What can fiction teach us about truth?
If you’re unfamiliar with family business dynamics, you likely aren’t aware of how emotionally intense they can be. Then again, if you’re a fan of shows like Yellowstone and Succession, you may have some idea.
While these dramas certainly glamourize and embellish reality to keep audiences coming back for more, they also allow us to witness (and learn from?) the inner machinations of dysfunctional families and family businesses; things there are no shortage of in the real world.
Since these wildly successful shows are coming to an end this year, we thought it would be fun to share the valuable lessons, dramatic as they may be, they hold for business owners and advisors, alike.
YELLOWSTONE
Need to know: while all members of the successor generation were involved in the business growing up and are able to work in the business successfully, they don’t see eye to eye with their father’s vision of continuity.
The show follows the Dutton family, owners and operators of the Yellowstone Ranch. We witness patriarch John Dutton’s no-holds-barred commitment to keeping the ranch in the family, even if it means inflicting a host of traumas on his already struggling children and potentially losing it all to outside competitors. In each season, through a variety of shifting feuds and alliances, we see how the concepts of legacy and continuity can end up driving every decision to the point of utter irrationality.
Take away: Gratuitous murders aside, Yellowstone does an excellent job of capturing how quickly things can get out of hand if good communication between generations isn’t a priority. John is so sentimental about the ranch and his legacy; he cannot accept that his children may have other priorities. Out of obligation, his kids are forced to sacrifice their own needs/trajectories and fight for something they all likely would have been financially and emotionally better off letting go of.
SUCCESSION
Need to know: even though the candidates in the successor generation are variously (un)qualified to take over the business, everyone is vying to become top dog once dad steps aside.
We watch Logan Roy, patriarch and owner of Waystar RoyCo, struggle with his health and his inability to relinquish control as CEO of the company. His children – each with very different professional experiences and interests – are blindsided by his unpredictability and ultimately find themselves trying to oust their father and sometimes each other, from positions of power.
Unlike most real family business successions where few if any potential successors are interested in taking over the family business, all of the Roy children are competing. Logan is happy to involve his kids in problematic ways, so long as he remains in control.
Take away: An owner’s inability to envision a life after business prevents them from being able to let go with grace. We see this over and over with Logan as he dangles power and prestige in front of his children, just to snatch it away again later as a means of reinforcing his own authority. Planning and having something to get excited about come retirement makes relinquishing control of a business easier and more gratifying. Moreover, Logan could have saved everyone a lot of headaches if he had put intentional, long-term effort into adequately mentoring his children so they would be qualified to eventually take over.
While both Yellowstone and Succession showcase a variety of exaggerated conflicts rooted in drama, they do an incredible job of capturing the power of family dynamics and headlong emotions. We see animosity, resentment, avoidance and tensions between siblings and generations, all reflections of reality we can learn from.
The team at Ready for Next have personal experience running a family business and extensive experience helping family businesses build stronger companies and communicate better. Family legacy is important and so are family relationships.
“Cinema is not only about making people dream. It’s about changing things and making people think.” – Nadine Labaki