The WAY to WOW Shows
From Washed-Up to Start-Up
May 13, 2025
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[0:00] Who are you? And where are you going? What do you [Music] want? Hello and welcome to Business Lessons from the Military. I'm your host, Kevin Bemel, and we're here every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time to talk about military history, doctrine, and the practices of great military leaders and then distill from those

[0:35] lessons that we can apply to how we run our businesses and professional practices. So, this is uh a way for me to uh give back to uh to you, my my fellow citizens, for all the support that you gave me and and my colleagues when when I was in the military and uh perhaps in a teeny tiny way pay back some of the um billions of dollars that um were were spent in in training again my colleagues and me. So today I'm doing

[1:11] something a little bit different. And I if you're a a a watcher of the show um for the last several months, you've you've probably noticed this right here. And uh you may recognize, although it's I know it's small, this is a picture of Tim Allen uh playing a character called Jason Nesmouth. And the the caption reads, "Never give up, never surrender." And it's it's a line from the movie Galaxy Quest. And so, you know, I I I see that of course

[1:47] all the time. And although the um Galaxy Quest is not strictly military, um like Star Trek and such, they're they're quasi military. Uh, and so I thought just, you know, kind of as as a fun thing as a lark to do a show based on kind of a fictional military situation. Um, and and and and sort of see what we can derive uh, you know, from that from that movie. So, just a little a little bit of

[2:22] background. uh when when the movie came out in in the 1980s, uh uh a friend of mine, a very a long-standing friend of mine um who did not live in Los Angeles, happened to be in town, her name is Laura, and she she called me up and she said, "You've got to come see this movie with me and my friend." And lo and behold, it was Galaxy Quest. And if you've never seen the movie, all I can tell you is it is just one of the most delightful movies you will ever see. The cla the the cast

[2:58] includes of course Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, uh Tony Shaloo, and then there's there are other people in it uh who are who are less wellknown. And it is indeed a a a sendup. Um, I wouldn't call it a spoof really. It's it's it's I really it's I think it's more of an homage than a sendup of of Star Trek and and all of the, you know, other movies around it. and and it is both charming, impactful, uh I mean it it's it's just it I I

[3:36] probably watch the movie at least once a month and there are times when I finished watching it and started watching it again just because I I enjoy the movie so much. So, uh you know, if if if that ausive praise isn't enough to get you to uh watch the movie if you haven't seen it, okay, well then I don't know what to do. Uh but but in any event, uh uh just just the the um you know, never give up, never surrender. Uh you know, there are times in our lives when it seems like nothing is is is

[4:14] going our way. um e you know every time we turn around we're losing and and we just want to I don't know crawl under a rock you know and uh and and it's at a time like that uh you know you might say wait a minute you're a rabbi and you don't reach out to God well yeah you know I yes I mean but you know sometimes you just you need to have that that that those words going through your head to keep you going and never give up, never surrender. Uh has become kind of a mantra in in my head. I I I don't know

[4:51] that I've ever um said it to anyone. Um I'm I'm known for signing my emails courage at all times, which uh is I I think a more broadly uh relevant uh idea whether you know thing life is going well or life is going badly, we want to have courage at all times. But and and that too you can see has kind of a military cast to it. But but especially when the chips are down and and we need to boost our our um boost ourselves, I guess. Uh never

[5:26] give up, never surrender is uh is is is is a is a great uh motto to have. So the I don't want to I'm not going to give you the whole plot of the movie. I don't want to ruin it for you. Uh but the basic idea behind the movie is there's this group of essentially washed up actors who had done this television show. You know it looks like it was done maybe in the you know 19 late 1960s early 1970s and now it here it is 10 15 20 years later and you know they haven't

[6:03] done anything in terms of acting of note since the show. uh and they they attend a bunch of conventions, you know, Galaxy Quest conventions, and they sign autographs and, you know, but there's this whole sort of fan base that is enamored of the show and enamored of them as the characters in the show. uh and and who seem to have a little bit of trouble distinguishing where reality begins and the fantasy I mean where reality uh ends

[6:39] and the fantasy of the show begins and uh so um the these these actors uh all I mean first it's just the the Tim Allen character uh is is asked to help this group of aliens Ians called Thurmanians. And it turns out that the Thurmanians theurians have seen all the TV shows except they don't know what television is. They they think they're actual historical records. They call them the historical documents. And so

