It has been a fantastic few weeks during which I covered all the three seasons, and loving every bit of what they showcased. Though the last few episodes sent shock waves down my sensitive nerves, the charm didn’t wear off. As the 3 season saga ended (for now), while driving down the potholed highways of this wonderful city, I realized the lessons it has the potential to teach us. For the uninitiated.
Let Go. Don’t Hold On To Things.
I stopped having favorite characters on the show after a while, for the fear of killing them off. It is natural to develop a liking for people & things in the course of life or a television show. You end up taking their side. In Game of Thrones, however, they might turn traitors, might get killed by an infected wound or might simply get butchered by their own people. Lesson- Don’t stay attached. Everything has a reason to be with us now, and to be gone tomorrow.
Have a Budget. Respect It. Have Guts.
Two points over here.
When King’s Landing was besieged by the true King Stannis Baratheon, Tyrion Lannister didn’t have a mighty army, not many weapons. But he had a wondrous chemical that burnt like crazy. He had his brains. And he had guts (I’d rather use the ‘b’ word here). Tyrion took time to understand the battlefield, took a stock of weapons and options available. A perfect combination of the resources he had plus reinforcements at the right time helped him win the battle. Lesson- Understand the playground and play your best game.
They are yet to show a full scale battle on the show yet. Can you imagine how glorious, how magnificent the battles would have been, if Game of Thrones enjoyed a massive Troy-like budget? But they have done very well, keeping the story tight, so you don’t really miss the battle scenes. In a comparatively tight budget, they pulled off the best they could. They did have the opportunity to mess with our aptitude by showing 100 men fighting in a battle meant for thousands. But they didn’t. Lesson- Understand the boundaries and set the game right.
Action First, Talk Later
Viserys Targaryen (seen above) had no army, no proven accomplishment, no gold, no ships, except for a dicey alliance that required his sister to marry a tribal leader. His arrogance was misplaced, his pride hurtful for those around him. He’s not unlike a self-proclaimed “entrepreneur” whose startup is yet to take off but the one who keeps offering ‘expert advice’ (that involves shallow claims and criticism) on various topics. Viserys ended up dead by insulting his to-be ally, thus losing everything that he might have achieved for nothing. Lesson- Act when you’re in a position of strength.
Everyone Has Their Own Perspective
Tywin Lannnister means business. Rich and influential, he holds his family most important and does not tolerate anyone undermining the family name. Knows how to win battles, knows what to sacrifice in order to do so. Two reasons why the Lannisters command respect from me-
- “Rich as a Lannister.”
- “A Lannister always repays his debt.”
Lesson- Keep an open, ruthless mind. Everything is fair in love and war.
Respect Promises & Alliances
Oh yes, they do if they are not careful with promises made to key allies. Robb Stark was murdered for going against his vow made during wartime. Use words carefully when dealing with suppliers & vendors. Going back on your promise can result in unfavorable situations. Lesson- Don’t take promises lightly.
Question the System
Halfway into the first season and I was wishing Westeros allowed polygamy. Marriages and children born outside those have caused serious complications in the entire story line. Perhaps Robb could have questioned the system, Cersei could have, Tyrion could have, Robert could have. They could have married someone for political gain and also the lady they loved. Lesson- Question the system. Question existing rules.
Listen to the wise ones. Learn.
Half the troubles could have been avoided had Bran Stark listened to his mother and not climbed the fateful tower (from where he was thrown down, which resulted in his mother arresting Tyrion, which resulted in Bran’s Dad almost losing his leg and consequently his head, which led to the war). Had Robb Stark listened to his mother, his city would have still stood proud and the war would’ve been won. Lesson- Listen to wisdom. If you don’t want to, you better win.
Focus.
It is not advisable to spend your precious time watching Game of Thrones episodes online, leave alone writing an article about it with memes included, when you have work to do. But then, some things shouldn’t be missed. So what if they don’t help in career/money gain? They offer glimpses of creative brilliance that exists.
Let me know if I missed anything. Love and peace.
Hardik Shah
I have never found time to watch these sitcoms. And now you have forced me to add one more to my long pending list. 🙁
Sushrut Munje
This is not a sitcom matey 🙂 But yes, do watch it when you have the time. Totally worth it.
Lavin Mirchandani
Sushrut,
You chose to write about a topic that strikes a deep chord- so I decided to finally use the ‘Forgot Password’ and sign in to comment with a cumbersome process 🙂 – long due at rodinhoods.
