Editor’s note: This article was first published in June 2013, for the film’s 30th anniversary. Its statement that “in 2013 he has a company again” refers to that year.
I don’t know if you remember the film Trading Places, released in Spain as Entre pillos anda el juego and in some Latin American countries as De mendigo a millonario. In June 1983, Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy starred in one of the films that managed to whet the public’s appetite for the stock market. Four years later came Wall Street, which considerably increased the number of people who wanted to become brokers.
As usually happens with films about the stock market, the market itself ends up being just one more ingredient, skimmed over very lightly. But in the case of Trading Places, if we analyze the plot and read between the lines, there’s an answer to a big question.
For those who haven’t seen the film, here’s the plot in brief: Two millionaire brothers in their eighties who run a successful brokerage firm argue about whether a person’s success, character and attitudes are determined by nature or by nurture. In other words, if we swap a rich man for a poor one, could the poor man be as successful as the rich one? The brothers make a bet. They take a homeless man (Eddie Murphy) and give him an executive position in the firm, while they falsely accuse their “golden boy” (Dan Aykroyd) of theft and fire him.
In a very short time, the homeless man becomes very successful at the firm, while the rich man falls apart and turns to drink.
So do our qualities come from the environment we move in, or are they set from the day we’re born? Are there seemingly very complicated, extremely well-paid jobs that anyone could do with a little training?
Although we’re talking about a film here, the truth is that there are many enormously talented people waiting for someone to give them a chance to develop that talent and show what they’re worth. On the other hand, many companies are full of far too mediocre people in management positions. Why does the company keep them on? For the same reason it hasn’t changed its logo in 20 years: laziness, fear of change, affection… And why doesn’t the talented person manage to succeed on their own? Sometimes talent alone is nothing, and you need someone to show you how to make the most of it.
(Read: Talent: are you born with it or do you build it?)
Let’s divide the world into two types of people: losers and winners. Winners aren’t afraid of losing everything; they have the ambition to win more, although they can lose everything for hundreds of reasons. Losers are afraid of losing the little they have. Ironically, losers have that fear instead of the hope that they could win everything. This reminds me of an old saying: “A person who has nothing to lose has everything to gain.”
Of course, from two real experiences I can point to another factor that would knock this theory down, at least as a general rule.
In 1999 we met a homeless man who told us his story. He had lost his job, fallen into drinking and dabbled in drugs. His girlfriend or wife had left him, and ever since, he said, bad luck had followed him. We hired him at our company as a salesman, bought him a couple of suits, shirts and shoes, and gave him somewhere to live, sharing a flat with other sales reps. For two months everything went well and it seemed to be working. In the third month, once he was earning a good income, he went back to drugs and embezzled a small sum from the company, and we heard nothing more of him until, years later, we saw him living on the street again.
He had his chance. We put good luck right in front of him, and he still didn’t take it.
In 2000, a former boss of mine went bankrupt and was left in debt. By 2005 he was back in business in a big way, with more than 15 employees on the payroll. In 2009 he went bust again because of the crisis. In 2013 he has a company again, with five employees and the potential to keep growing and hiring.
Success is probably neither nature nor nurture but a question of mindset. My former boss is a man of integrity and mentally indestructible. No matter how many times he falls, he’ll always get back on his feet in the end. As for our homeless man, no matter how many chances we give him, he’ll always end up blowing it.
There’s only one difference between the two. One wants to succeed and is willing to do what it takes. The other probably doesn’t want to succeed, and even if he did, he’s clearly not willing to do anything to get there.
Further reading
- Nine truths about life and business, by Geoffrey James
- 26 lessons to prepare your child for the real world
- 18 business lessons you’ll learn sooner or later
Featured image: Ellen Jaskol, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
