The shark wasn’t working. Not only was the shark not working, but it didn’t look frightening. It didn’t evoke fear. The shark was a prop, and it cost $250,000 to make. One more flaw came to the surface, this very expensive prop was not waterproof. Filming was to be done in the ocean, not in a lake. The shark was built for freshwater not saltwater. It broke down repeatedly. This was the making of an epic failure.

Spielberg was only 27 years old as he filmed the movie Jaws. He had never shot a movie on the ocean and did not understand or had prepared to do so. As problems mounted, Steven Spielberg began to think his career was over.

He didn’t let those thoughts win. Instead, he had the prop department work on the shark to make it movie worthy. As they did that, Spielberg turned his attention to the scenes of the movie that didn’t include the shark. He worked with the actors to have the right reactions and inflections.

The famed director met a composer by the name of John Williams. Since the shark wasn’t working, this gave them time to work together and understand the vision for haunting music. Williams grasped the idea and wrote some of the most famous movie music in cinema history.

Where’s the lesson? Spielberg got creative. He focused on what he could improve instead of allowing what wasn’t ready paralyze him. Spielberg knew the shark would eventually be movie ready so he moved forward with what he could do.

When looking back at the experience of filming Jaws Spielberg said, “Because the shark didn’t work, it made it a better movie. If the shark had worked, it would have been half as good. If I hadn’t met John Williams, it wouldn’t have been good at all.”

The delay caused by the shark prop allowed Spielberg to focus on excellence in other areas. That made the movie excellent. He didn’t squander the time; he made use of it.

As leaders, use delays to make your team and the product better. Be careful not to become fixated on what isn’t happening. Should you become focused on what’s broken you will often not see where you can make progress.

Something isn’t where you want it to be? Set up a team to address the issue. Make someone responsible for the project. Hold them accountable by asking periodic updates. Set a date when the issue is to be resolved. Give them what they need to complete the project. Then walk away and move the ball forward in another area.

Be like Spielberg. Allow the invitations from failure to go unanswered. Realize what isn’t working and set a plan to fix it. Look for opportunities where you can advance excellence. Who knows, you might be on the verge of creating an all-time classic.

Leadership matters,

Brian