We’ve probably all seen, and are fans of, the Harry Potter movies. I saw most of them in theaters (although not all on opening day). I never took the time to read the books until last year, and I’m glad I did.

Harry Potter business/work related parallels may be a bit of a stretch, but reading the books was fun, and so was writing this. It’s natural to draw parallels from well written entertainment into our own lives; the stories are written so we identify with the protagonists.

When I read I don’t specifically look for quotes, I just write them down if they stand out to me for a particular reason. Throughout the Potter series, there are countless excellent quotes. I can’t tell you exactly why I wrote these down and not others, but here are a few interesting or particular quotes I did happen to write down.

“We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”

-Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

We’ve probably all heard “we are only a strong as the weakest link”. This takes on a similar concept but focuses on the positive side rather than the negative. Instead of speaking about one link being the weakest and breaking the efforts of the rest (somewhat of a scare tactic), it promotes unity and standing strong together.

The second half, “as weak as we are divided” also speaks to the whole of a group and encourages unity again instead of focusing on the individual.

In our daily life, we can relate this to our department (our department is as strong as the entire team) or our company, every department should stand together to do their part. In today’s complex business world, a breakdown by any department has the potential to cause a problem no short of catastrophe. In the startup world, any of these issues can wind up being business ending. From an IT or Information Security perspective, we generally are cost centers providing services or protection for the organization, but the services and tools we provide to the rest of the company will essentially run the entire business on the backend.

“… you will have to make a choice between what is right, and what is easy…”

-Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

This is a popular quote, but it’s probably one of the best. It requires little explanation.

The way this can be interpreted in a business sense is: it can be very easy in business to make empty promises to both co-workers or clients (or potential clients). Especially in the case of potential clients, in the case of security and technology, it would be very simple to stretch the truth and tell them what they want to hear. In many cases it would not even be possible for the customer to ever verify the truth. In my job and at my company, we refuse to do this. The outcry for transparency is loud and clear, and this is my/ our approach. We explain the way we do things, warts and all (hopefully with very few warts). This is why we undergo regular third party audits on both our organization and technology, for transparency.

“It is the unknown we fear when we look upon death and darkness, nothing more.”

-Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (Crossing the “lake”)

Dumbledore, by nature, has a way of taking something that may be overwhelming and scary, and simplifying it in a graceful way. In the world of startups, every day life is the unknown. It can be a difficult environment to navigate the unknown, and it’s not for everyone, but with experience, you don’t need to fear it. When creating a product, new features, etc. you are making an assumption about what your customers want. This assumption is the unknown. It is important to test and verify the unknown, thus reducing the unknown.

Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?

-Dumbledore and Harry talking in kings cross before harry returns

We are all forced to perceive the world through a singular view, our own. This quote really stands out for some reason; I always take a moment to reflect on these words during this part of the movie.

Toujours Pur (Translates to Always Pure)

- Black Family Motto. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Every department should have a motto, or a mission statement.

The motto should tie back into the company’s own vision and mission statement.

The motto should be reminded to the department employees at every sprint planning meeting.

In summary:

It was not planned, but it was probably not a coincidence that all the quotes (except the motto) are all from Dumbledore. When reading the books, Dumbledore comes across as humble, smart, and absolutely fearless leader. He was willing to stand up for what is right, admit when he was wrong, and lead others in a profound way. He is absolutely and completely fearless in the face of his worst enemies and death.

It would be great if we can take some of these principles and apply them to our daily lives, and business lives.

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