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What Avengers: Infinity War (^) as
can teach us about business
The movie shows that diverse individuals can work together
to overcome extraordinarily daunting challenges.
by Adam Kahane
W
hat does a movie about a team of superheroes — scientists,
soldiers, magicians, monsters, androids, and aliens — who
collaborate to try to stop the destruction of half of all life in the
universe have to do with business? I didn’t expect to see a
connection, but when I watched Avengers: Infinity War, I found it was like
watching a dramatized version of my daily working life. My colleagues and I help
teams of committed leaders — businesspeople, politicians, civil servants, trade
unionists, journalists, activists, academics, and artists — collaborate to address
their most important and difficult challenges. The movie helped me see more
clearly some of the central dynamics in such efforts.
For example, our work with the Mexico Education Lab has several crucial
parallels to the movie. Mexico needs to improve its education system to meet
the needs of its diverse population and its developing economy. High school
graduation rates and test scores are
low, and conflict among education
authorities, teachers unions, and
civil society organizations is high.
Successive governments have
attempted ambitious reforms, but
these reforms have often been
reversed when new administrations
have come to power.
The Education Lab is an effort
to address these complex challenges
Illu in a new way. Fifty leaders from
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