Movies are magical. They can release us from the stress of everyday life. But movies also contain valuable lessons to improve the way we do business. In their entertaining new book, The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons From the Movies, authors Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo show how to use the stories in movies to solve problems in business. From The Godfather to Tootsie, from The Wedding Singer to Babe, the authors use more than sixty of their favorite movies to teach important lessons about branding, customer service, leadership, planning, ethics, and innovation. Readers will learn how to use stories from the movies to communicate clearly with employees, clients, and customers. The book includes movies that illustrate key business lessons in branding, ethics, customer focus, leadership, and more. Get out the popcorn, sit back, relax...and learn!
The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies
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Editorial Reviews
Review
The connection between the movies and business wisdom has been there all along. It took Kevin and Michael to bring it into sharp, digital-age focus. Gerry Lopez, CEO, AMC Entertainment Inc. --Gerry Lopez, CEO, AMC Entertainment Inc.
The Big Picture will open your mind about the power of storytelling, whether it s for a speech, a business presentation, or a one-on-one with a business associate or a member of your family. Great job, Kevin and Michael. You have given me a new reason to go to the movies. Jim Donald, CEO, Haggen, Inc. and former CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company --im Donald, CEO, Haggen, Inc. and former CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company
The Big Picture will open your mind about the power of storytelling, whether it s for a speech, a business presentation, or a one-on-one with a business associate or a member of your family. Great job, Kevin and Michael. You have given me a new reason to go to the movies. Jim Donald, CEO, Haggen, Inc. and former CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company --im Donald, CEO, Haggen, Inc. and former CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company
About the Author
Kevin Coupe has been a working writer all his professional life. For the past decade, he's had his own website/blog, Morning News Beat, providing what he calls business news in context, and analysis with attitude. In addition to speaking at hundreds of conferences in the U.S. and abroad and reporting from 45 states and six continents, Kevin has been a newspaper reporter, video producer, actor, bodyguard, clothing salesman, supervised a winery tasting room, ran two marathons (slowly), drove a race car (badly), took boxing lessons (painfully), and acted in a major (and obscure) motion picture. Kevin is married with three children and lives in Connecticut. Michael Sansolo has traveled around the world one supermarket at a time, yet stopped to climb the Sydney Harbour Bridge, the Great Wall of China, and Pikes Peak. A native New Yorker, Sansolo is a consultant and frequent speaker for the food retail industry, and is a contributing editor and weekly columnist for MorningNewsBeat.com, a daily newsletter on the retail industry. Sansolo was the senior vice president of the Food Marketing Institute and was editor-in-chief of Progressive Grocer magazine. Favorite book: The Big Picture (of course), and The Great Gatsby; favorite food: Sal's Pizza; favorite team: the Mets; favorite movies: read The Big Picture! Sansolo, his family, and his very annoying beagle live in the suburbs of Washington, DC.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By R. Fountain
Format:Paperback
When I first heard about The Big Picture, I was very intrigued. I'm a huge movie buff and always on the lookout for business books that can deliver useful information in a more interesting and creative way. Up to this point, my favorite has been I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse: Insider Business Tips from a Former Mob Boss: Michael Franzese.
In The Big Picture, Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo use popular movies, from the classics to the current, to illustrate each business point being presenting.
For example, in regard to "Word of Mouth Advertising", the faux-climax scene from When Harry Met Sally was used. Once Sally's throes of passion subside, she takes a bite of her sandwich; the customer next to her states, "I'll have what she's having". Business point: Sally is a happy, satisfied customer and the others want to feel the same way. As an alternate perspective, Michael Sansolo relates a story that demonstrates the affect a dissatisfied customer can have on business: while on a flight to Washington Michael purchased a snack from the attendant, only to find it past it's "use by" date. When brought to the flight attendant's attention, she failed to appropriately remedy the situation; resulting in the surrounding passengers returning their snacks as well.
Other examples include "Never Underestimate Your Competition", illustrated by Tucker: The Man and His Dream; "Denial Is Never A Good Thing", illustrated by Jaws; and one of my favorites "Go the Distance", which probably has less to the do with the business lesson and more to do with how Rocky (one of the best movies ever: "Take her to da zoo Rock") was used to portray it.
The Big Picture is a very fun, quick read that does a great job of getting key business points across. Coupe and Sansolo manage to take an oft-covered topic and make it fresh and interesting. For those who want to continue the lessons, Appendix B lists additional movies and their corresponding business topic; which would go a long way in spicing up those mind-numbing corporate "team leader" meetings. Well, it looks like I have a new favorite--but let's not tell Michael Franzese...
In The Big Picture, Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo use popular movies, from the classics to the current, to illustrate each business point being presenting.