[7:15] they think everything they saw on GA on Galaxy Quest is absolutely true. and they build an entire society based on what they see as being the values of Galaxy Quest of the Galaxy Quest missions and and the technology. They actually take what is, you know, television, special effects and such and they actually build the technology and and their their society is in a crisis and so they reach out to the Galaxy

[7:50] Quest team to help them, right? And the the results are both hilarious and incredibly heartwarming. Uh and and of course for each of the the actors it's it's it's a journey of self-discovery um as it is for the theians uh and for the bad guys and and and that's I think the the enduring appeal of the movie. So for

[8:25] anyone who has been in the military, especially if you did not grow up uh immersed in the military environment, you you may have had relatives who were in the military, but if you didn't, you know, grow up on a military base or something, uh being in the military oftentimes is a journey of self-discovery. And and so I think that uh it's one of the few places anymore where the journey of self the the central aspect of the journey of self-discovery is one of

[9:01] maturation. So college used to be such a journey but today I don't think that happens on college campuses routinely. It can happen. I'm not saying it doesn't happen but but often time uh college or or or many times college becomes an extension of adolescence as opposed to an experience that helps a young person move from adolescence to adulthood. And and so you know again there I I uh you

[9:37] know churches and synagogues houses of worship you know they used to be places of where where people gained self-awareness and they uh you know they grew up in a particular house of worship and and and gained adulthood there. Now I think that that can still happen. It does still happen, but but not I not my perception is not in the way that it used to. Uh and so in the military um especially if someone joins straight out of high school uh you know they they may

[10:14] not have a whole lot of the the self-disipline and self-standing that an adult has uh but the military demands that they develop it pretty quickly. Otherwise, the military tends to kind of chew those people up and spit them out because the the military doesn't have the ability to deal with a high level of adolescence or even a low level of adolescence. So, I remember being with a submarine squadron where, you know, these young guys who were incredibly intelligent, you know, after

[10:50] work they would go home and do whatever and then they would stay up all night playing, you know, online video games and they would end up being, you know, late for work or not showing up for work or they show up for work exhausted because they didn't sleep. you know, when you're working on a submarine that has that's carrying a nuclear reactor, that just doesn't work, right? So, I know part of my job as a chaplain at the submarine at Subon 11 was to help these young men understand that you need to grow up. So the the again the the the journey of

[11:26] self-discovery, the the necessity of of maturing uh in in the military is is a is a paramount quality that I think it's it's it's always had u and but ret and retains, you know, to this day. So, as as just a general theme in Galaxy Quest, I I I think that's something we could take away from it from a life perspective. From a business perspective, the lessons are a little a little more defined. uh and you know

[12:01] hopefully uh you know when if we're work if we're starting a business or working in a business uh we're already at a particular maturity level um that that you know suits us for the role that we have although I I I will I will say that when I started my first company although I think I was a you know pretty grown-up you know young guy at the time it it was it was a maturing experience to run a business and and and have the responsibility and and there was nobody I could you know at the end of the day the buck stopped with me to you know borrow President Truman's phrase. So,

[12:39] you know, starting a business is is another avenue of of self-discovery and maturation and and this is where I think the military and especially business startups uh have a lot of parallels and and and Galaxy Quest fits right into that system. So I came up with five thoughts on uh fi five ideas that uh we can take from this wonderful movie and and apply to our businesses and I'm going to go through them. I'm going to

[13:14] go through them now. So uh um the first one is that your brand is bigger than you think. So in in the in the movie uh the ther theurians who are the the aliens. So they perceive the TV personas of the actors as being reality like they have no sense that that uh you know Tim Allen

[13:49] and and and Sigourney Weaver etc that they're just playing a part right they they they don't even really understand the concept of lying that in fact there's a moment in the movie where they say where the where the leader of the Thurian says, "We've we've begun to understand that there's this thing called deception, you know, that the that the, you know, the enemy uh uh the enemy uses, right? He says something that isn't true, right? They they don't understand that as a concept. So the characters they see on the

[14:24] screen, the behaviors I should say, and the values of the characters they see on the screen, they believe to be the real thing. and they they build their entire society on that, right? And so, you know, here come these actors who they don't they don't perceive themselves as literally being the characters they play. They assume the characters when they're at, you know, a a conference or something or when they're at a store opening, the kind of, you know, cheesy things that they they they're doing to make a

[15:00] living. but they don't look at themselves as being the actual people they portray on on the Galaxy Quest show. And so there there is a perception gap between the two. And when such a perception gap exists in our businesses, how we're perceived by our customers and our clients is far more important than how we perceive ourselves because in the end they're the

