What We Can Learn From Mr.Bean


It’s been 25 years since Mr. Bean’s first appearance on television and Rowan Atkinson recently stroll through Buckingham Palace to celebrate the show’s 25th anniversary.
Created and played by Rowan Atkinson while he was still in college, Mr. Bean is generally seen as a comedic character and is describe as “a child stuck in a grown man’s body” by Atkinson.
However, aside from his amusing and ridiculous personality, there are actually a few lessons that we can learn from Mr.Bean:
1. He always finds a way to solve his problems
Even though his methods might seem outlandish and overly ridiculous at times, Mr.Bean is always thinking of alternative ways to solve the problem at hand. Sometimes he succeeds while other times he only complicates things, but he is never afraid of trying and thinking out of the box despite how crazy it may seem.
After shopping for home supplies such as a chair, cans of paint and new brooms completely took every inch of space in his car, he couldn’t get into his car much less drive. Nevertheless, his ability to think outside of the box gives him the idea to maneuver his car by sitting on the chair (that’s strapped on top of his car) and using the tools that he bought as makeshift pedals. Most people would be crazy to try this, but the idea worked.
As the saying goes, there’s a solution for every problem; so if you’re willing to do what it takes to solve your problem, the solution will eventually come to you. Sometimes the solution might be crazy and risky, but in the business world, risk is everything. It may determine the course and direction of you or your organization.
2. He’s good and quick at adapting to his surroundings
In Merry Christmas, Mr.Bean – probably one of the funniest sketches, Mr.Bean is tasked to conduct a band temporarily. Clearly clueless and lacking any experience in conducting a band, he nevertheless quickly got the hang of things and even though it may be over-the-top, he manage to integrate himself into his role brilliantly and receives a round of applause from the crowd.
Change is always constant, you have to adapt to different environment and culture when you move to a new organization, while the ever-changing market trends means that your organization needs to propel forward in order to evolve as well.
3. He’s innovative
While trying to paint his house, Mr.Bean suffered various setbacks that prevented him from completing his task ranging from ruined paint brushes to dripping paint on his belongings. To see how he solved this problem, watch the video below:
Innovation is key for every organization because you need to respond to the environment and the market trends. Big MNC’s such as Google, Facebook and Apple and constantly strive to innovate their organization so that they’re always ahead of their competitors while at the same time ensuring that there’s always a new and fresh experience.
4. He’s fiercely competitive
As you can see from the video, he became embroiled in a rivalry with an unknown stranger and wanted to be better than him in everything that he did. When he grabbed a chicken drumstick, Mr.Bean topped it by grabbing two, when he grabbed two sausages, Mr.Bean doubled the amount by taking four. When the stranger took a couple of fresh raw oysters, Mr. Bean responded by swapping the entire plate of oysters. He then went on to double everything the stranger ate to prove that he’s better. Notwithstanding bad oysters aside, he showed his competitive side and his ability to be ahead of the stranger.
It’s increasingly difficult for up and coming startups or SME’s to seek investors and funds because of the competitive market out there. Investors are less likely to invest if your ideas are not well worth the investment because at the end of the day, they seek for viable ROI. Therefore, you need to up your game to do your best to prove how your idea stands out from the competitive market.