The central premise of this editorial series is that business lessons are life lessons, and life lessons are often found in CBM-related media. With that in mind, I attempt to describe the business lessons that can be found in these art forms. Let’s get started…
On Thursday night, my friends and I got the chance to watch Marvel’s new Guardians of the Galaxy at our usual hangout. Like many CBM readers, we were pleasantly surprised by the movie and we now await the sequel with high hopes as well as high expectations. And just like many of you, we quickly returned to Comic Book Movie for the most up-to-date news, reviews and commentary on the new film franchise. What followed was an exciting, lively discussion about the plot, themes, Easter eggs and questions surrounding the characters’ future in the Marvel cinematic universe. But in my mind, a key element of the plot was missing from this conversation.
***WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD***
Heroes joining forces to form an unlikely super team can sometimes feel forced or unnecessary. But, the Guardians of the Galaxy story moves so smoothly because it takes special care to rationalize the team’s formation. The movie starts out with five outcasts who express no sympathy toward each other and gives them a valid reason for becoming a team and even saving the planet. For four of them, their reasons are transactional in nature. However, the fifth member uses logic that is derived from the well-known business concept of opportunity cost. When considering the costs and benefits of an important decision, the opportunity cost is the value of what you give up in order to gain something else. Marvel’s newest film offers a perfect example of how this works.
Trapped in the space prison The Kyln, Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket and Groot broker a deal not only to escape from prison, but to sell the orb for a sizeable profit. In the previous scene, pursuit of their personal gains had them fighting amongst each other. Nevertheless, the four of them made the decision to unite their efforts by sacrificing their original plans. This, however, is not an example of weighing opportunity costs, because their imprisonment prevented them from completing their original missions. Rocket and Groot could not claim their bounty while Star-Lord remained captured and Gamora could not sell the orb while she and it remained locked away. In other words, there must be a set of options for an opportunity cost to exist.
Drax, meanwhile, decided to forgo the short-term, guaranteed value of killing Gamora; instead using her as bait to battle Ronan directly. By choosing to spare her life, he effectively shut the door to one option in favour of another. In other words, the opportunity cost of using her as bait was the value of killing her to hurt Ronan. With these options available to him, Drax provides an object lesson in opportunity costs and how they do not always involve financial gain.
Drax thinking like a true businessman
When you took a chance on this movie, you gave up the time and money that could have been spent watching something else. This was a great call, because Guardians of the Galaxy is easily among the top CBMs of the year and I encourage you all to watch it a second time. When you do, take note of the prison scene that shows the brawny anti-hero considering the opportunity cost and making a sound decision.
- Another life lesson courtesy of your friendly neighbourhood MBA
@Mrmo416