[15:35] ones patronizing the business. So, it's all good and well for us to want to project a certain image, for us to want to project a certain brand, but sometimes maybe oftenimes that brand takes on a life of its own and and that life is developed through the eyes, the minds, the hearts of our customers and clients. And once they once they develop that

[16:11] ideal, that's it. That's what they want. So they're not they won't accept something less. So let me give you a a a real world example and that is Apple Apple Apple Computers, Apple Inc. Uh so if you've if you've ever uh noticed the attachment that uh people who are committed to the Apple brand have to the brand. It is unlike any other uh

[16:48] technology manufacturer. Nobody talks about Dell or IBM or trying to think of the other, you know, PC makers or um, you know, the various other phone makers, telephone makers, cell phone makers, the way they do about Apple, okay? And look, I I admit it. Okay? I have an Apple Watch, okay? I have an Apple phone, okay? an iPhone. I mean, I'm talking to you on an iMac. Behind me,

[17:24] oh, actually over there is my uh my Apple laptop and right here behind me is my iPad. Okay, there are no non-Apple uh computers or technology items in in my house. For a while, I had a Fitbit uh and and I gave it up for an Apple Watch. I I do have an UA ring. That's but Apple has no equivalent to an Aura ring, right? So people think about the Apple brand in a way that they don't think

[17:59] about other brands and in a way that I think originally Apple didn't anticipate. So, uh, you know, when when Apple came out with the iPhone in 2007, and I remember this launch because I I was I was stationed in Okinawa, Japan at the time, and uh, one of the uh, young women I knew at Marine Corps Community Services. I I I was visiting their their spa workspaces and I I walked in front of her door and said, "Hey, you know, hello, how you doing?" kind of thing.

[18:34] And she said, "Hey, come in. I got to show you this. And she had one of the first iPhones and she was showing me this thing and I'm like, "Wow, you know, this this is this is the app. This is what we would expect from an Apple phone, not some cheesy flip phone or, you know, whatever else was available at that time, right? The the Apple iPhone was was really revolutionary when it came to telephone technology. That is what what Apple people like me, you know, demand from Apple. Okay? Nothing

[19:11] short of that will do. And you can see when when Apple releases a new product and it and there's no enthusiasm for it, it's because it's because Apple enthusiasts, we look at and we go, "This this is not what Apple does. This is this is boring. This is not new enough. This is not this is not the gestalt the brand of Apple. Okay. So I think we need to be aware and and like it or not and I will be candid when it comes to branding it's like branding I mean really everybody but we all have to brand the

[19:47] if we're in business we have to build a brand for our business. Even if it's only among our, you know, our small group of customers and clients, we our our brand and it may be things like reliability, honesty, you know, those kinds of traits. Uh but but we need to very consciously build them. Having built them though, we need to uh gain the ability to see our brand through our clients and customers eyes so that we don't end up

[20:22] inadvertently alienating them because we haven't been true to our brand. And that's that's a challenge, right? To see anything through someone else's eyes is very very difficult. This is the challenge of any relationship and fundamentally a brand is the relationship we have with our customers and clients. Okay. So like any good relationship we need to strive to understand how you know our again our clients and customers see it and make sure that we're living up to that. So our brand is

[20:57] bigger than we think. Okay. It's much more powerful and and that's that's one of the things that the Galaxy Quest crew had to figure out in in in encountering the theians. Okay, so that's number one. Number two, we've you know deliver on the promise even if you're not ready. Okay, so as I mentioned in the introduction to the show, the the Galaxy Quest crew ends up on the ship that that is the ship. It's an actual ship based

[21:34] on the one that, you know, was a mockup in the original TV show. They're on the ship and they and they're thinking they're still kind of thinking this is all just, you know, playtime. Uh but then they're they encounter a realworld crisis and the theurians turn to them and they're basically like okay you are the ones who know what to do. We've seen you do it you know dozens and dozens of times in the historical documents. So, uh, handle this situation, right? And and it's an it's

[22:09] almost literally an existential crisis. And you know, at at that moment, uh, I I don't think I'm giving anything away about the movie. Only only Tim Allen uh realizes that that it's real and and he needs to step up. And the rest of his crew are like, "We're out of here." Right? They're they're they're they're not ready and so they they will not commit to delivering on the promise a as theians see it of what's in the show, right? And so the the rest of the movie

[22:46] is about them having to deal with this situation and and in essence delivering on the promise of the show. Never give up, never surrender. Or uh the Alan Rickman character uh he plays Dr. uh uh shoot I'm going up on his name, but he he's a another sort of alien species himself. So he has this uh this sort of motto by uh grabbar's hammer uh you know I I will avenge thee and

[23:23] and it's it's one of the sort of running jokes is that Alan Rickman considers himself a real actor. Rickman of course being uh English or British and and you know I'm a and so he he kind of he has very mixed feelings at best about having you know been in this this you know space fantasy show and having to say that line really wrankles him. Uh and yet the when the Thurmans see him, they want him, they're expecting him by Grathar's hammer to deliver, right?

