Brain: “The same thing we do every night Pinky— try to take over the WORLD.”
World domination is a lofty goal for any human, let alone two genetically altered lab mice. In life, just like Pinky and the Brain, there have been many goals we have failed to achieve, but we keep trying. Although Pinky and the Brain failed every time and engaged in many illegal activities ranging from committing workers’ compensation fraud to making up a fictitious country to try to dupe the U.S State Department out of $14 billion and 59 cents, they were creative and persistent in trying to conquer the world. Though it’s wrong to participate in illegal activities there are three valuable lessons we can learn from Pinky and the Brain.Never Give Up
As children we were taught to keep trying even after we fail. Nobody displayed that more than Pinky and The Brain. Whether it was a Pinky mishap or the Brain making a miscalculation in his devious plot to make humans his followers, they never threw themselves a self-pity party. They did just like the Aaliyah song—they dusted themselves off and tried it again.
As Communication and PR pros we have goals that are hard to obtain, whether it is getting a new client coverage in the front page paper in the local newspaper. But does that mean we quit and never try again? No.
Being on the same page
Brain: “Pinky, are you pondering what I’m pondering?”
Pinky: “I think so Brain, but if you replace the P with an O, my name would be Oinky, wouldn't it?”
This is not the communication you want with co-workers when trying to achieve world domination. This is a huge reason why Pinky and the Brain failed. Brain’s sole mission was to become Earth’s leader, while Pinky was more concern with— well anything else that did not pertain to conquering the world.
In the workplace, two employees may team up to come up with an online marketing campaign for a client. Both people do not need to agree on everything: but it is a huge bonus when the employees are on the same page and focused on the task at hand. It’s not good if one employee is putting together the presentation while the other is more concerned with getting the high score on Pac-Man.
It’s Good to have Friends
As a job seeker, it sucks to receive countless rejection letters, but it’s always good to have a support system when times get tough. All Brain wanted was recognition for his superior intellect but the world just seemed to ignore him, except for his best friend, Pinky. Even though Pinky had his fair share of weaknesses, he was Brain’s full-time cheerleader always telling him that he was smart and would accomplish his goal one day of being Earth’s leader.
Pinky and the Brain have been called many things, but these two lab mice will never be called quitters. We can learn and relate to their mistakes. When working as a team, make sure you both are pondering the same things. If you fail tonight in whatever goal you set, don’t fret because you can try the same thing tomorrow night.