For example, in regard to "Word of Mouth Advertising", the faux-climax scene from When Harry Met Sally was used. Once Sally's throes of passion subside, she takes a bite of her sandwich; the customer next to her states, "I'll have what she's having". Business point: Sally is a happy, satisfied customer and the others want to feel the same way. As an alternate perspective, Michael Sansolo relates a story that demonstrates the affect a dissatisfied customer can have on business: while on a flight to Washington Michael purchased a snack from the attendant, only to find it past it's "use by" date. When brought to the flight attendant's attention, she failed to appropriately remedy the situation; resulting in the surrounding passengers returning their snacks as well.
Other examples include "Never Underestimate Your Competition", illustrated by Tucker: The Man and His Dream; "Denial Is Never A Good Thing", illustrated by Jaws; and one of my favorites "Go the Distance", which probably has less to the do with the business lesson and more to do with how Rocky (one of the best movies ever: "Take her to da zoo Rock") was used to portray it.
The Big Picture is a very fun, quick read that does a great job of getting key business points across. Coupe and Sansolo manage to take an oft-covered topic and make it fresh and interesting. For those who want to continue the lessons, Appendix B lists additional movies and their corresponding business topic; which would go a long way in spicing up those mind-numbing corporate "team leader" meetings. Well, it looks like I have a new favorite--but let's not tell Michael Franzese...
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Diana Crane
Format:Paperback
"The Big Picture" is a thoroughly enjoyable trip down movie memory lane that, at the very least, will make you wonder why they just don't make movies like they used to. Once you've read it for fun, you'll want to read it again to grasp the basic, but powerful business and life lessons Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo have cleverly extracted from movies as diverse as High Noon, Sex and the City, and Amadeus. As I read it - for a third time - I wrote down several "gems." Some are helpful for keeping business challenges in perspective; others make great content for business presentations. Still others have been useful dinner conversation starters and object lessons when talking with my two teenagers. Totally worth the time to read ... each time.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Drea Knufken
Format:Paperback
What do you think about when you watch a movie? Unless it's a complete dud, you're probably not thinking about anything but the movie.
OK, turn that around. What do you think about when you're not watching a movie? If you compare real-life events to movies, think of the right movie quotes for every situation, and see most movies the week they're released in theaters, read on. A couple of movie buffs just like you put together what could be the ultimate compilation of business lessons from movies.
Many movies-even date movies and comedies-are full of lessons for business. Authors Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo cover the best of those lessons in The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies. In their new book, they share the business wisdom in 65 famous classic and modern movies. The Big Picture's combination of clever business analysis with the joy of cinema makes it a fun, insightful read.
Content
The Big Picture is broken down into six parts, which in turn are divided into fifty-one short (4-12 page) chapters. Every chapter is devoted to a different business lesson, indicated in the title section of the chapter. Lesson topics include branding, customers, strategy, leadership, ethics, and more. In each chapter, you learn what a certain movie is about, and what themes and scenes carry the relevant business lesson.
The most gratifying business lessons are the unexpected ones. For example, the authors derive a good lesson from Charlie Wilson's War. In it, Congressman Charlie Wilson, only one person, managed to make a huge difference in Afghanistan's Soviet resistance movement. Sadly, his efforts ultimately ended up being in vain, because Congress never passed a motion to rebuild Afghanistan afterwards. The lesson: One person can make a difference, but if you don't see the job through, it can all go down the toilet.
Many of the authors' movie selections are also refreshing. Who knew you could learn about the importance of delivering bad news as soon as it happens from Adam Sandler's "The Wedding Singer"? Despite many clever and original movie choices, however, a few lessons, like build relationships in good times (shown through The Godfather), are rather obvious.
The authors sometimes banter with one another, or give you different individual insights in the same chapter. That keeps the book fun.
Thoughts
The Big Picture could be a great resource for presentations, speeches, training, and any other business activity that could use good movie references. The authors make it easy for you to find a cinematic example to express your business point. This may be a good book to keep around as a reference if you speak or team-build frequently.
The authors' well-written commentary made me want to see a number of movies again--or for the first time. That said, I'm not a movie buff. I like movies, but it's not a habit of mine to think about them outside of the movie theater. For that reason, the book felt more laborious to me than I think it would have to a true movie fan.
I also noticed that it was more fun to read about the movies I'd already seen than those I hadn't. This also makes me think that someone who has seen-and remembered-a lot of movies would enjoy this book a little more than a casual movie watcher like me. That's also why I gave it 3 stars. The writing is great, the ideas are original and good, but as a casual movie watcher (rather than a full-blown movie fan), I just couldn't get that into it.
All in all, if you're a movie buff, The Big Picture will gratify and instruct. It's also useful if you want a good reference book for motivational, team-building, and training speeches. I recommend it for movie lovers, movie critics, and anyone with a heart for cinema.
(Review by Drea Knufken as posted on [...])
OK, turn that around. What do you think about when you're not watching a movie? If you compare real-life events to movies, think of the right movie quotes for every situation, and see most movies the week they're released in theaters, read on. A couple of movie buffs just like you put together what could be the ultimate compilation of business lessons from movies.