[23:59] Because it's kind of like an oath. By Grathar's hammer, he's saying, you know, on my oath, I will deliver on, you know, whatever it is I need to do, right? So, here they are in this crisis of of needing to step up and lead and act even though they're not ready because they've actually never done so, right? It's all been a TV show. So, it was all scripted. They they never had to in real life step up to the plate, so to speak. So, uh, this and and I remember when I

[24:35] started my first business, I was, uh, 26 at the time. I knew nothing about business. U if if I've probably told this story before, but my my first business plan was, well, this guy that I've been working for never went to college and he made a half a million dollars last year. So, I went to college. I should be able to make at least a half a million dollars. That was my business plan, right? How naive was I, you know, in in thinking such a ridiculous thought, right? College

[25:11] teaches you nothing about starting a business. It it doesn't. So, uh, you know, I I made a promise in starting a business and then I realized I I didn't know how to deliver. I was not ready. I did not know how to sell, you know, uh, you know, dealing with client relations was was a struggle and and so I had to learn. I I had to get myself trained. I I had to I had to make lots of mistakes and and and and for me business was a a

[25:47] superb uh maturation uh process because I either had to earn money or I had would have no place to live and no food to eat, right? So nothing nothing like uh uh you know being desperate to to to to figure out a way to be to be successful and to to deliver on your promise. So the first property that I got to manage, I started a real estate company was it was across Los Angeles from me. It was a little four-unit building. I think I was making maybe a hundred or

[26:22] $150 a month and I was constantly having to jump in my car to drive across town to take care of something at the building. It took an enormous amount of time. But I realized that if my business was going to grow, I had to deliver on my promise even though I really wasn't ready. And I should have I I should have figured this out better before jumping in. But what did I know? I I jumped in. So that that's that's another aspect of of what we can learn from Galaxy Quest. So uh another real world example is

[26:59] Airbnb. So, uh, Airbnb kind of exploded in popularity around 2012. Uh, but unfor, you know, and it was sort of this really cool thing. I I mean to be honest with you, I'm not an Airbnb fan, but I I I recognize that for a lot of people, the idea of traveling to a city and living in an apartment, you know, in in a area of the city that, you know, was was had a certain character or whatever that was very appealing as opposed to staying in some rather, you know, homogeneous or vanilla

[27:34] hotel or motel. I I think that idea captivated uh a certain segment of the traveling public. There was perhaps a certain romance to it even uh and and and I think Airbnb was kind of caught offguard because its infrastructure, its policies, they weren't ready for this sort of huge burst of popularity. And so cities pushed back and and uh people faced, you know, sort of inconsistent standards of how how clean a place was, how ready it was for them to be there. Uh and and and and they

[28:10] went through Airbnb went through tremendous growing pains in the late uh uh 201s while they figured it out. But the bottom line was they had to deliver on their promise even though they weren't ready. And indeed they did. and and Airbnb went on to become very successful. Now, you know, like any business, that success has somewhat waxed and waned over the last uh 10-15 years uh since it's been able to really kind of get itself uh or I mean the last yeah 10 years or so since it's you know gotten really gotten on

[28:46] its feet and worked out most of its problems. Uh, but it was not it was not a given back in 2012. And I I remember reading about it and and the struggles that they were dealing with and you know, look, good for them, right? They they they had made a promise. People took them at their word. Okay, you promised us, now we want it, right? And then they realized, oops, we're not exactly ready, but now we have to deliver anyway. So, I think that's a, you know, a very powerful lesson again we can learn from Galaxy Quest. So, I'm

[29:22] going to take a break here for just a moment to let you know that Business Lessons from the Military is sponsored by the Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League of the United States, of which I am the president. Right. Um so the Navy League of the United States is an organization of civilians and military people primarily from the sea services which is the US Marine Corps, the US Navy, the US Merchant Marine uh and the I missed one, the US Coast Guard and the US Merchant Marine. And its mission is to support,

