“This is the worst idea in the world” ...really? & 5 takeaways from J.Lo Netflix documentary Halftime.

Recently, Netflix published a documentary called Halftime, it explores J. Lo’s life, her professional journey and the behind scenes while preparing for the 2020  54 Super Bowl Halftime. 

-To watch the official trailer:  (82) Jennifer Lopez: Halftime (EN ESPA?OL) | Jennifer Lopez | Tráiler oficial | Netflix - YouTube -

This documentary brings a lot of insight and professional lessons from J.Lo’s own experiences, beliefs and working style. After watching the documentary, I want to discuss the two things, the first one is that J. Lo argues that having her and Shakira in the same stage was  “the worst idea in the world”; and the second one to present 5 insights I believe they stand out from her professional journey.

Let's discuss the first part:

Imagine you are Roger Goodell in 2020, NFL CEO. You have to identify the right approach to the Halftime Super Bowl Show taking place in Miami, Fl. 

The NFL halftime show has become a global event, therefore identifying the right performance is hard and tricky. It is a multimillion dollar quarter of an hour show. 

I believe that from a business perspective, Mr. Goodell and his team made a clever business driven decision: Let’s buy in one stage two publics. The first one is the American and latino community;  and the second one is the international public. I believe they wanted to have as many eyeballs as possible watching this event. Let’s take into account that American Football is the 7th most popular sport in the world according to www.topendsports.com and soccer is  number 1. 

As you might probably know, Shakira and J. Lo were the two pop stars selected for this challenge ( they made history to be the first  latinas to headline the Super Bowl Halftime Show.) But, why two and not one? Here are some thoughts: 

Shakira comes from a Latin American background, but became a global pop star, while J.Lo is an American singer, dancer, and actriz from NY with a Puerto Rican background, she always stay closed to her latino background as an American, but never became a real global pop star as Shakira did.  In the official NFL youtube channel, Shakira & J. Lo’s full Pepsi Super Bowl video under the comment list,  a user named Malia White, describes it like this: “Jlo represents America and Shakira represents the world”. 

The result of these two pop stars and their two guests ( J Balvin and Bad Bunny ) is a total sinergy. The sum of all made a much more powerful show than each party. The performance sent a message of union, diversity, pride, hope, happiness and inclusion. 

Although J. Lo wanted the entire 15 minutes for herself, from a business perspective having both pop stars on stage was the right call to have the American, Latino and Global audience engage, which translates into more money. For instance, Shakira & J. Lo’s Pepsi Super Bowl 54 halftime show in the NFL official youtube channel is the most watched video with 239 mm visualizations. It doubled Beyoncé & Bruno Mars' crash  50 halftime show.

In the end, it really was the worst idea in the world to share the stage with Shakira, J. Lo? 

-To watch the show: (82) Shakira & J. Lo's FULL Pepsi Super Bowl LIV Halftime Show - YouTube -

Finally, let me present you the second part, which are 5 insights or takeaways I took  from the Halftime documentary, based on J. Lo’s experience and comments. I believe they could help managers to find inspiration and self-motivation in today's corporate world.

1. Inspiration comes from anywhere.

Inspiration can come from anywhere, literally, however this requires understanding of our biases, limitations and opportunities. It is hard to open our minds to learn, unlearn and relearn, but being aware of this could help managers to be more open minded, permeable and creative.

2. The creative process is messy, tough and full of uncertainty. 

Many managers would like to have a creative framework to use in every day challenge, helping to standardize the creative process and enabling it to replicate it. ( For instance, this is what the el bulli foundation has been doing ).  However, by doing this, there is one big risk: the creative process will be rigid and out of context. Therefore, by understanding that challenging the status quo might not have one single approach  or standardized process and in reality it looks more like a roller coaster, cool things might happen. 

3. Public recognition is not the end goal. 

When the final objective is public recognition or gaining a public award, things might not work well. Public recognition or gaining a public  award is a consequence of doing a life-changing job, not the other way around. 

4. Your life project needs a purpose, but your everyday work needs a meaning 

Companies and people need a purpose, a  self motivating force that drives them to be better and improve every day with a long term vision. On the other hand, every action or work to be done needs to have a clear meaning aiming to link with the main purpose. By understanding each company’s task's meaning, every day is a very exciting day and gives employees a strong sense of belonging and contribution. 

5. A no, might be an opportunity. 

Sometimes getting a no, it's a new opportunity. Understanding a no in this way, could help anybody to embrace a rejection as an opportunity instead of a loss. Although, it might require maturity, emotional intelligence and self awareness. From a company’s culture perspective, managers must try to create failure friendly environments.

I hope you have enjoyed reading these thoughts!

Would love to hear your comments.

Thank you.