How to bring down the boss, with YouTube

Thursday, 04 June 2009

Stage a corporate coup this week with the help of Blackadder, Gordon Gekko and Dr Strangelove.

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Service Industries

If we've learned anything this week, it's that overthrowing a leader - even an unpopular one - isn't as easy as you might think. So if you decide that your company's only hope of salvation is a boardroom coup, here are some lessons from the world of showbiz.

Hunt in packs. If you stick your neck out alone, chances are it’ll get chopped off, Tudor-style, and you'll be only person packing up their desktop trinkets and being escorted out by security. So make sure you have the support of others before striking out against The Man. In the final episode of Blackadder Goes Forth, Blackadder fails in his attempt to avoid certain death in the ‘big push’ - largely due to his inept and uncooperative comrades.

Engage key stakeholders. Have a clear directive and solid reasons why your boss is bad for the company, and present it to the shareholders or the board of directors. Like Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, you must be able to make a powerful argument for your case - and have the evidence to back it up.

Don't follow orders blindly. Do you understand exactly why the boss must go, or are you following the edict of someone else, who might well be deranged? Jack D. Ripper in Dr Strangelove nuked the entire planet thanks to his half-baked, crazed paranoia about the Soviets contaminating American bodily fluids. Understand what you’re fighting for, and stick to your principles.