An appraisal of the man's methods, by James May
Do you want to know how to be a good leader? Would you like to brush up on your staff management skills? Could you do with some tips on project management and wise use of resources?
Well, you could learn from your boss, or go on training courses, or like I did, hone your skills on an MBA. But you can save yourself a lot of time (and money) by spending just a couple of hours, maybe with a notebook but preferably with a bottle of beer or glass of wine, sitting down and watching Peter Collinson’s 1969 film The Italian Job.
Renowned for such classic quotes as: “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” The Italian Job follows a company of ne’er-do-wells assembled by loveable rogue Charlie Croker, played unforgettably by Michael Caine.
We can attribute his “doors off” outburst to an occasional use of robust and unambiguous staff feedback methodology, which let’s face it sometimes fits the moment perfectly. However, Croker also shows us a broader landscape of leadership and management technique.
Let us wander down the well-trodden path signposted “How To Lead And Manage Your People” and see how Charlie Croker does it.
Well, you could learn from your boss, or go on training courses, or like I did, hone your skills on an MBA. But you can save yourself a lot of time (and money) by spending just a couple of hours, maybe with a notebook but preferably with a bottle of beer or glass of wine, sitting down and watching Peter Collinson’s 1969 film The Italian Job.
Renowned for such classic quotes as: “You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!” The Italian Job follows a company of ne’er-do-wells assembled by loveable rogue Charlie Croker, played unforgettably by Michael Caine.
We can attribute his “doors off” outburst to an occasional use of robust and unambiguous staff feedback methodology, which let’s face it sometimes fits the moment perfectly. However, Croker also shows us a broader landscape of leadership and management technique.
Let us wander down the well-trodden path signposted “How To Lead And Manage Your People” and see how Charlie Croker does it.
Project Sponsorship and Funding
If you don’t have money your idea is not likely to get off the ground, no matter how great it is. Croker’s brainwave was to break back into the prison from which he had recently been released in order to disturb the evening toilet routine of London crime boss Mr Bridger (Noel Coward). Appearing in his lavatory cubicle, Croker enthused about a gold heist that would be good for the country’s “balance of payments” with Europe (this was before the UK joined the Common Market).
Being a committed crime lord and having had his routine disturbed, Mr Bridger arranged for Croker to be given “a good going over” by his henchmen on the outside. After he’d made his point he agreed to provide money to Croker for the job, in return for a handsome share of the loot.
Croker cleverly allowed Bridger, his venture capitalist if you will, to engage in the project on Bridger's own terms (Croker got beaten up) and appeal to Bridger’s values – no risk whatsoever, maximum payback and rubbing the foreigners’ noses in it for Queen and country.
Croker could now get people, premises and an array of equipment including explosives and several Mini Coopers. Watch and learn, people. Watch and learn.
Croker cleverly allowed Bridger, his venture capitalist if you will, to engage in the project on Bridger's own terms (Croker got beaten up) and appeal to Bridger’s values – no risk whatsoever, maximum payback and rubbing the foreigners’ noses in it for Queen and country.
Croker could now get people, premises and an array of equipment including explosives and several Mini Coopers. Watch and learn, people. Watch and learn.
Team Building
Any organisation is only as good as the people in it. Look at fast-food restaurants. Croker needed to put together a crack team of do-ers on whom he could rely to stick it out and finish the job to a satisfactory conclusion. A group of individuals of questionable character who are in it for the money and the glory. In a word – people. And in this case, a bunch of good, honest criminals.
Croker convened a meet-and-greet, “breaking the ice” session for the gang. He didn’t arrange for bottled mineral waters and finger food, but he could have if he wanted to. He had the backing. That ice-breaker was brief and to the point: Croker went around the table and named each person and their role, thoughtfully preventing any of them the embarrassment of having to speak in front of the group.
He “wrapped-up” the meeting with, “It’s a very difficult job and the only way to get through it is we all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.”
He “wrapped-up” the meeting with, “It’s a very difficult job and the only way to get through it is we all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.”
Motivation and Reward
Like 99% of people, the members of Croker’s gang were primarily motivated by money. There are not many among us who would continue going to the same job every morning after winning £50 million in the National Lottery. Even highly paid people continue to work, because they want more money (and their debts are higher).
People also like to have something interesting to do, something meaningful, setting challenges and overcoming them. This is a lesser motivation than money, but it is one of the leading ones in the chasing pack. There, then, are the two key draws – money and a challenge.
Croker’s plan was: “Four million dollars through a traffic jam.”
People also like to have something interesting to do, something meaningful, setting challenges and overcoming them. This is a lesser motivation than money, but it is one of the leading ones in the chasing pack. There, then, are the two key draws – money and a challenge.
Croker’s plan was: “Four million dollars through a traffic jam.”
In 1969 $4 million was the equivalent of around $27 million now, or £21 million. And who doesn’t want to show a traffic jam who’s boss?
Identifying Special Skills
Every person should be in the team for a good reason, not because they are mates. We’re not picking football teams on a drizzly, wind-swept school playing field. We are choosing people because they have skills that will help the common goal (ok not goal, purpose).
Charlie Croker needed people who were good drivers, explosives experts, a technical wizard and general “muscle” able to help the project move along at pace without letting obstacles get in the way (for very long). Not everybody would have bonded socially but each tolerated the other, respected their skills and let them get on with it.