Many movies-even date movies and comedies-are full of lessons for business. Authors Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo cover the best of those lessons in The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies. In their new book, they share the business wisdom in 65 famous classic and modern movies. The Big Picture's combination of clever business analysis with the joy of cinema makes it a fun, insightful read.
Content
The Big Picture is broken down into six parts, which in turn are divided into fifty-one short (4-12 page) chapters. Every chapter is devoted to a different business lesson, indicated in the title section of the chapter. Lesson topics include branding, customers, strategy, leadership, ethics, and more. In each chapter, you learn what a certain movie is about, and what themes and scenes carry the relevant business lesson.
The most gratifying business lessons are the unexpected ones. For example, the authors derive a good lesson from Charlie Wilson's War. In it, Congressman Charlie Wilson, only one person, managed to make a huge difference in Afghanistan's Soviet resistance movement. Sadly, his efforts ultimately ended up being in vain, because Congress never passed a motion to rebuild Afghanistan afterwards. The lesson: One person can make a difference, but if you don't see the job through, it can all go down the toilet.
Many of the authors' movie selections are also refreshing. Who knew you could learn about the importance of delivering bad news as soon as it happens from Adam Sandler's "The Wedding Singer"? Despite many clever and original movie choices, however, a few lessons, like build relationships in good times (shown through The Godfather), are rather obvious.
The authors sometimes banter with one another, or give you different individual insights in the same chapter. That keeps the book fun.
Thoughts
The Big Picture could be a great resource for presentations, speeches, training, and any other business activity that could use good movie references. The authors make it easy for you to find a cinematic example to express your business point. This may be a good book to keep around as a reference if you speak or team-build frequently.
The authors' well-written commentary made me want to see a number of movies again--or for the first time. That said, I'm not a movie buff. I like movies, but it's not a habit of mine to think about them outside of the movie theater. For that reason, the book felt more laborious to me than I think it would have to a true movie fan.
I also noticed that it was more fun to read about the movies I'd already seen than those I hadn't. This also makes me think that someone who has seen-and remembered-a lot of movies would enjoy this book a little more than a casual movie watcher like me. That's also why I gave it 3 stars. The writing is great, the ideas are original and good, but as a casual movie watcher (rather than a full-blown movie fan), I just couldn't get that into it.
All in all, if you're a movie buff, The Big Picture will gratify and instruct. It's also useful if you want a good reference book for motivational, team-building, and training speeches. I recommend it for movie lovers, movie critics, and anyone with a heart for cinema.
(Review by Drea Knufken as posted on [...])
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Getting Ready For Your Close-up
The Big Picture is a wonderful read. Full of examples drawn from movies both new and old, it will remind you of much you knew, and some stuff you may not have thought of before. Read more
Published on March 22, 2010 by David F. Henry
4.0 out of 5 stars
Intelligent and Vivid
One of the best business books I have read. (Death to all Sacred Cows is the other.)
Many business books are too obtuse and essentially not practical: hard to apply the... Read more
Many business books are too obtuse and essentially not practical: hard to apply the... Read more
Published on March 20, 2010 by Beau Fraser
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Big Picture: Essential Business Lessons from the Movies
What a great read, not just to enjoy brief reviews of movies but also to have a correlation to a busines use. It is a quick and enjoyable read, especially if you enjoy the movies. Read more
Published on February 19, 2010 by M. mccoy
4.0 out of 5 stars
A unique way to give valuable advice
While I'm not a contemporary movie fan, I enjoyed this book. Why? Everyone loves a story. And almost all stories tell us something that can translate into a bit of business advice. Read more
Published on February 16, 2010 by Susanna Hutcheson
4.0 out of 5 stars
Big lessons in business from the big screen --a handy reference
This book couldn't be more timely for me; I just got back from a meeting where we watched excerpts of Invincible, the Disney film on the life of Vince Papale and the Philadelphia... Read more
Published on February 10, 2010 by Joanna Daneman
4.0 out of 5 stars
Anyone with a point to make can cite scenes or aspects of a movie or...
I liked this book. I especially liked the content, but I wasn't particularly impressed with its organization and indexing. Read more
Published on February 6, 2010 by Jeff Lippincott
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Double Barreled Winner!
Kevin Coupe and Michael Sansolo have come up with a unique, informative, clever, and very entertaining book - THE BIG PICTURE: ESSENTIAL BUSINESS LESSONS FROM THE MOVIES. Read more
Published on February 6, 2010 by Grady Harp
5.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and Informative!
Coupe and Sansolo succeed in applying the practical lessons from our favorite movies to everyday life. Read more
Published on February 1, 2010 by Adam R. Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great idea!
Does art imitate life or does life imitate art? This book is for anyone who has ever looked at a situation and thought "It's just like that movie... Read more
Published on January 31, 2010 by S. Cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars
great read!
How better to teach, inform, or create then to use a well known, common ground, form of communication such as the movies. Read more
Published on January 31, 2010 by M. Imus
