Carol Shelby, Ken Miles and tearing down corporate bureaucracy.

I recently watched Ford vs. Ferarri, and then I watched it again and again. I was amazed. As a gearhead, as an entrepreneur, and a movie buff, this movie immediately landed itself on my favourites list. Here is why.

From amazing shots, music selection, the subtle lines that make you laugh or give you butterflies (the good ones), the actual footage of racing, the product development within the corporate bureaucracy and the spotlighting of one of my favourite yet underrated races ever, the 24 of Le Mans in France, this movie had it all and really hit home, from any angle you looked at it.

I could pick any one of those line items and write an article about them. But after watching it a 5th time, and playing the soundtrack music in my car over and over, I started thinking about the true brilliance of that movie, and how that brilliance is so applicable to everything we do today, especially in business.

In the movie, you have a set of main characters that are key to the plot, my breakdown, and I believe the message the creators of the film are trying to send.

You have Lee Iacocca, the head of marketing at the Ford Motor Company, who sort of green lights the whole thing and sees the initial vision.

You have Leo Beebe, Henry Ford (II)’s right-hand man, who single handily represents everything we dislike about corporate bureaucracy. Then Henry Ford(II) himself, who despite being a bit stubborn initially, seems to come around, with a vengeance.

And finally, you have the stars of the film that graze the cover.

Carol Shelby, where at the beginning of the movie is the only American to ever win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and has since been medically directed to stop racing, and you have Ken Miles, the “H-A-P-P-Y” go lucky, (now iconic) racer, who loves to race but has an uncanny ability, like Shelby, to understand the machine he is driving, and to make it better, and better and better.

In business, we’d call that the Agile methodology. Iterative development while testing along the way and getting feedback.

I think it would foolish not to mention Ken’s family, because if not for them, he may not have raced at all. And Beebe called him selfish. Far from it, as you’ll see at the end when he slows down to allow all 3 Fords remaining on the track, to hit the finish line in the order of 1st, 2nd and 3rd place. The Ford badge would go on to with the next 4 Le Mans, back to back to back to back.

After completely spoiling it for some of you, I’ll get to my point.

Fundamentally what Shelby and Miles did was prove to the world that one can indeed do something truly incredible despite the corporate bureaucracy that very much stood in their way.

I think lots of people have experienced this in their career, and can, therefore relate.

In fact, it is so prevalent that it is often a theme in nearly any movie or shows where the central gathering place of the characters is an office or workplace. Take Mad Men, Star Trek, or even an animated spy comedy like Archer (FX). You will always see, at some point, bureaucracy standing in the way of genuine innovation.

Mad Men was a medium-sized ad agency, Star Trek is a series of fictional stories in outer space, and Archer is a fictional, comical spoof on spy thrillers.

The Ford Motor Company, however, is a real global enterprise. And the Ford badge, since the time when the movie took place, went from affordable and family-friendly to downright iconic and cool. How did that happen? Take the movie Bullitt for example. The fact that there is a 2018 model of the Ford Mustang Bullitt says a lot.

But none of that happens if it weren’t for Iaccoca, Shelby and Miles having the guts to say, point-blank, that Ford needed to change. Then properly implementing that change, and walking away with victories where it really counts.

The first part takes some minerals, and many of us can do that, but to then develop the product successfully, amongst a myriad of people who are deliberately standing in the way of your progress is another game entirely.

It is Shelby and Iaccoca who elegantly and knowledgeably traverse the traditional company thinking and set a clear new vision for Ford’s racing division. Then the process of getting everyone, (relatively) on board, even Beebe, was another entrepreneurial work of art.

Then they have their cheeky, in your face, poster boy, who is going to actually race the car, in Ken Miles. He, in the context of business today, would be your developer, user tester, early adopter, and feedback guru. The person who is willing to get the job done, however that may be.

Without him, they’d have gone into analysis paralysis rather quickly, and the whole operation is over. Why? Because you need someone who will roll up their sleeves, not back down and say what they truly mean. Sometimes it’s a bit crude, but that’s why Shelby is there to act as a liaison.

