Lessons on Life & Management via

Multimedia
Manasa Narayan
MBA 1st Year
S173F0025

Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think, said Albert Einstein,
and the wisdom of these words was evidenced as part of the exercise of watching and discussing
a 3-part video series, which each showcased interaction between animals and birds to exemplify
life and management lessons.
Embarking on the journey with the Pixar short film For the Birds, directed by Ralph Eggleston,
we bore witness to the changing behaviours of a flock of birds, when different situations arose.
group which was initially pecking and flapping at one another, each looking to make their own
space on the wire they were seated on, it was seen, immediately grouped together and united
against an intruder into their ranks the big bird. Here, the in-group out-group bias, was clearly
evidenced in the behaviour of the flock of the little birds both towards the big bird and amongst
themselves, where despite them having engaged in in-fighting but a few minutes prior to the
entry of the big bird, they all came together as a team to discourage the big bird from becoming
part of their group. While there was no clear representation of what basis the big bird was
discriminated on, or even whether the bird was viewed to be superior or inferior to the flock; an
important lesson about human nature gleaned here, was the importance of being a Roman in
Rome, or attempting to be part of the flock, for, if one doesnt appear to be part of the herd,
even if ones qualities are superior to the group, they may be viewed as an outcast.
While from the behaviour of the little birds, there were important life lessons, such as the need
to be prepared for the consequences of ones actions, and to not be so involved in ones task,
that that input from others is completely disregarded as others may see what we dont; looking
at the situation from the perspective of the big bird, many positive qualities could also be learnt.
These included, having an optimistic outlook, making the best of a bad situation and if possible,
using it to ones advantage. While the big bird, despite posing no apparent threat, instead seeking
the company of the little birds, was constantly treated by the flock as an unwanted intruder to
the extent of the little birds trying to force the big bird to fall of the wire the big bird, appeared
to hold no malice, and did not use its superior size to harm the little birds despite provocation.
However, this is not to say the big bird did not act at all. The bird, instead used to its advantage
both its own size and the little birds behaviour of pecking at the big birds talons, to make it
fall to engineer such a situation where it could land safely, with barely any distance to fall. The
fact that this situation led to the little birds losing all their feathers by being catapulted into space
because of the tension created in the wire, while the big bird, who did not seek to cause any
harm remained safe, further could be interpreted as the result of karma, or put simply justice.
That the big bird even upon such treatment, sought to help the naked little birds by offering them
feather or letting them hide behind it, further highlighted the importance of being oneself, even
in the face of negativity.
My favourite of the three videos, Piper the award-winning Pixar short film, written and directed
by Adam Barillaro was the next in the audio-visual series. A video, which brings about new
insight, every time I view it. Applying the video to possible management situations, the film
evoked a plethora of learnings, right from the importance of learning from anyone who had
knowledge to share, irrespective of who they were as Piper learnt from the crab, to the fact
that there is often more than one way to solve a problem here, finding food, where even if one
way works for everyone, it may not necessarily be the best for you. This I believe, was also one
aspect of the video shown by Professor Dave, where while the little boy could have spent the
Rs.50 note on any of the conventional means such as eating an ice-cream what brought him
most happiness was helping the woman in distress. Further, the film highlighted the importance
of having people with diverse experiences around oneself for would Piper have ever learned
what he did, if not for the crab? the need to step out of ones comfort zone, to gain new
perspectives, and the usefulness of being observant, and learning from ones surroundings. The
oft face real-life scenarios of having to motivate oneself and deal with ones fears to perform a
task, despite sometimes if lucky having others to support and push one to perform a task,
was also beautifully highlighted in the film, specifically stressing on the need to face and
overcome the fear of change, for change though difficult, if faced well, can also have beautiful
consequences. This video, particularly, has had a great impact on my current situation of being
a student from a Humanities background, in a course, where almost everything appears
unfamiliar and daunting to me. With Pipers fears, I completely relate, and take away from this
viewing, a hope to deal with the situations I am yet to face, with as much aplomb as Piper did at
the end.
This lesson of dealing with and adapting to changes in ones life, was also than amplified in the
story of Dustin the short film by Michael Fritzsche wherein a pug has to deal with a new life
situation the entry of Dustin the automatic cleaning robot, as his new roommate. Not only a
roommate, but one who poses a challenge to him, in terms of being a competitor for his food
and treats. While initially depicting the antagonistic view Justin the pug took toward Dustin, this
film, also highlighted the role for healthy competition in making work more enjoyable as seen
in Justins dismay when the robot completely out of charge and would no longer compete with
him to grab the treats. As in For the Birds, here too, the value lesson of good begets good also
made an appearance, in the eventual bonding between Justin and Dustin, which arose from the
good deed Justin did, when Dustin was in need.
From this highly enjoyable and insightful series of videos, while there was much learnt, to
conclude, Id like to focus on the most immediately impactful takeaway I have had that while
situations may not seem the easiest, or most favourable to start off with; what matters most, is
how we deal with them. For, those circumstances which seem the hardest, polish and refine us
the best, and every situation, if dealt with in the right manner, and preferably with a positive
outlook, has a positive outcome if only, as a source of new learning.