[30:01] educate and advocate for the sea services. So we help people understand what's at stake uh with respect to national security and how the sea service fit into that. We support the various sea services and especially uh their their members. And finally, we advocate for policies that that will support the sea services. So here at the Beverly Hills Council, I I I've been asked to reconstitute it. had kind of fallen to the wayside uh over the last

[30:36] few years. And we do, if you're in the Los Angeles area, we have an event coming up for Fleet Week, May 23rd through 26, I believe it is. We're going to have a a meet and greet uh down at down at Fleet Week. And if you want more information about the Navy League, please go to navyleague.org. That's where the national organization that's the national organization's website. And if you uh would you know if you want to consider joining us in our

[31:11] work and become a member of the Navy League and you live in the greater Los Angeles area that's anywhere from the Pacific Ocean to, you know, down to Long Beach and up to downtown Los Angeles and and through into East LA. That's that's our territory. So, please consider designating the Beverly Hills Council as your home council and then you will get information on all of the events and and activities uh in in which we engage. So, thanks very much to the Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League of the United States for sponsoring business lessons

[31:47] from the military. Okay. So, so now back to our show and uh we're I'm talk I'm talking about Galaxy Quest and and the lessons we can learn from this fictional sort of quasi military uh story that we can apply to our businesses and professional practices. So, the first two I mentioned were uh your brand is bigger than you think and uh you have to deliver on your promise even if you're not ready. So, so next is your your your fan or customer engagement is powerful.

[32:24] You you have to respect it. So, in the movie uh the as I mentioned there they're in in the beginning they're at this conference. It's like one of these it's I mean it's a Galaxy Quest conference like a fan conference and there's a particular group of young people there uh and and they're le the sort of led by this this you know young guy his name is Brandon he's one kind of a nerdy nerdy teenage fan right and he and his friends they are they are the the audience segment they're just into

[33:01] the Galaxy Quest like you know like people today are into um whatchamacallit with the wizards. Oh gosh, I can't believe I can't think of the name. Um my daughter loves the books too. Oh, see I Okay, I'm you know you know the wizard thing that I'm talking about with the lady from England wrote them. Uh wow. Anyway, so you know, he is extremely uh not only dedicated, but they're they're completely engaged. They know

[33:36] all the technical specifications of the ship and and they know all of the backgrounds of all of the characters. They have just encyclopedic knowledge of the show's uh not only their techn but all aspects of the show, just everything about it. they can they can quote chapter in verse, right? And and it and it it it happens that uh that that the that that the Jason Neesmouth character played by Tim Allen uh he he he finds out that there's a

[34:15] segment of people at this conference that basically holds him in contempt because he's a he's a hasband. He's never done anything acting since Galaxy Quest. and they found out that the other members, the other actors really hate him because he comes off as being so arrogant. Uh, and and he realizes, you know, he's kind of created in his head that he's, you know, he's um he's the commander, the the character he plays on Galaxy Quest. Uh, but um he realizes

[34:50] that no, he he isn't that guy. He doesn't inspire his crew. He's not a great leader. He's just a has been hack of an actor, right? And he's very upset about that. And so when the Brandon character approaches him and starts asking him this sort of technical question, he he barks at him. It's just a show. It's just a television show. Like, you know, like get a life kind of thing, right? And and of course the the the young guy uh he's he's a he's upset at that. Um but you know the interesting thing is he so

[35:28] rever you know not only you know the the character in the show but Jason Nesmouth as the actor who plays him that he doesn't take offense at it and and it's it's it's a it's a actually a very powerful moment in the movie because you realize that the the sharp remark that Tim Allen barks at this, you know, this teenage uh guy, it's it's it's even worse because the teenage guy doesn't take offense at

[36:04] it. And in fact, you find out that he thinks about it a lot. And he takes it he does he takes it in this in the spirit of you know Jason Neesmith is such a great man if he's rebuked me it must be something I really need to look at. I need to examine my character. Can you imagine? Right. Can you imagine any of our customers or clients doing that to have that level of engagement with us? Well, would that we could create that

[36:40] kind of engagement with with our customers, with our clients, right? Where you know, even if we make a mistake, they recognize that it was made in in good faith or that they actually translated into they don't make mistakes. I'm I need to look at myself. that what an incredibly powerful relationship that would be to have with our with our customers. So, we really need to learn to respect our clients and customers um for the level of engagement they have. The more devotion they show to us,

