R2-D2 — Analyst Hacker

Inspiration from the Most Effective Star Wars Character Ever

I am not certain if R2-D2 is the true Jedi master, but he is clearly the most effective character in the Star Wars movie franchise. More importantly, for this article, he is the ultimate analyst hacker.

R2-D2 not only appears in every Star Wars movie (through 9/16), he also saves the day in everyone, as well. If it weren’t for R2, there would have been fewer title characters. He saved a major character’s life in all but the last movie. There would also have been fewer plot lines. He had the plans to the Deathstar, the map to find Luke, and the fix for every escape plan.

R2-D2 — The Unsung

One can think about the rest of the cast of these movies as the marketing department or the product team. They are all very exciting running around with their bravado and swashbuckling, shooting things with their blasters, making bold statements about evading unemployment (I mean the Empire) and conquering budget constraints (aka the Dark side). They have massive make-up and wardrobe budgets and tons of CGI — aside from the first movie (that was the start-up phase).

And then there is R2, he is not all gold and flashy like C-3 Product Owner… er, PO. He never gets to talk to the customers (audience) without his gold-plated translator. He is basically a Rainbow D2 vaccuum on platform wheels. He is often overlooked by most of the cast and even by the technology team. A fact which led to much acclaim and nice paycheck for Kenny Baker, but even he wasn’t impressed by the role or how Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) treated him.

Analyst Hacker

R2 is originally introduced to us as the keeper of a major bit of competitive intelligence. In A New Hope, he has the plans for the original Deathstar. He then spends the first half of the movie evading corporate (the Empire) and most of his more nagging friends from marketing (Luke, C-3PO) in order to get his team organized. Unless you think he was introduced during the escape sequence in Phantom Menace, where he manages to outlive his equally low-budget colleagues and fix the ship’s shield generator.

Each movie ends with R2-D2 accompanying a young marketing exec (I mean Jedi) to an enemy space ship/station to save the day. While we are led to believe that Luke and Ani did the shooting, if R2 could override the garbage compactor and fix the hacked hyperdrive on the Millenium Falcon — he could certainly have done the shooting, too. Would the Skywalkers have known any better?

Across seven movies, R2 hacks everything. He breaks into stations and ships, rebuilds C-3PO and space drives, gathers incredible intelligence, secretly organizes teams (BB-8 steals that role in Force Awakens), and arguably even took the shot… he might even have played a recording of Obi-Wan pleading “Use the force Luke” just to get him to turn off the targeting system.

R2 works behind the scenes with computer systems and data. He delivers key insights to the marketing team. He takes a lot of orders and ignores many more, quietly guiding his team to better plans and better outcomes. In all of this, he is incredibly effective. He stays focused on the overall goals of the team and spend very little energy on complaining (though he gets a little feisty on occasion… probably just a Jedi ploy).

Summary

R2 is a great analytic inspiration. He quietly supports his team and often prevents them from killing themselves. He prioritizes fire-drills, intelligence gathering, analyzing his opponents weaknesses, overriding problems and systems, and does so with fearless determination. He works well with existing technology while operating/existing on a shoe string budget. He tolerates his noisy marketing partners and even plays nice with the consultants (aka Ewoks), a little less so with the high priced management guru (aka Yoda). He is an effective and consummate professional.