Carol Shelby (Left) played by Matt Damon and Ken Miles (right) played Christian Bale, ruminating on the tarmac.

So let us try to take the abstract analogy from this movie and apply the principles that Shelby, Iacocca, and Miles used to break through the corporate pyramid and build a product that defeated Ferarri.

1. Vision — outlined by Iaccoca, is something you need to start the process. Without that initiative, Ford doesn’t participate in Le Mans, Ford Motor Company remains stagnant, and Shelby and Miles don’t enter the picture. No vision, no product. Or at least no game-changing product.
2. Courage — one has to be ready to potentially lose their job by pointing out glaring shortcomings within a company that is resting on its previous laurels. The bureaucracy pyramid will always naturally rest on its laurels, and senior members from years past, are too busy keeping their jobs than actually doing them. The Ford Motor Company at that time were resting on the vision of Henry Ford I. His son thought he could just take it over and run it the same way. But times change, people change, cultures change, as he would eventually find. But some brave individual had to literally pull his head out of the sand. That takes a lot of courage. The courage to fly to Italy, only to be sent home with your tail between your legs, yet not give in. Immediatly after that embarrassment, Iaccoca goes and finds Carol Shelby.
3. Experience, leadership and humility — If you have experience and no humility or true leadership, you are just another corporate cog in the wheel. Carol Shelby had the experience. He was the only American to ever win Le Mans. He also had humility and leadership. Humility in leadership involves knowing when to delegate, understanding people, knowing when to put your foot down and understanding when to ‘appease’ upper management. Whether that means locking Leo Beebe in your office while you take the CEO of the Ford Motor Company for a really, really fast ride, by being a team player and putting together a press conference to show that everyone is on the same page, or disobeying a direct command by letting Ken Miles decide for himself regarding slowing down during the tail end of the race. In other words, having the gut instinct to do what is right, and trusting the team you have assembled. Your team within the pyramid.
4. Spirit — There is an old saying in horse racing that debates whether to start gelding a yearling (a Mustang, or a horse with incredible raw ability) with natural speed, which would risk diminishing its “spark”. If you do that, the horse will be easier to handle but you run the chance of taking away what made the horse great in the first place. Enter Ken Miles. A free spirit with a natural ability and an uncanny feel for the car. He speaks as if the car is a person itself. This natural bond between Ken and the vehicle is what makes him such a great racer. “If you’re going to push a piece of machinery to the limit, and expect it to hold together, you have to have some sense of where that limit is.” To most, it’s an inanimate object, but to Ken, it’s more than that, which explains why they were able to develop something so special. Now Ken Miles is a human being, not a horse, so there is no chance in my mind he would have allowed someone to take away his natural talent and love for racing, except maybe from his wife. But you get the gist. Ken Miles had the raw ability and you cannot tamper with that. Carol Shelby knew this because he, at one point had that same ability. Shelby’s sensing this in Miles is what makes their partnership so great and successful. Shelby’s unwillingness to let go of Miles, despite pressure from the outside, is another sign of the acknowledgement of not just skill, (which McLaren and others had) but the spirit, the love and the passion. That is why Ken Miles is a legend amongst racers even today, and if he wasn’t before he certainly is now after this movie.
5. Execution — “It’s a truly lucky man who knows what he wants to do in this world. ’Cause that man will never work a day in his life.’ But there are a few, a precious few, and, hell, I don’t know if they’re lucky or not. But there are a few people who find something they have to do. Something (that) obsesses ’em. Something that if they can’t do it, it’s gonna drive them clean out of their mind” — Carol Shelby. You don’t risk your job, the reputation of the company you work for, the reputation of yourself if you do not feel like you have to do something. If you have an idea and see a huge wall in front of you, gather courage and assemble the team to help you get over that wall.

Apply this to your life. Apply this to your startup. Apply this to the business you are working for. Or you can sit around trying not to get fired.

The real Ken Miles (left) and Carol Shelby (right) enjoying the fruit of their labour.

Up to you. The world is yours for the taking. Go out and get it.

Giddy up my girl,

Roh Krishnan