Charlie Croker needed people who were good drivers, explosives experts, a technical wizard and general “muscle” able to help the project move along at pace without letting obstacles get in the way (for very long). Not everybody would have bonded socially but each tolerated the other, respected their skills and let them get on with it.
Each member of Croker’s gang knew what every other member was doing, when they were supposed to do it and why. Croker knew that it would be no good for each person to work on their own without knowledge of the others’ parts. What if the plan changed? What if something went wrong? What if they lost people? Croker needed openness and flexibility. He identified and used individuals’ skills but kept them team-oriented.
The Workplace
I think it’s Google HQ where employees have slides, ball pits, pool tables, taps running with diet coke, personal hairdressers and automated racks for spare black turtle-neck jumpers. Or it might be Apple. Whatever the case, getting the right workplace “vibe” for your “co-workers” is important. Therefore it comes as no surprise that Charlie Croker made sure there was variety in the workplace, which even included an element of overseas travel.
Gang members were given the best environment in which to flourish: the technical expert was given a harem of plus-sized assistants, as was his wont, project-planning software was bang up-to-date for its time (a blackboard and chalk) and driver-mechanics were tooled up with top kit and caboodle such as spotlights for the Coopers (quartz iodide) and paint for the bus (blue).
Gang members were given the best environment in which to flourish: the technical expert was given a harem of plus-sized assistants, as was his wont, project-planning software was bang up-to-date for its time (a blackboard and chalk) and driver-mechanics were tooled up with top kit and caboodle such as spotlights for the Coopers (quartz iodide) and paint for the bus (blue).
Croker’s workplace may not have had the bowling alleys and bean bags of our modern digital media companies’ “creative spaces”, but I know which lot I would choose to ambush an armed convoy of gold bullion and police cars.
Time Management
“Shouldn’t we synchronise our watches?”
“Nuts to your watches. You just be at the piazza at a quarter-to.”
“Nuts to your watches. You just be at the piazza at a quarter-to.”
Adapting to Change Whilst Staying On-Plan
You know what it’s like, you’ve planned it to a T and you all set off to see it through, then the mob appears and smashes up your Aston and your E-Type. You’ve got some of your people elsewhere in a lorry, a coach and a minibus, sticking to the plan and you are stranded without a motor on a leaky mountain road. What do you do?
What Charlie Croker did is find a bicycle and carry on towards the rendezvous point. On his way he used the bicycle to cut the local power by throwing it into an electricity substation. This wasn’t part of the plan but it made him feel better and sometimes as a leader you’ve got to motivate yourself, you know.
Adapt. Adapt. Adapt. The three As.
Adapt. Adapt. Adapt. The three As.
Boosting Morale
From time to time a cloud forms over the team or the project. Motivation wanes and productivity follows it towards the door. Take a break, change the scenery and re-energise your team by letting them rest and reminding them what it’s all about.
Or if you’re Charlie Croker, shout at them and tell them to shut up and get on with it.
Or if you’re Charlie Croker, shout at them and tell them to shut up and get on with it.
The After-Party
This is where we could probably recommend a different approach to that taken by Croker and his team, following their success. It is not for no reason that nearly all after-parties, post-win celebrations, shindigs, call them what you like, are held on firm ground, not in moving vehicles, and after any risks of plummeting down a mountainside have been confirmed by the health and safety manager as fully mitigated.
Did Croker make a mistake in placing all his trust in the professional capabilities of the coach driver? Should he have foreseen the distraction the group of revellers would have on the driver? In hindsight, yes. But it is more common than you might think – focusing on the big things, the seemingly insurmountable problems, and assuming the little things will be taken care of.
Charlie Croker successfully planned and executed an extremely difficult and dangerous smash-and-grab gold heist on a heavily-protected convoy in the middle of a large, congested city hundreds of miles away in a foreign country. Shortly afterwards they all got stuck on a mountain, simply because the driver was distracted just as they went around a tight bend in the road.
We’re only human, despite all the skill and planning we might command. Let Charlie Croker’s experience be a lesson to us all so we can avoid the cliff-hanger ending.
“Hang on, lads. I’ve got a great idea. Er…”
Did Croker make a mistake in placing all his trust in the professional capabilities of the coach driver? Should he have foreseen the distraction the group of revellers would have on the driver? In hindsight, yes. But it is more common than you might think – focusing on the big things, the seemingly insurmountable problems, and assuming the little things will be taken care of.
Charlie Croker successfully planned and executed an extremely difficult and dangerous smash-and-grab gold heist on a heavily-protected convoy in the middle of a large, congested city hundreds of miles away in a foreign country. Shortly afterwards they all got stuck on a mountain, simply because the driver was distracted just as they went around a tight bend in the road.
We’re only human, despite all the skill and planning we might command. Let Charlie Croker’s experience be a lesson to us all so we can avoid the cliff-hanger ending.
“Hang on, lads. I’ve got a great idea. Er…”
One of James May's first loves as a toddler was watching The Italian Job when it came on the telly around about every Christmas time. He would watch it avidly and by the age of 10 could recite the script pretty much word-for-word. With the advent of VHS video and DVD, James was able to have his very own copies of his revered piece of motion picture art, which kind of took some of the lustre off to be honest, but not so much as the attempt at a sequel to the film in the early noughties (forget it, don't bother). When James became a big, proper grown up and was doing his MBA at Nottingham University, he had an idea for his dissertation to do an academic comparison between business management theory and The Italian Job. But he chickened out and did it on Competitive Advantage from Supply Chain Management. It was very good but nowhere near as much fun. This article is his catharsis.