I have to admit that I was excited to see a new movie featuring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson – together again. The fact that it was about Google was a bonus. As a Digital Media Marketer, Google is one of my first – and last stops every day. I try to get my clients high rank on this search engine, and use many of the Google apps, most especially Google+. And while I know I would have enjoyed the movie even if I wasn’t a bit of a geek myself, I find myself thinking about the underlying message of the movie. While this may have been unintended, I would like to think that it was not, as both of Mr. Vaughn’s parents were salespeople themselves.
My first takeaway is that teams where members are all good at exactly the same things – no matter how good they are – are not as effective as teams that bring different perspectives to a problem. With such a huge emphasis on technology today, sometimes it might be a good idea to include someone in the group that also understands people.
However, the most interesting part of the movie, for me, came near the end. There is a scene where the well-educated, highly motivated interns, who understand everything about Google and analytics are trumped by the salesman, who may not know exactly how Google works, but is able to explain why it works and how it will benefit the business owner. What made the scene stand out to me is that just that morning, we were talking about how difficult it is to market social media and other new technologies to business owners, who still believe that putting ads in the Yellow Pages and sending out a few flyers will get them the business they need to survive in today’s world. I don’t think Vince would have any problem making them understand that new ideas are needed. I wonder if he is looking for a job.