There’s this wonderful 2006 movie called “The Devil wears Prada”, starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway. A lovely and thought-provoking movie set in the fashion world.
I strongly recommend it for the insights that the story provides into a different world. The post is about one of these insights.
Miranda (Meryl Streep) is a fashion guru who is a demanding manager and a caustic boss.
Andy (Anne Hathaway) is a new second assistant. Andy has no interest or knowledge of the fashion industry but wants to work for a year and get enough connections to become a journalist.
Miranda thinks Andy is another person who will pass through and will not amount to much.
Coming to the main point, there is a scene where a couple of jacket belts are displayed for Miranda’s opinion as they are different (from a fashion context) though the colors look similar.
Andy is taking notes and then sniggers at this display while Miranda is talking to the assistants helping her.
Miranda hears her laugh, turns to her, and asks what’s funny?
Andy blurts out and says the belts look the same and that she is still learning about this “STUFF”.
All in the room go silent. They are shocked and wait for Miranda’s response.
Miranda looks at Andy’s blue-looking sweater and gives her a strong retort of how the choice Andy made of her sweater and color comes from such similar decisions made in the room a couple of years ago by herself and the team.
Andy is chastised.
The scene is noteworthy – do watch the scene (2′ 20″) on the link below before you read ahead.
The key point is we work in industries and are always exposed to new lines of business or fresh areas of expertise.
It is important we be aware of this, understand the context, and not immediately dismiss it away as “stuff”.
This happens if it becomes an ingrained way of dealing with complexities, new experiences, new perspectives, or from an institutional bias.
Yes, this other “stuff” is usually different expertise and is convenient to think is not going to be of value to us in our daily jobs or lives, but it is something that we can choose to pay some attention.
We may be Developers / Technical architects and thinks Business is other “stuff”.
We may be in Marketing and think Sales is some “stuff”.
We may be in Operations and think Strategy is exotic “stuff”
We may be fundamental stock analysts and think technical analysis is boring “stuff”
This “stuff” doesn’t need to be material to our careers, but we need to be conscious of such bias. We may shut out new perspectives that actually will broaden our thinking and could help us down the road.
Do watch this movie and enjoy it and also think about the lessons. Please write about this post or comment
Notes on Financial Markets 
To be able to listen to a person and think about their new ideas is in itself a skill worth developing. Most people who dismiss things as ‘stuff’ can be categorised as those with an idle mind.
Very well articulated. The argument can also be extended to the teams who do not integrate well in a M&A environment