[37:17] the bigger the responsibility we have to respect that devotion. Okay? Now, by the way, I am not I am not of one of the philosophy the customer is always right. That is not true. There are times when the customer is wrong and and they need it needs to be explained to them that you are wrong. Now, we don't want to bark at them and all of that, but hopefully we can create the kind of relationship with our customers and clients that if we do have to explain to them that they're wrong, that we can do it in a way that does not disengage

[37:54] them, okay? And that mutual respect continues to exist. So uh again the goal is is for any business is to create that powerful engagement right and so um real world example that that I came up with is uh that um in in the early 2000s Lego you know the little plastic blocks making company. So they were struggling financially. Um and then they opened up this sort of uh f fan

[38:30] created um design through platforms like Lego ideas and and and and sales just skyrocketed. They they created sets like the NASA Saturn V rocket and the Seinfeld Apartments and these all and and uh they they were able to take what people were passionate about recreated in Legos and and they they've just exploded since then. Legos is it's got to be if not the most popular toy in the world certainly among the very most popular toys in the

[39:07] world and good for Legos. Now always a Legos fan, you know, to be honest because I love building stuff and started when I was a kid. Um if I got a toy for Hanukkah, it was almost always some building something or a chemistry set, something like that, right? But the, you know, Legos found out a way to leverage customer engagement by looking at things that had high engagement already and connecting with them. So, there's a whole Star Wars line of Lego um uh sets like a

[39:43] Millennial Millennium Falcon. Oh my gosh, what it would be to build that. And some of these sets, by the way, they're extremely expensive. hundreds of dollars, right? And and and so Legos became not just something for kids, but for adults as well, right? And and so they've they've developed tremendous customer fan engagement that has really driven their company ever since. Not to mention Legoland. Uh I I was there once uh with my daughter and my mom. Uh, and you know, look, for me it was a fun place, although I I like

[40:18] the Legos much better than I like Legoland. Uh, but and now they have the Lego movies, all of that. It's it's all by driving powerful customer engagement and developing respect for it. And we can find ways to do the same thing in our businesses, either through developing that engagement or through strategic partnerships, right? and we we can uh hopefully create the kind of almost unbreakable relationships that that kind of engagement engenders. Okay. Next, teamwork over egos. So, the

[40:58] Galaxy Quest crew is because they're all they they all they don't they don't really hate the Tim Allen character, but they're all annoyed by him. Minimally, they're all annoyed by him. And sometimes they do really dislike him when he does, you know, really um uh um he does things that are that are, you know, essentially unthinking uh to them. uh and and so when they first set out on

[41:33] this what turns out to be realworld quest. So uh they are all sort of in it uh for for each of them as individuals. They're not really looking at themselves as being the the crew, the team that they are. And in fact, until they're able to come together as a real crew, as a real team, they don't make uh they don't really make any progress. So, um Dr. Lazareth, that's the Alan Rickman character. I I went up on his name

[42:09] earlier. So, uh you know, he's he's because he aspires to be a legitimate actor, right? He he really struggles to buy into the the Galaxy Quest Gestalt. Uh and and and yet when he does, he finds the authent authenticity in acting that that he's seeking. and and and more than that he realizes that he is part of something larger than himself, larger than the the

[42:45] the you know Galaxy Quest play acting of the TV show. He he actually becomes the Dr. Lazarus that that that's on the screen. He he he fulfills that character's promise in in essence, right? and and and so the the crew learns to work together and overcome their various egos or bruised egos. So the same is true in businesses. Now there are there are businesses where it

[43:21] seems like they're driven by one very you know smart uh you know innovative person right the of course the one who immediately leaps to mind is Elon Musk whether it's um uh Tesla or or whatever but the fact of the matter is although he may be the face of his companies indeed there are hundreds thousands of people working with him in teams that are very bright and they're all working for a common goal. And in

[43:56] fact, to the extent that that Alon Musk has any genius, I think it is I think it's that he has the ability to not only attract incredibly bright, creative people, but to get them working together as a team and not be held back by egos. That's why he's been able to build Tesla. Uh the financial side of it aside, the car itself, that's why he was able to build SpaceX. So you know in the in the early years of

[44:31] SpaceX for example there were three failed launches a lot of financial uncertainty and what what changed was Elon Musk brought in a number of seasoned uh engineers and he created this sort of these sort of crossfunctional teams that had the authority to solve the problems of of the Falcon 1 and later the Falcon 9 and instead of centralizing ego-driven decisions, he fostered a a tight collaboration in the company. And this

