Unearth Your Inner Indy

"You call this archeology?!"

By the time Henry Jones had uttered those four iconic words to his son, Henry Jr., known to the rest of us as Indiana Jones (even if it was the dog's name), it was merely a confirmation of what the rest of us already knew--this guy does things a little differently. With a highly anticipated fourth movie in the Indiana Jones franchise set to be released this week after almost 20 years, it's clear that there are some valuable lessons to be learned from Hollywood's most famous archeology professor.

"Great characters in movies are heroes because they break the rules," says Mark Stevens, self-proclaimed movie lover and author of God Is a Salesman and Your Marketing Sucks. "Nobody wants to see a movie about someone who simply abides by the rules."

Wear the White Hat (Even if It's a Dirty Brown Fedora)
A big part of the reason Jones always manages to beat the odds is that he does his homework. The whip and the gun get all the attention, but most of the time, it's Indy's brains that keep him from losing their fedora-topped packaging. In short, without Dr. Jones, there would be no Indiana Jones. And while his intellectual side might not provide much excitement, it's an essential part of his success and something business owners can take to heart.

"Indiana Jones is this unique character who's this bookworm, yet he's this swashbuckling, whip-waving adventurer as well," says Jim Meuhlhausen, author of The 51 Fatal Business Errors and How to Avoid Them, who also coaches business owners using movie clips. "For the entrepreneur, that would be the technical expertise that they possess. Someone in IT may have started off as a computer programmer. I have rarely seen a successful entrepreneur who did not have a deep understanding of their business and of their customer."

Adds Maddalena: "Indiana Jones is a dichotomy. On one hand, he is the scholar, and on the other hand he is the adventurer. They co-exist in the same body. I think successful entrepreneurs have to have the dreaming mentality because that's what makes them tick. They're dreamers. They want to hit the rainbow."

But, Maddalena explains, just as Jones needs his academic side to survive in the field, entrepreneurs eventually need to add business sense to their dreams if they want to have long-term success.

"That's what the Indiana Jones character is--as adventurous as he is, he then has his educational and sensible and reasonable yin and yang pulling in his brain that are going to reel him in," he says. "An entrepreneur has to be cognizant that it's great to dream and want to push the envelope, but in the same hand, you've got to really think about it and think about the outcome."

"Snakes … Why Did It Have To Be Snakes?"
Even when it looks like some ancient booby trap is about to cost Indy his head, he never leaves without his hat. It's what we identify him with, the sort of trademark any business owner should strive to maintain.

"If you take a look at the Indiana Jones series, it truly is a franchise," says John Martin, president and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, a Texas-based cinema-eatery franchise that expects to have 30 locations nationwide by 2010. "You can put up Harrison Ford's silhouette, but you have the fedora and possibly a whip behind him, and you'd know it's Indiana Jones. If a customer were to drive by in a new market and see [an established business's] iconic brand or sign, they'd know what to expect and will feel good about going to it."

Another benefit of staying true to your brand is that it becomes a symbol to remind you of where you've been and where you should be going.

"The hat, you've got to really look at why it's symbolic to that character--it's how he got it," Maddalena says. "It's almost like his albatross because he got punched around and the guy stuck the hat on his head. He learned such a valuable lesson from that, the hat is almost like his constant reminder of, 'You've got to keep going. You've got to keep moving forward.' It's his persona."

Above all, the underlying quality that makes Indiana Jones a legend is the same thing that makes a truly great entrepreneur. After all, while most people chase metaphorical Holy Grails, this guy found the real thing--and still wasn't satisfied.

"Indiana Jones is always looking for the next undiscovered artifact," Maddalena says. "That's what makes him tick. An entrepreneur is usually driven by one of a few things. Success is usually one of them. But entrepreneurs get more satisfaction from the challenge than they do from success. As an entrepreneur, the success is a by-product of the challenge. We thrive on the challenge. That's what makes Indiana Jones tick. If there was no challenge, he wouldn't know what to do."

Justin Petruccelli is an associate editor for Entrepreneur.com. He can be reached at jpetruccelli@entrepreneur.com.

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