The current moment of social isolation has been an opportunity to rediscover some moments of entertainment inside our home. Like many people, one example has been my reunion with films, series. And I just finished a few days ago to see the fourth season of the famous series A Casa de Papel (Netflix). And there are a number of important management lessons that this brings us.

For the more distracted, A Casa de Papel is a series about an assault. The plot is simple, but the dynamics are the ones that grab us at every moment, unravelling an incredible amount of connections to management and leadership issues, and that we find throughout the various seasons. There are five lessons that jumped out at me in this last set of eight episodes, which I tried to summarize, without spoilers, in this article.

These are the five lessons that the fourth season of A Casa de Papel reminds us of management:

# 1 - The best plan fails

The teacher makes an incredible plan for the assault, but there are so many surprises that it often turns out to be the day-to-day execution that makes the difference between the initial plan and your success in the ground. Of course, it was important to make the plan, and be prepared for various scenarios, but it is inevitable that the plans fail. In the life of companies, plans also need constant adaptation to reality. Once again Darwin is right. Those who adapt most quickly are those who survive; and not the strongest.

# 2 - The team overrides the individual genius

None of the individuals alone, not even the sum of them all, would have been able to carry out the actions or make the plans to respond to the situations. And, also in companies, it is the team that makes the difference and not the sum of the individuals. In this series we see that, with all the characters working as a team and knowing exactly what to do at each moment. And this is also a metaphor for how it should be in companies.

# 3 - 360º leadership is essential

In the series, we saw the central role that leadership plays in good performance. It is important for someone to see the whole and to take control with the head and not the heart. In view of all the adversities that are presented to the various characters, it is the rationality of the character “Professor” that causes a dynamic of success in the team. Today, with the moment that the country is going through, and with the risk of paralysis of fear, it is necessary to have the discernment to always know where we are going and to avoid a bad choice in the middle of the “chaos”, which in the future we will regret .

# 4 - Perseverance makes the difference

It is very obvious in the series, especially in the symbolic concept of resistance, where the characters come together around symbols, such as the song Bella Ciao. And this idea of resistance emerges in difficult times, always as a greater ideal that overcomes adversity and gives meaning to the different actions of the characters. In companies too, it is necessary to have symbols that unite us. It is necessary to have a vision and a purpose that gives meaning to our efforts. In this series, when everyone is lost, there is always someone who brings that common ideal and brings the team together around the common goal.

# 5 - Team building is hugely important in the team

The importance of creating bonds and having informal relationships is obvious in the moments we see in the series. From soccer games to group lunches, all of these moments allowed us to create relationships between them, which in times of stress, and when “chaos” arrives, the team managed to resist, instead of letting go. And, even now, it is possible to do team building from home, helping teams to strengthen ties and be better prepared to deal with the current moment. In fact, management is everywhere.

And good practices are adaptable to everything in our life, even our favorite series.