(Gilmore Girls fan site)
Still watching Gilmore Girls
and still loving it

Specifically, from today’s episodes, “Like Mother, Like Daughter” (on ABC-Family this morning) and “The Ins & Outs of Inns” (in the afternoon, and again tomorrow morning). I discovered numerous truths about starting a new business from these two episodes, because these episodes tell the story of how Lorelai and Sookie decided to start their own business.

As you recall, they discovered the old Dragonfly Bed & Breakfast, now abandoned and falling apart, when Rachel photographed it in the first season. This was the spark they needed to ignite their enthusiasm for their collective dream, to start their own inn.

Actually, I didn’t learn much about business from Gilmore Girls that I didn’t know before. But because Gilmore Girls, like all good fiction, reflects real life, it’s busting with vivid object lessons. Because when you’re starting a new business, it really is just like it was for Lorelai and Sookie, when they decided to open a new inn.

Here’s what I mean:

1. In “Like Mother, Like Daughter,” the first object lesson I noticed actually had nothing to do with business per se. Paris, as you recall, has been intense hot and cold with Rory ever since they met. Of late, she’s been hating Rory for no good reason and abusing all of her influence to make Rory as miserable as possible. Now, however, that Rory has fallen in with the Puffs—and I don’t know how they can take themselves seriously with a name like that—Paris is falling over herself to be sweet and vulnerable, so that Rory will put in a good word.

   See, now, Paris should have been nurturing favors with Rory all along, rather than insisting on being Rory’s enemy, because now she needs a favor in return. And if it were anyone else, she wouldn’t have a chance in hell. Fortunately for her, though…

2. It’s Rory, the biggest softie on the planet. Paris at least was smart enough to jump at the opportunity, proving that even she hates you, she’ll become your friend as soon as you have something that she wants.

   Lorelai already realizes how important this is in business. Just look at how adeptly she handles Michel. Just offer him his lowCHH-fat Américan cheeze (and a meringue cookieCHH), and he’ll make a special trip out to pick you up for work.

   The same thing happens in business-customer and employer-employee relationships. Of course, Lorelai already has been trained well by her experience at the Independence Inn. She’ll go far, for sure.

3. The corollary, of course, is just as important: Not everything is about you. This is a lesson Paris naturally should have learned before she became the Pop-up Book from Hell. Yeah, I know, when you’re in the middle of that personal hell, it feels like your piddling little problems are akin to a natural disaster. It feels like it ought to be all about you. But guess what: it still isn’t. And you’re going to have a hard time getting anyone on your side, as long as they believe you that egocentric. Lucky for Paris, Rory is the exception that proves the rule.

   What does this have to do with starting a business? When you’re in that place where nothing is going right, and you worry about making the bills next month, and your feel the pressure to generate cash flow, because otherwise your baby’s life may be in danger… When you’re in that place, you tend to become self-absorbed because of your problems. But no one cares about those problems, because they all have their own problems. They need lowCHH-fat cheeeeze. Never forget it!

4. I loved when Rory suggested to Francie, famed leader of the Puffs, that Paris might be eyeing “another non-existent group.” Suddenly, all the Puffs were desperate to snatch up Paris before that happened. What was the difference? What changed? Paris didn’t change, because she remained just as unsuitable as a member. What changed was their perception of Paris. Suddenly, they might not be able to have her, because she would reject them.

   These are two powerful forces, both working in concert, and businesspeople use them all the time. The first is scarcity: whenever we think we’re going to lose something, that something magically becomes more valuable to us. Then there’s the desire to be accepted: to quit a job is one thing, but to be fired is somehow much worse, even if you hated the job. It doesn’t matter whether you get severance pay or unemployment benefits (neither of which you would get if you had quit). Still, being “let go,” as they say, it makes you feel like less of a human being.

5. There’s one scene where Michel keeps answering Lorelai’s questions, even before she finishes asking them. This is no doubt why, for all of his thoughts, Lorelai never thinks of firing Michel. (Not seriously anyhow.) Because he has a sense of urgency when it counts. She’s on the verge of freaking out about the event, but Michel has his stuff firmly under control.

   This is something that I wish I could instill in my kids, a sense of urgency. You have to have a sense of urgency about things that must be done now. Unfortunately, human nature is to procrastinate, even about things that are urgent. And when you’re starting a new business, there are plenty of things that are urgent, and most of your employees will not have a sense of urgency about them. Good call on keeping Michel.

6. “You can fix it!” Lorelai tells Luke, regarding the runway for the fashion show. I’m glad she stopped short of insisting that Luke could fix it, even when Luke said he couldn’t. (I’d like to believe that if Luke said it was broken for good, that Lorelai woudn’t argue with him, but rather would start batting around ideas for what to do to save the day.)

   The lesson here is that it pays to be an optimist, because if you persist inventively, you can probably make it work in the end. I like how Dan Kennedy put it: he’s a long-term optimist, but also a short-term pessimist. That is, assume everything will go wrong, just as Murphy’s law predicts, but have confidence that with hard work and persistence, it will all work out in the end.

7. Near then end of the episode, Emily talks to Lorelai about “fitting into the world you ran away from.” That seemed to disappoint Lorelai, to make her uncomfortable. And I understand why it would, because that world is a world of oppression and misery.

   But what’s to fit into? Take heart, Lorelai! You should feel proud about that, because it means you’re good at what you do. It’s your own mothers way of giving you her vote of confidence in your new venture, though she may not realize it. It’s why you’ll succeed at running your own inn.

That brings us up through “Like Mother, Like Daughter.” And “The Ins and Outs of Inns” has even more.

To be continued tomorrow…

-TimK