This is a very well written article, especially the memes. But IMHO you missed two of the biggest entrepreneurial inspirations from #GoT
a) Daenerys Targaryen
Viserys’ sister. She was ‘sold’ off in the alliance to Khal Drogo for Viserys to build and army. Viserys fell- as such acts dont earn you respect. However, Daenerys pursued her forced relation with Khal Drogo and pursued her vision.
She had a vision which was greater than personal gain – something that everybody else was chasing – the Iron Throne. Her vision was to create a world free of slavery where every individual is a master of her own fate. As a result, every march by this khalasars small troops led to an addition in her army and respect for her cause.
Her modus operandi involved vesting faith in her generals (think ESPOS), leading a democratic organisation ( startup culture), promoting merit (MBAs need not always be head of departments) and being righteous in her doing. That’s how she grew her (Senior management) Queen’s guard including Jorah Mormont, Baristan Selmy and later Daario Naharis (Yunkai) and the major commanding the Unsullied.
Most importantly, she got here, because of her innate belief right from the point where she was a ‘trophy wife’ in an alliance, through the times when her powerful husband died and she was left with just a handful of followers. Her perseverance and belief led her to give birth to three dragons and then raise such a large army.
>> Have a bigger purpose that everybody around you can rise up to. Believe in it and persevere to first get surrounded by these people.
b) John Sno
Was a nobody (bastards were treated like that in that era). He was made to go beyond the wall (think vanvaas ala Ramayana) to guard the empire when ‘Winter was coming’. His act of determination, discipline and dedication got him into the good books of the Lord Commander.
[John Sno is like this working professional who is becoming an entrepreneur. He has no VC contacts, no legacy, no money]
He is fierce in his job and fights the wildlings, He is righteous as he lets the woman live, He is vulnerable, as he falls for her. He is focused- lets her go as soon as they cross the wall and he is back in his land. Of course does this with an arrow in his leg (never date an archer!!). In season 4 we will see, he forges an alliance with a ‘prospective emperor’ and gets a place in the plolitics of Westeros (becomes an entrepreneur), where he can now scale his empire.
>> It doesn’t matter where you are coming from, what matters is where you are going.
Before I sign out, do pick this insane addiction up – it will help you in many other ways and keep you inspired. The least, it will keep you hungry for the next season or make you a voracious reader 🙂
Cheers Sushrut!!
Akhil Gupta
Sushrut, You are a good writer and some of the points are really good. I am sure your post would have been much better if it were based on the books rather than the series. If you really liked the series you should read the books. There were many times when I was reading the post and was like “Oh! He doesn’t know this {some part/character history/ character development skipped in the series but there in the book}”. I will certainly not troll you with the minor factual errors but would definitely recommend that you give the books a try. As you have already seen the series some suspense would definitely be lost but i promise there would be a lot of “Aha!” moments. Also the ability to know beyond the point where season 3 ended 🙂
Sushrut Munje
hahaha thanks a lot, Lavin.
I agree with the awesome points you’ve mentioned and disapprove of the slight spoiler 🙂 Now that I think of it, we could’ve written something about Robb Stark not handling the Karstark situation well too. He was just an angry Dad first, royal to the northern crown (of course, I don’t know the depths since I haven’t read the books) and his anger could’ve been well directed.
Cheers!
Sushrut Munje
Dear Akhil, I understand. Thank you for reading the article.
I confess I used to be a books-first person till I started up. However, since the last 2 years now, I haven’t had time for fiction and prefer watching movies/TV to reading fiction/fantasy books. Will certainly do so when I get the time.
Best,
Sarthak Jain
The show has so many twists and turns that you will be left gasping for breath. Well I guess the biggest lesson I learnt was to be prepared for anything and everything. Sure it’s going to hit hard sometimes but in business one needs to keep their eyes and ears open and ADAPT ADAPT ADAPT. Your next competitor is lurking just around the corner. Never be satisfied.
Sushrut Munje
Thanks Sarthak. I agree with your point.
But if we’re looking at the Game of Thrones situation from a character’s perspective, would you suggest that what happened to them was completely unexpected? Or did they only reap what they had sown? Because in that case, we can also learn to be consciously present at every moment in time and create our own future rather than prepare ourselves to be surprised 🙂
Sarthak Jain
Sushrut, Well from my point of view a lot of what happened in the series (Both TV and Especially in Books) was totally unexpected. In hindsight, yes my opinion might change. Also TV gives away a lot. The Books on the other hand were a revelation. I agree when you say that we should be present in every moment and every moment should be our best effort and that makes us never leave anything to chance but I would never rule out surprises. May it’s just me – For me, it’s the anticipation(or fear) of surprises that keeps me on my toe which makes me gather all knowledge possible. Though that’s the only thing that drives me.
Sushrut Munje
That is an interesting perspective. Thank you.