What Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Indiana Jones

Written by Justin Petruccelli of Entrepreneur.com

"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)

Hollywood, especially in the case of Jones, offers us the convenience of always knowing who the good guy is. While taking the high road might not always be easy, it beats having your face melted off. And it can certainly be rewarding in business as well.

"That sense that you're doing something good and right and strong is an often invisible but highly powerful driver of success," Stevens says. "To be a swashbuckler without a soul is to be an actor. To be a swashbuckler with a true goal and a belief that what you're doing is something that will create something positive, that's an unstoppable force."

"It's a lot harder to do the right thing and a lot easier to do the wrong thing every day of your life," says Joe Maddalena, owner of Profiles in History, a Los Angeles auction company that specializes in historical and Hollywood memorabilia. "That's the moral compass that you have to have inside of yourself. That's the decision you have to make when you wake up in the morning. Are you going to do what's right or are you going to do what's easy? What's right is often not easy, and that's what the Indiana Jones persona is about. He goes against the grain because he does have his moral compass."

The Book Is Mightier Than the Whip

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 brain that keep him from losing its 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.

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