[45:07] this teamwork is what has enabled SpaceX to go on to the tremendous successes that it's had. And and in fact, while I I I have a friend of mine, he used to be a big Alon Musk fan, now was not. Okay, whatever. Um he used to sort of marvel at SpaceX's accomplishments. Um, and now he tells me, "No, Blue Origin, they actually have the better thing going." But the fact of the matter is in actual successes, SpaceX has absolutely triumphed compared to Blue Origin. That's just the reality of it. Now,

[45:42] that's not to say that Blue Origin is bad or anything like that, but there's no denying the success that SpaceX has had, especially that catching of the, you know, the reusable booster, right? Astonishing if you've ever seen the video. So that that's come through teamwork over egos. And that's the that's the culture that we want to foster in our businesses. No matter what we do, whether we're a law firm or a real estate company or a technology company or a retail company, a restaurant, right? No matter what it is

[46:17] we're doing, we want to create an atmosphere in which all of our team members are encouraged, incentivized to work together, to share ideas. I've used the example of the crew of a submarine where that happens. That is the culture in submarines, the United States Navy, right? So when when you're carrying a nuclear reactor and you're you know you're you're sailing underwater, I know that sounds weird, but sailing underwater potentially even

[46:52] up rivers in in communist China secretly, right? You need teamwork to survive. You can't be you can't be getting involved in egos. That doesn't work. people would end up maybe quite literally dead. Okay. So, teamwork over egos and and you see that develop in Galaxy Quest. And what I think is most important is you can now I've watched the movie at this point, I don't know, a hundred times, something like that. Maybe

[47:27] literally a hundred times. You can see it developing through the movie. The movie is incredibly well written. I mean, it's it's it's it's well done across the board. uh and and you know kudos to everybody who was involved with it but the writers especially how they wrote the script with certain pivotal moments at which you can see the moving away from egos to the teamwork right you can see it happening for each of each of the characters individually but also for them as a crew

[48:05] okay and also for the theians So, I it's it's it's just it's an incredible object lesson in in how to build teamwork. Okay. So, that's number four. Number five, uh impostor syndrome doesn't mean you're unqualified. Now, impostor syndrome, if you've ever watched the big the big bang theory, there's this great scene. I'm I know I'm diverting into another fictional fictional situation, but also one one of my favorite TV shows. So, there's this great scene

[48:41] where uh the the two characters um Sheldon and his girlfriend Amy, they've developed a a a physical a physics concept and they have a chance at a Nobel Prize and they're being challenged by these two guys who are actually they they by mistake proved the theory was valid. and they're all at this sort of gathering to promote them winning the Nobel Prize for this idea. And these two, you know, numpskulls, they they

[49:18] they they start saying, you know, we we we just don't feel like we really deserve this or know about this. And I said, I and they I don't know what that's called. And Amy Farah Fowler finally loses. She says, "You're talking about imposttor syndrome, which you don't have because you are imposters. Only people who aren't imposters can have impostor syndrome, right? I mean, it's it's a brilliant television moment, but it's

[49:53] also an opportunity for us to examine ourselves." And you have the same idea in Galaxy Quest. Each one of the characters is suffering from well doesn't realize they're suffering from impostor syndrome. Right? They all look at themselves. I'm just an actor or Sigourney Weaver. I'm just an actress. Right? I'm not this person. I don't have these characteristics and abilities inside me. Right? I'm not qualified. I

[50:29] am indeed unqualified to to be a commander to uh to uh con the ship to be the science officer in the case of Dr. Lazarus uh etc. Uh Tony Shaloo plays the tech sergeant Chen. He's the engineer. He's in charge of engineering, right? He he he's I I don't know how to fix an engine, you know, kind of thing, right? But indeed, they're all suffering from impostor syndrome. And most of us are when it comes to our to achieving our the the kind of success

[51:05] that we want, right? But it's a hard thing to dig inside ourselves and to pull out those qualities that will really lead to success. It can be gut-wrenching, especially because as we work to bring out those qualities in ourselves, that doesn't guarantee success. We're still going to fail sometimes because that's how life is. But just because we fail sometimes doesn't mean that we're unqualified and that we are actual

[51:41] impostors. And that's where I think we all get hung up. Most of us are suffering from imposttor syndrome. We have the ability and to do much more than we think if we're willing to gut it out, right? And that's that's what the Galaxy crew uh uh finds out about themselves is of course they don't use the word imposttor syndrome in the movie but they're all suffering from im impostor uh syndrome and and they need to overcome that so that they can realize

