This weekend our Netflix delivery included, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room. The movie fills in the background of incidents and issues and provides context for all the recent newspaper stories related to the ongoing trial. It depicts a culture of, “we will make our numbers because we creatively conjured them up” that we might have expected, but the thing that struck me the most was the body language and eye contact (or lack of it) by the major players – Lay, Skilling and Fastow.
The film includes narration by Peter Elkin, Fortune Magazine reporter and author of the book named the same as the film, as well as clips, including an actual meeting with financial backers, and a clip from an interview on CNN’s Larry King Live.
Where can anyone watch real examples of business people with arrogance, awkward hand gestures and downturned eyes? Much better than role play in management training class! It really makes you think twice – if the delivery isn’t genuine, is the information any better?
The film’s not perfect, but definitely a watch for anyone interested in business communications. Ask yourself if you might have drunk their Kool Aid or whether they would have just made you feel too uneasy.
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