Lessons from Bridesmaids Movie from @UniversalPics

I had not laughed so much watching a comedy in a long time. What I really enjoyed was the many lessons that could be applied to all types of relationships. Being that it has been a while since I compared a movie to using Social Media, I will try to tie a few things in this post.

Some People are Lonely

Most of the characters are lonely in one way or the other. Everyone has problems and this is presented in the movie in many ways.  Everyone is focused on there own issues not taking the time to understand that everyone else does have issues too. There are various scenes where Annie played by (Kristen Wiig) has confrontations with a few customers  because she was thinking of her issues instead of taking care of her customers needs. I have seen many individuals in similar situations. I see people in a meeting with a customer complain via twitter or how they would like the meeting to end. I am not sure what is going through their head,  but everyone is reading what that person is writing and that might turn off potential customers even the one that person is sitting with.

Being lonely also makes people try to stand out with the purpose of fighting loneliness. Helen (played by Rose Byrne) is constantly trying to upstage and get attention. You can see she is very creative and does create a wow factor  on everything she does. Where she goes wrong is when she actually does not share the credit with the person that gave her the initial idea. In the corporate world many people start something using someone else’s idea and don’t attribute credit to the person that inspired that idea. I get much more when I give attribution to the person that deserves it.

Failed Business Idea

So many of us stick to our failures more than focusing on how we are going to get future opportunitie. I have had many set backs but out of all of them I can say something else has come out of them. My failure in setting up a local job board gave me the opportunity to help other businesses find cost effective ways to reach new customers. I dove into understanding Social Media thanks to this big set back. Annie for most of the movie is frustrated at how her business failed. When she could have spent time trying to identify how to start it up again with a different spin and lessons learned.

Broken Headlights

Throughout the movie Annie’s car has broken headlights. So many of us go through life with things that we don’t fix that might put us at risk or not let us move forward. Annie was given the opportunity to fix them and even then she decided to not make it a priority.

A Good Pep Talk

The character you would think that is least likely to be happy with herself was Megan (played by Melissa McCarthy). Megan was very happy with herself and where she was in life. It taught me a lesson that looks or certain behaviors have nothing to do with how a person feels inside. She also gave Annie a good pep talk to get her on the right track. Megan uses some unorthodox tactics (at least in my playbook) to get her friend to react. We all need a Megan to slap us around when we do something inappropriate either online or offline.  Someone like Megan is willing to call out people on their BS with the benefit of making sure they reach there goals and become better people.

Apologizing

It is never to early or to late to apologize. Another thing we have to realize that apologizing does not force the other person to accept it. If you made a mistake and it happened

seconds or years ago and you still feel you should apologize go ahead do it right now (just make sure you apology is coming from your heart). Even if the Raccoons (if you watched the movie you will know) eat your apology at least you got it out of the system.

Importance of Relationships

The characters had big set backs and uncomfortable situations the importance of their relationships surpassed any obstacles. People change with time but when a relationship is genuine most issues are dealt with and people grow together. Something that was clear was how the relationships they all established allowed them to help each other throughout the movie in one way or the other.

Understanding Intent

I always try to understand people and the intent of there actions. If I see they have bad intent I go my way and allow them to go their way.Intent is key when gauging most relationships online of offline. Online it is a lot easier to release someone which does not go with your interests but offline if you have to interact with the person it becomes a lot more difficult.

When I feel someone is hurting me or someone else online I silently un-friend and/or un-follow them depending on the platform. It helps me stay in touch with those that I consider to spread good vibes and keeps me away from the negativity of some people. In the movie you could see how the intent of most of them was too… ( I guess you are going to have to watch the movie to find out).