[52:17] their true potential. So looking for a real world example in this. So, uh, if you've ever heard of of a woman named Melanie Perkins, so she was one of the co-founders of Canva. Now, uh, if if you've seen the thumbnails I do for my shows, they're all done on Canva. Canva is an amazing tool. I love it. Okay? And Melanie Perkins basically started Canva in Australia as a design stu tool for students, right? She wasn't some big techie or some, you know, Silicon Valley

[52:53] the female equivalent of a tech bro or anything like that. Uh um and and she started developing this idea and she wanted to expand it and so she she's making pitches for for you know seed capital, angel capital, the venture capital and all these you know tech financiers they're they're looking like you know you don't you don't know what you're doing and all that you know and and and and it was I'm sure it was downheartening for her but she persisted she learned she adapted. Ed and today

[53:29] Canva is valued at over $25 billion. Okay. And and I I haven't seen these interviews, but I'm I'm told that she talks quite openly about feeling out of place in the sort of, you know, tech Silicon Valley tech scene. But, you know, she grew into her leadership through through learning and through, you know, gritting it out, being resilient, right? And that's going to be the case for most of us. And by the way, not just in our professional lives, but in our personal lives as well, whether it's a relationship, whether it's being

[54:05] a parent, right? These are these are tough things. I know my my nephew uh Matthew and his and his wife Ricky, they had a baby a few months ago and all of a sudden they're parents, right? There's no the the little Micah was not born with a manual. Although fortunately my older sister happens to be a child development specialist, so she they kind of had a manual, right? But they don't they didn't inherently know what it means or or how to be a parent. They may they understood some of it intellectually, but they're going to have to grow into it. and and my my my

[54:42] sister Mara will coach them and I know Matthew and I talk from time to time about, you know, what it means to be a father. So, we we we grow into these roles. But the main thing to remember is we can do it. We're just suffering from imposttor syndrome. But if we if we learn, adapt, remain resilient, okay, we will overcome imposttor syndrome and we will actualize ourselves in the roles that we want to hold. Whether it's a business

[55:17] owner, whether it's running a professional practice or whether it's something in our personal lives, like I said, being a a spouse, a parent, uh a devoted friend, etc. So these these are the lessons of this um quasi military fictitional uh world called Galaxy Quest, right? Never give up, never surrender, right? So I want to I want to cover them again just real quickly. So your brand is bigger than you think. Deliver on your promise even if you're not ready. Okay? Uh fan customer engagement is powerful. Res

[55:53] build it and respect it. Okay. teamwork over ego. And finally, impostor syndrome doesn't mean you're unqualified. Very likely, you are qualified. You're just going to have to gut it out and and and bring it to the four so that you can access it and go on to the success you want. So, those are the lessons of this this, you know, beloved movie, Galaxy Quest. Again, if if you have never seen it, uh, you know, watch it tonight. watch it with people you love and care about or watch it with your your your

[56:30] work colleagues and and and it may just inspire you to to go on to, you know, very big and and wonderful things. So, thank you very much for joining me today. To my live viewers, always great to know you're out there. Uh let's see, uh tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time. Uh, Wednesday, Wednesday 10 a.m. Pacific time is my show, People Making Money. And speaking of startups, I'm going to be talking about the five best startup cities in the United States of America. So, I'm going to be talking

[57:07] about not only why, what makes them desirable as a place to found a business, but also what the sort of pluses and minuses of living in those cities. And so I hope you'll join me then, especially if if you've ever thought about starting a business. Um maybe this will inspire you to take that step and your take your first move out of imposttor syndrome to being the genuine individual uh whom you are. Okay. And then next week on Monday at 10:00 a.m. Pacific time is my show Trust and Estates Weekly. My guest is Schulpa

[57:44] Bot. and Schulpa is a an estate planning attorney down in Orange County, California. She's going to talk about the importance of funding your estate plan, right? So, you go to all the people go to all the trouble of having estate plans drawn up and then they don't fund them and they're useless. They end up in probate anyway. So, uh please join me for what I know will be a great conversation with Schulpa. I think you you will you will just enjoy uh listening to what she has to say. And then a week from today, we'll be back for the next edition of Business Lessons from the Military. So once again, thank you so much for joining me. Thank you to

[58:20] our sponsor, the Beverly Hills Council of the Navy League of the United States. And wishing you a wonderful rest of the day. Signing off as I always do. Marie, darling, you are my bell.