THE DIRECTOR'S CUT
Stephen Spielberg's seminal sharkfest was probably the first of theconfusingly named 'high concept' movies. It centres around police chiefBrody and his battle to save the New England beach resort of Amity froma marauding great white with an appetite for swimmers. Brody is hinderedin his mission by a mayor under pressure to keep the beaches open andhelped by a too-clever marine biologist and a cantankerous oldfisherman. Following a series of attacks Brody, the fisherman and thebiologist sail out to sea in a hunt to the death. And, in anedge-of-the-seat finale, the shark is killed by exploding a scuba tankin its mouth.
THE HR DIRECTOR'S CUT
The premise of Jaws is straightforward. We have a moral imperative(close the beaches to prevent shark attacks) pitted against a businessimperative (keep the beaches open to cash in on the short summerseason). We have the champions of each view (Brody, whose job it is toprevent deaths) and the mayor (whose job it is to be in the pocket ofbusiness). To add spice to the HR mix, Spielberg also offers twocompeting Meredith Belbin personality types - the marine biologist('plant') and the fisherman ('shaper'). Watching Brody make these twowork together to achieve desired outcomes is an object lesson onconflict resolution and valuing diversity.
HR STAR
Brody's people management skills demand particular praise. What isespecially impressive is that he is managing two people with expertknowledge: an authority on shark behaviour; and an expert shark killer.Both are used to working alone and neither feels his judgment should bequestioned. Brody's HR soft skills are just as valuable, perhaps evenmore so in the confines of a boat.
KEY LESSONS
Jaws makes a persuasive case for HR professionals in any organisationbut especially in those where expertise is prized over managerialability and where people can scale hierarchies without ever reallymanaging teams. Equally, if an ad hoc team is put together in responseto a situation (like a shark eating your customers) it is only diligentto have an HR professional on board to ensure that internal disputes donot compromise the team's functionality. To keep costs down in smallerfirms this individual may combine HR with another role; for example, inthe case of Jaws, Brody first makes the team work together and thenturns the shark into fish food; few better examples of the HRD as heroexist.
