Best Practice (10): Suggestions for the Budding Professional

Using a list of quotes from various Hollywood movies.

The importance of pre-staging:
"When did Noah build the ark Gladys? Before the rain" --- Nathan Muir, Spy Game (2001)


The importance of pre-staging for a long term objective:
" ... Put away some money so you can die someplace warm and don't ever touch it. Not for anyone, ever. ... Don't *ever* risk your life for an asset. If it comes down to you or them... send flowers. " --- Nathan Muir, Spy Game (2001)


The Importance of Timing:
Frodo: You're late.
Gandalf: A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.
--- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring


The importance of "Image is everything"
Do they train you to be this vague, or is it a gift? --- Julia Fang, The Art of War (2000/I)
* * *
"Appearances are everything, Miss Fang. Politics and deception are built on it." --- Eleanor Hooks, The Art of War (2000/I)


The Importance of Being a Dominant Factor at the proper time:
Pippin: But we have the white wizard. That's got to count for something.
--- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King


The Importance of Understanding the Domino Factor (the connective impact):
" ... Why shouldn't I work for the N.S.A.? That's a tough one, but I'll give it a shot. Say I'm working at N.S.A. Somebody puts a code on my desk, something nobody else can break. So I take a shot at it and maybe I break it. And I'm real happy with myself, 'cause I did my job well. But maybe that code was the location of some rebel army in North Africa or the Middle East. Once they have that location, they bomb the village where the rebels were hiding and fifteen hundred people I never had a problem with get killed. Now the politicians are sayin', "Send in the marines to secure the area" 'cause they don't give a shit. It won't be their kid over there, gettin' shot. Just like it wasn't them when their number was called, 'cause they were pullin' a tour in the National Guard. It'll be some guy from Southie takin' shrapnel in the ass. And he comes home to find that the plant he used to work at got exported to the country he just got back from. And the guy who put the shrapnel in his ass got his old job, 'cause he'll work for fifteen cents a day and no bathroom breaks. Meanwhile my buddy from Southie realizes the only reason he was over there was so we could install a government that would sell us oil at a good price. And of course the oil companies used the skirmish to scare up oil prices so they could turn a quick buck. A cute little ancillary benefit for them but it ain't helping my buddy at two-fifty a gallon. And naturally they're takin' their sweet time bringin' the oil back, and maybe even took the liberty of hiring an alcoholic skipper who likes to drink martinis and play slalom with the icebergs, and it ain't too long 'til he hits one, spills the oil and kills all the sea life in the North Atlantic. So my buddy's out of work and he can't afford to drive, so he's got to walk to the job interviews, which sucks 'cause the shrapnel in his ass is givin' him chronic hemorrhoids. And meanwhile he's starvin' 'cause every time he tries to get a bite to eat the only blue plate special they're servin' is North Atlantic scrod with Quaker State. So what do I think? I'm holdin' out for somethin' better. Why not just shoot my buddy, take his job and give it to his sworn enemy, hike up gas prices, bomb a village, club a baby seal, hit the hash pipe and join the National Guard? I could be elected president. ..." Will, Good Will Hunting, 1997


The Importance of a Purpose-driven Life
"Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others. ... There is no nobility in poverty."
--- Carl Fox, Wall Street, 1987


The Importance of Self-reflection
"That's the problem with money--it makes you do things you don't want to do."
--- Gordon Gekko, Wall Street, 1987

"Man looks in the abyss, there's nothing staring back at him.
At that time a man finds his character--and that is what keeps him out of the abyss..."
--- Gordon Gekko, Wall Street, 1987


The importance of investing into good intelligence and other matters
Neil Shaw: You can never spend too much on good intelligence.
Bly: Or a good hooker.
--- The Art of War (2000/I)


The Importance of Understanding the Grand Game
Kate Sullivan: Someday the laws will change to put you out of business.
Lawrence Garfield: Change the laws all you want, but you can't stop the game. I'll still by here. I adapt.
--- Other People's Money (1991)
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Guidelines for an Independent Expeditor
Sam: Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt. That's the first thing they teach you.
Vincent: Who taught you?
Sam: I don't remember. That's the second thing they teach you.

Vincent: No questions. No answers. That's the business we're in. You just accept it and move on.
Maybe that's lesson number three.


[Sam accepts a cigarette offered by Vincent]
Sam: So, are you labour or management?
Vincent: If I were management, I would not offer you a cigarette!

Sam: All good things come to those who wait.

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