We are Batman

We are batman

So I just finished watching Batman Dark Knight. To warn you this is one of those passionate flight of ideas Blogs I am famous for… OK… so its perfect… Batman is our symbol for MHI (Masters in Healthcare Innovation) and Bruce Wayne is our symbol for the graduates.

The entire movie is a fight between innovation leaders (Batman & The Joker). Batman with his vision of a better Gothem (healthcare) and Joker with his sights set on benefiting on the broken system. Who wins??? Well I will not spoil the movie but I will try to address some of the characteristics that are portrayed so elegantly in the movie.

Lets start with Batman. If you saw Batman Begins you will know that Bruce Wayne was once part of the problem of Gothem… A rich man making money on the suffering of others. After experiencing a life altering interaction with crime, he reevaluated himself and embarked on a journey to understand how the broken system became broken and the people living in the trenches. Sound like the MHI program… I think so!!! So as he trained to one day fight the broken system he realized it was time to break away from the old ways a become something bigger…. He chose to become a symbol (Batman) something that people can believe in and follow. In other words, Batman is the innovation leader fighting for good change.

So what do I mean by good change. Again, you gotta see DARK KNIGHT, but Batman has defined his values and sticks to them. He adapts his techniques, his equipment, his approach, and his logic to the situation. He garners support from the change agents and does not take ownership of the innovation. You will see in the movie near the end what I mean about not taking ownership!!! He uses his tools to both fight the system and crime to accomplish the goals. He works towards a vision of a better Gothem and does not let friend nor foe stand in his way. He realizes that he is the key to making change and even those close to him do not always understand his motivations. He eventually translate it.

Can you see the tie ins… again… you gotta see it….

But what about Bruce Wayne. Where is his side in all of this. Bruce still plays the part of the broken system but uses his power for good now. So it could be argued that we MHI’rs as individuals are Bruce Waynes. He still has to live in the city filled with crime, he still must deal with the day to day work that is part of the routine, but he is working to change it and understands that he must still both create change and operate in the system he is changing at by night. MHI as a whole is the symbol known as Batman. Ok… need to get thoughts on that… but first lets go to the joker.

So the JOKER!!! He is an innovation leader as well. I know, its hard to believe, but we have talked about this in class. We has innovation leaders can use our power of change for evil… That is the choice that the Joker made. He created chaos for the reason of chaos. There was no vision, he describes himself as a rabid dog, just “Doing” and not thinking. He is a lost yet effective leader. He can manipulate his followers to do his bidding and his fatal flaw is the fact that he took ownership of his change and innovation. He began to expect his change would always carry out the way he planned. That cost him, his ownership brought him down.

So, we are Batman, and Bruce Wayne, and we are trying to fix Gothem while living their too… and sometimes, we have to fight Jokers and give up ownership to keep the symbol of change and good alive in those with less power to change the world. Its perfect!

OK… now you all have to go watch it! You will see the tie ins… its advanced innovation at its finest!