time he takes care with good intentions that order remains and life can develop in a peaceful, organized way, where everyone does their role, so that the community manages to continue functioning. If there are problems in the environment, he steps up and leads the way in solving them. If there is friction between the guys in the clearing, he does the same, steps in and resolves it in a kind, fair, but firm way.
Everything runs its course thanks to Alby, well-intentioned. Everyone recognizes this, so Alby, the executive, represents the Status Quo. We are what we are and we do what we do because Alby exists, and is the one who has designed it and executes that design every day, so that it stays that way. Thank you, Alby.
In order to reach the current reasonable harmony and security, Alby had to go through a creative phase (he was the first to arrive in the glade and was there alone for a month) in which one senses that he set in motion the foundations of the organization that functions today and in which they all live. This must have been his biggest effort, everyone recognizes him for that month alone and for having created the world they know today, integrating all those who appear each month in it, giving them a vital support and a role to play in the structure created.
After this phase, Alby has become a pure executive, executing every day the tasks that keeps the wheel in motion. Within the tasks of that machinery he even has his own "exploration and exit plan", which he executes through a group of runners (the fastest of those living in the clearing), who explore the maze outside the walls every day and bring back information.
This information is put on a map to try to understand how what lies beyond it works and what possibilities there are to get out of there. This is the riskiest side of Alby, but being what he is, an executive, it is a very controlled risk: you enter at this time, stay in for this long and leave each day after the same period of time. Only the same people come in each day, chosen by the leader. None of this changes or can change. It is repeated every day. This way we make sure you explore, but we don't unnecessarily risk people's lives.
We have been like this for three years, too.
Moreover, the film reveals that the runners and Alby have finished the map of the maze outside the walls some time ago and that there is no way out, but they hide it from the others because Alby wants to keep the morale high and the people with a hope and a motive to keep them going every day.
Alby wants to preserve the Status Quo that works so that everyone is fine, which is well-intentioned, but it is not honest: his plan has not found a way out (even with 3 years of executive discipline) and he does not communicate it to others.
That is also well-intentioned, but it is a lie. And leaders should not lie to those who trust them, but rather, when the time comes (not necessarily on the first day, when it is not yet clear whether things are as they seem to be or whether there are more options to be implemented) they should tell it like it is, explain the situation and propose a plan, if they have one, or open the playing field for everyone to put forward their option, which they or another leader who emerges from the group can then lead.
This is what executives in leadership positions should be doing.
Fortunately, they often do, and their leadership is usually strengthened by the fact that the group they lead recognizes that they are well-intentioned, honest, have sought the best solution, have executed it to the best of their ability and, when they have had no other options, they communicate the situation and open the way to new ideas.
This type of person is a leader, an executive who executes a plan, a system, in this case, but he is human and, as such, sometimes fails or sometimes does not find a way. He is honest about this and most of the time this strengthens his position, not destroys it, which is what many executive leaders fear. Also, if it has to be destroyed, it will be, whether he wants it to be or not, because some new leader will emerge who will undermine the status of the current leader whom "not everyone trusts" anymore because of the way he behaves or because of his competence to be the best suited to lead everyone.
When a leader is in a difficult position like this, my advice has always been, as a moral matter, first (because it is the right thing to do and that is enough) and pragmatic, then (if morality does not encourage the leader to do so, at least the pragmatism of what can happen) to open the information, be honest and continue with his leadership if he believes he is the right person to continue or to let pass the one who comes with a new approach and is recognized by the majority as the new leader.
I call this the choice of letting the new leader pass you in an orderly way on the left or forcing the new leader to pass you on the right in a dangerous overtake, because you have left him no other choice. What is sure is that he will overtake you. You can choose how, but not that it won't happen to you. Many executives do not realize this and sometimes end up not only overtaken on the right and with the car in a mess after the drag, but sometimes end up off the track.
Laid off, on the street, directly.
Alby, lights and shadows.
The lights: he has done the best he knew, he has created the best he was able to (he is not a creator, he is an executive, so you have to give him credit for organizing something from scratch), he has maintained an order that has allowed everyone to live for quite some time without altercations, he has put in place and executed a plan to get out of there and he has not succeeded.
The shadows: finally, in the face of that, he has lied to his people and has them fooled because he has already decided for them that that is better than any alternative. But there are more shadows. If we look closely, we will see that what characterizes the archetype of Alby's character, the executive, is the ability to keep a machine in motion and manage it (execute), but the common factor in everything he does is a low risk exposure.
Risk, this is the key concept that makes Alby what he is, the executive, and not something else. This is also the key concept that when his plan of exploration and orderly mapping of the maze fails, he is not able to put more options in place, because he does not feel comfortable increasing the level of risk, which makes the situation become stagnant water that is going to break the dam somewhere due to the buildup of pressure that will inevitably happen.
This is the maze runner and this is Alby, but it is surprisingly similar to what happens to an executive in charge of a business unit or a company that does not manage to make enough changes to adapt to demand changes (consumers), to defend itself and overcome the competition, to adapt to changes in the macro environment, to changes within the company, etc. Therefore, if it continues to execute the same system, but does not have more innovative and creative capacity, nor is it capable of assuming more risk, it can reach a dead end. And in fact, he often does. Other times, life does not put him in such complex situations for an executive and he can continue to execute with few changes for a long time.