Oceam's 8 Heist


One example of a great team dynamic is Ocean’s 8 heist. Even though this is an unorthodox working dynamic, it shows you what it takes to assemble an excellent team. Debbie Ocean was just released from a 5-year sentence from a scam gone wrong. Her ex-boyfriend Claude threw her under the bus and now she has a plan to steal a $150 million diamond necklace from the Met Gala and frame him. The necklace is usually stored in a below-ground vault which would almost be impossible to get, so they needed to find a way to get it out. In order to do this, she assembled a group of 7 women with different backgrounds and talents. She first tells her right-hand woman Lou and together with the assemble the team. They enlist a fashion designer named Rose to create a look for famous actress Daphne and their goal is to convince Cartier to let Daphne wear the necklace to the Met Gala so they can swap it out. The process starts with them letting Daphne try it on and Rose scans the jewels in order for them to create a replica. The next person they hire is a tech wizard named Nine-ball who hacks the Met Gala security cameras and creates blind spots outside of the bathrooms. They know needed someone inside the Met Gala so they hire Tammy to take a job at Vogue which will give her insider access to the planning and hire additional catering staff, which allows other members of the team to enter the Gala without it looking suspicious. Lou is now a member of the catering staff and serves Daphne a soup that will make her sick so she could go to the bathroom. While she is throwing up, Constance removes the necklace from Daphne and steps away in the blind spot that Nine-ball created.  She places the necklace in the serving cart which she carries into the kitchen where Amita, the team’s jeweler, picks up and deconstructs the necklace. Once people notice the necklace is not around Daphne’s neck, they run a security check-in which the guests are evacuated, Tammy “finds” the replica and the team is able to leave the Gala undetected. Debbie takes some of the diamonds from the necklace and places them on Claude and by the time Cartier realizes that the necklace is fake, the team already sold the diamonds and there is no evidence that can be used against the team. At the end of it, when the whole team is together, they found out that Daphne was in on it at the end.



Today, organizations create specialized teams to perform work tasks. Having cross-specialized teams help solve complex issues quicker and more efficiently. When they hire younger workers, they look for people who are flexible, stable and are trained. Another aspect of building a good team is that the leader needs the emotional intelligence to unite employees who have never worked together and get them to embrace their unique roles. For this to run smoothly, leaders need to be transparent about expectations and timing. I believe that a successful heist is a perfect example of a team dynamic in the workplace because it shows the qualities and expectations needed when in a team. One of the most important things is establishing an objective and having a strong leader. If you do not have an end goal, it will be hard to see the big picture and break up duties respectively and efficiently. The goal in this movie was to steal the necklace and while Debbie was in jail, she plotted this heist for 5 years, thinking about different ways to pull it off and which would be the most successful. She knew exactly how many people she needed and each of their roles. The team knew if there was an issue, they could rely on Debbie to come up with a solution. Another aspect is mutual respect and delegation of duties, and every member of this team understood what their role was and why every single part is just as important as the next person. They wouldn’t have been able to snag the necklace if Rose didn’t convince Cartier to release the necklace, or if Nine-ball didn’t hack the cameras for a clean getaway. Finally, another important aspect of a good team is that they’re organized. In the movie, they had clear cut responsibilities and offer support, but we know that everything does not go as planned. The necklace had a special magnetic key that was needed to take it on and off. Once they realized this, Nine Ball stepped up to the plate created the key for the team. If someone in the group didn’t perform their job, the whole mission would be put in jeopardy. Likewise, within a workgroup, others rely on members to keep up with their part.

Comments

  1. Professor ArvanNovember 17, 2019 at 2:28 PM

    So - I have a vague memory of watching part of this movie. As you were tell the story, I had some bits I recalled. I only started watching it in the middle, however, so didn't get the full story. Thanks for filling me in.

    Now I'm trying to understand how this connects to the prompt, which is about conflict within organizations. I can see there was a conflict between Debbie and Claude and that in some sense this sensational plot to steal the diamonds is all about revenge, but I'm still not getting how it connects to the prompt. In your response maybe you can explain that in a way I can understand.

    In the following paragraph, where you talked about how the heist gave a model for what a good team is like in the workplace, maybe that's true (though the movies tend to make things more glamorous than they otherwise would be). But I'm still not seeing anything about conflict.

    You are indeed free to write about something other than the prompt, but then the requirement is to explain how what you write about is connected to the course. It seemed to me that this post was more appropriate for something we talked about earlier in the semester - effective teams.

    I do want to note that when it's real life and not the movies, you don't always get to choose all the team members. Some of them are already there in the organization and the manager needs to integrate them into the workgroup. Sometimes that itself can be a source of conflict. Other times everyone adjusts and the group as a whole functions reasonably well.

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