10 career lessons from Elvis movies

During the 1950s and 1960s Elvis Presley made about 30 movies that mostly involved spontaneous contextual singing, beach parties and romance.

For years, the movies were generally considered to have contributed very little to the sum of human wisdom and have tragically been ignored by mainstream human resources text books.

A closer examination reveals some important workplace lessons that could make us all more successful.

1. Blue Hawaii

When you leave the army, beware of being lured back to your family’s pineapple plantation, unless you really like pineapples. You are far better off being a guide at a tourism agency which allows you to spend most of your time on the beach with your friends singing with guitars that just materialise out of the air. Also, nothing good ever comes from wearing yellow shorts in the workplace.

2. Follow that Dream
If you are running a small business renting fishing equipment on a piece of highway you are squatting on with some orphans, beware of being taken advantage of by gamblers. It might be better to get a real job and just buy some property. Also: “When your heart gets restless, time to move along, when your heart gets weary, time to sing a song.”

3. Kid Galahad
If you are a boxer and your trainer keeps putting you up against bigger, more experienced opponents, Google the trainer to make sure he is not a gangster with gambling debts trying to take advantage of you.

4. It Happened at the World’s Fair
If you are hitchhiking to find work, perhaps head to the World’s Fair, particularly if you are trying to reclaim your crop dusting airplane. If you are lucky, you will chance across a farmer with a talented niece who will change your life. Try not to inadvertently become part of a smuggling operation. Also, playing poker may not be the best way to raise money to get your crop duster back.

5. Fun in Acapulco
If you are a former circus performer battling demons and a fear of heights because you injured your former partner, get some therapy or a job as a lifeguard at a hotel pool. Don’t let anybody trick you into jumping off cliffs and beware of relationships with female bull fighters in the workplace.

6. Roustabout
If you are a drifter with a chip on your shoulder and you land a job as a roustabout (whatever that is) make sure you tell the boss if you are also a great singer. The singing may be more important to the carnival you are working for than maintaining the merry-go-round and has better hours and conditions. Do not steal customer wallets and if you get shirty and go to a rival carnival, it is a good look to return to the old carnival with a heap of money to pay off their debts and buy some new carnival equipment. Don’t ride a motorcycle in anything called the “Wall of Death”, or similar.

7. Tickle Me
If you are a singing rodeo cowboy, you may be able to pick up a few extra dollars moonlighting as a handyman at a beauty spa. When you are at the spa, try to strike up conversations because you never know when you might find someone investigating a local ghost town where their grandfather may have buried treasure. Beware of hapless locals who might also like treasure.

8. Harem Scarum
If you are a famous movie and recording star, avoid touring countries with names like Lunarkand because there is a strong chance you will be kidnapped by a gang of assassins and suddenly thrust into a plot to kill the king. Even when you escape, you may fall in with a band of pickpockets and rogues. No matter how hard it gets, keep singing contextual songs in the hope that you will eventually escape and need a new act for America.

9. Clambake
If you are stuck for an idea for the work Christmas party, try a clambake. This apparently involves the baking of clams and a special dance called the, er, Clam. Also, if you are rich but unhappy, be a bit careful about swapping your life with somebody poor as a social experiment. You are probably better off being miserable and rich.

10. The Trouble with Girls
If you arrive in town as the manager of a traveling chautauqua, be prepared to give the local mayor's untalented daughter the lead in the children's pageant if that is necessary to stay in his good books. If a local druggist is murdered, make sure you have an alibi because travelling chautauquas are sitting ducks for accusations in these circumstances. To avoid this, solve the murder and put on a really good show.

Okay, perhaps there actually isn't anything to learn from Elvis movies. But it never hurts to investigate and he was the greatest singer of our time.

The views in these posts are personal. Shane Rodgers is a writer, marketer, business executive and observer of social change. He is the author of the satirical book Tall People Don't Jump - The Curious Behaviour of Human Beings.