
Netflix Has Awakened My Movie Bug…
Last night I was watching one of my favorite movies from long ago… “THE ABYSS”. Â It’s a wonderful film and unintentionally offers lots of opportunity for dialogue about leadership and management while under extreme pressure. Â (Play on the word pressure is intended)Â Â J
It’s also an incredibly engaging and entertaining movie and it didn’t take long before me and the three oldest were sucked in deep. Â
At one point there is a bit of dialogue that got me racing for my leadership journal… I just had to write it down. Â Here it goes… I could kill you with context…but will try to be brief.
They are really deep in the water in a life threatening situation that continues to deteriorate. Lindsey, a member of the crew is outside the submersible making repairs when she has a prolonged close encounter with an alien being.  She manages to get a picture as it zips away into the Abyss but the picture doesn’t show anything but a swirl of light in darkness.
In the next scene she is showing the picture to the crew and trying to describe her spectacular and indescribable encounter. There are a couple major problems she has in doing this.  The first is she has no words to describe something which is unlike anything she has ever seen or experienced.  The second problem is that the rest of the crew has a similar problem… they have never experienced anything that will allow them to comprehend or understand what she cannot describe. Â
The result is a frustrating fragmented conversation that quickly deteriorates into people saying things like “What you probably saw was…” or “You’ve been under a lot of pressure…” as they try to make sense for themselves and her as to what she experienced. Â
Others just make fun of it using humor as a way to move past the awkwardness of it all. Â
And some, like the military guys with them, believe it is the Russians trying to take secrets or nuclear weapons off the downed submarine that they are close too.
None of them are getting it and the more she tries the more frustrating it is to Lindsey.  She really wants to be understood and believed. Finally BUD, the team leader, sees that all of this is upsetting an already emotionally fragile crew and he pulls her aside to calm things down. What follows are a few excerpts from their conversation.
BUD Â the team leader says to her… “Tell us again what it is”
Lindsey - I am telling you what it is…you’re just not hearing me.”
BUD - Maybe you did see something maybe you didn’t
Lindsey - I DID SEE SOMETHING!
- Will you step into my office, please ?
- Certainly.              Â
I– Come here.   - Calm down , Linds.
- Oh, Bud, come on. Something really important is happening here.
- I’m trying to keep this situation under control. I can’t allow you to create this kind of hysteria
- Who’s hysterical ?
- Nobody’s hysterical !  All I’m saying is, when you’re hanging’ on by your fingernails, you don’t go waving your arms around.
Look, I saw something. I’m not gonna say I didn’t see it when I did.
You are the most stubborn woman I ever knew.
Yes. I am. Â Â But I need you to believe me right now.Â
Come on, look at me. Am I stressed out ? You know me better than anybody in the world.               Â
Now watch my lips.  I saw these things.
I touched one of them,  and it wasn’t some clunky steel can like we would build. It glided.
It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.          Â
Oh, God, I wish you’d been there.               Â
It was a machine — It was a machine, but it was alive.
It was like a– like a dance of light.                Â
Please. You have to trust me.        Â
Now, I don’t think they mean us any harm. I don’t know how I know that. It’s just a feeling.
I’m supposed to go on a feeling ?
How can I ? You think Coffey’s gonna go on a feeling ?
Well, we all see what we wanna see.                 Â
Coffey looks, and he sees Russians. He sees hate and fearÂ
You have to look with better eyes than that.
So what are we to do then?Â
Well the next time someone begins to get frustrated with us because we just can’t seem to “get it” …perhaps we can step back for a moment  remember that to even begin to see what another person sees will require more than listening with better ears…. We may need to look with better eyes. Only then may we be able to stop seeing just what we understand and what makes sense to us… and begin to see and catch the vision of their experience so we can share in their understanding.
I probably really mucked that up…but I hope that it made some kinda sense to you guys.
 Kirk Out