Jurassic World is a cautionary tale against miscommunication at a workplace. Sure, the most obvious lesson is that the dinosaurs will feast on you as if you are a taster palette in a supermarket. However, the most practical lesson one can get is related to the work environment.
Having suffered a PR disaster in the inaugural movie of the franchise, the new CEO of Jurassic Park, Simon Marsani, recreates Dr Hammond’s previously destroyed vision. At least, he tries to. But what is a movie without cliches? Like sequels to any film with a high number of death counts, the Jurassic World, too, validate the cliche that history repeats itself.
In the movie, the threat comes from a genetically modified dinosaur called the Indominus Rex. This human creation leads to an even greater disaster with higher casualties. With the brutal history behind the franchise, one would think the CEO would have learned from the mistake of his predecessor and taken measures to overcome the repeat of such tragedy. Instead, he oversees an even bigger disaster.
How did this happen?
Well, plot holes and incompetency, obviously, but let us forgo the pedantic review.
There is one major factor contributing to such a disastrous turn of events within the story: miscommunication.
The entire creation of Indominus Rex hinges on Marsani’s ambition to increase the revenue of the park. After realising that the park is losing its appeal, he urges lead geneticist, Dr Henry Wu, to create a monster of a dinosaur that is “bigger, scarier and cooler.” Dr Wu obliges. This is where the initial issue arises.
Marsani does not explicitly tell Dr Wu what he wants in a dinosaur. He merely mentions those three adjectives which can be interpreted subjectively. The scientist heeds his words and creates a dinosaur that is bigger, scarier and cooler to meet the CEO’s expectation. He succeeds, as evident by the big metaphorical thumbs up Mr Marsani gives when he first sees it(barely). However, when the dinosaur escapes and goes on a killing spree, the CEO finally sees the dinosaur for what it is: lawsuits and bankruptcy. Realising this, he goes to confront Dr Wu, and demands who gave him permission to create the dinosaur. The scientist factually points the finger right back at Marsani. Dr Wu defends his creation by saying that the only way to meet his objective was to combine the genetic codes of various animals. In layman’s term: SCIENCE.
One can easily sympathise with the scientist. After all, he was tasked with a job to create a dinosaur to meet his boss’s demand. He was told what it should be but not what it should not be. Given his objective had been to create a dinosaur, it would not have been too far-fetched for him to think that the creation of Indominus Rex was a job well done. Sure, he had an ulterior motive of creating it for military purposes, but even without that motive, the creation of Indominus Rex was all within the expectation of Simon Marsani.
As per Marsani’s wishes, the dinosaur was certainly big (bigger than T-Rex); it was scary too. Marsani, himself, admits to its fear-inducing presence. It was certainly cool (What is cooler than a dinosaur with superpowers?). It could camouflage, problem solve (i.e. escape), go on a rampage, talk to raptors – the coolest dinosaur in Jurassic Park. It was cool simply via association with the raptors. It could probably set up a trap for humans then lie in wait to ambush them, camouflaging as a thin air whilst solving Rubik’s cube. All these ridiculous abilities would sure make it cool within the confines of the story.
The dinosaur ticked all of Marsani’s checklist, yet it was not what he had in mind. However, according to Dr Wu, it was all within the expectation vocalised by the CEO. Had Marsani clearly communicated his desire for a new dinosaur beyond the subjective bigger, scarier and cooler checklist, it might have turned out different. Indominus Rex could have been an attraction without the intellect to outsmart the crew members and go on a killing spree.
Now let us look at this from Marsani’s perspective. When he told his vision of a new dinosaur, he thought it was abundantly clear that in no way should the dinosaur be a psychopathic killer. After all, despite the dangers of working in Jurassic Park, some degree of health and safety is still employed. Surely, being the CEO, he would have thought that the scientist would be transparent in his creation.
Clearly, he was mistaken.
Dr Wu and his team withhold crucial information about the dinosaur, such as camouflage and temperature adaptation, deliberately misleading the CEO about the latest creation. Had Dr Wu communicated the genetic coding of the dinosaur and its excessive primaeval nature, the park would have been better prepared to deal with such contingencies. Marsani (maybe) would have even struck up a deal with that shady government guy to create a military dinosaur without risking the public’s safety and the park’s eventual closure. Instead, Marsani’s ambiguity and Dr Wu’s non-communication planted seeds for a bigger disaster than Dr Hammond’s original Jurassic Park.
At least, we got a follow-up movie to the original that didn’t completely suck.
So, to conclude, COMMUNICATE AT YOUR WORKPLACE. Do not give ambiguous orders or withhold important/relevant information. It is better to be clear, concise and aware than to have a figurative Indominus Rex wreaking havoc, trying to figure out where it lies in the food chain in relation to you.
Jacksombre 