Starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke in their prime, Training Day tells the story of a corrupt cop Alonzo (Washington) who takes his new recruit Jake Hoyt (Hawke) on a hell of a ride for his first day working narcotics in Los Angeles. The film is just awesome. Using great dialogue, exciting action, a rapidly evolving plot and cool cameos (hello Ice Cube and Snoop Dog) Training Day offers a visceral look at the life of a dark and corrupt man as he tries to seduce a rookie officer into his evil ways. Training day is a Potentiality favorite and it’s pretty easy to draw out a handful of great professional lessons. Here are four of our favorites.
Stats don’t always tell the story
As Alonzo and Jake cruise the city – and after witnessing some pretty sketchy behavior – Jake questions Alonzo’s commitment to justice and arresting criminals. Alonzo gets defensive: “They build jails because of me. Judges have handed out more than 15,000 man years of incarceration time based on my investigations.” It’s a powerful moment where Alonzo uses stats to defend himself and we as the audience find ourselves – temporarily at least – reassured. The problem with stats in this case though is that they don’t reflect reality. We are often awash in similar stats at work (though likely not incarceration stats – unless you work in law enforcement). While they can be important pieces of the puzzle and helpful for building a foundation of understanding, they rarely tell the full story. When you are evaluating your success, make sure to incorporate additional evidence such as anecdotal stories, colleagues’ observations or your own gut instinct in addition to the numbers.
Be confident in yourself
A central tension throughout Training Day is Jake’s wish to impress his new boss while he struggles with Alonzo’s shocking behavior. Now granted that it’s unlikely you’ll have quite the challenging first day on the job that Jake has (most of us won’t have to smoke PCP or get in street fights with 2 gnarly addicts first thing in the morning), it is not unimaginable that in the early stages of your career you may be asked to do some things that you are uncomfortable doing. If that happens, ask yourself whether you are being asked to do a task that you just don’t like doing or which is difficult (in which case do it and with a smile) or if you are asked to do something you have fundamental ethical issues with (in which case don’t do it and seek counsel from colleagues on how to mitigate risk to yourself). Either way, trust in your gut and your values. Be like Jake – don’t let yourself be pushed into something you know isn’t right.
Read the room
One of Training Day’s best scenes takes place in a diner at the very beginning of the film. Jake strolls in and sits down at the table where he’s meeting Alonzo. Jake is understandably nervous. He tries to hide it by striking up conversation with somebody who clearly doesn’t want to talk while he’s reading his newspaper. Alonzo is rude to Jake – but Jake is pretty bad about reading the social situation he’s found himself in. What follows is some real hilarious awkwardness coupled with Alsonzo being a real tool. Lesson to take from this is to never forget to read to the room, the body language the other person is giving off and how you might be being interpreted. Especially in a new job situation, there may be more below the surface than you are hearing. Proceed thoughtfully.
Don’t quit
Jake has a lot of reasons to quit towards the end of the movie. He’s been badly beaten up by gangsters. He’s riding the bus home after said beating. He may or may not get framed for a murder he witnessed. Worst of all, he’s been suckered by his “training officer” who makes clear that he’s been planning this masterful manipulation of Alonzo for weeks. Despite all these barriers, Jake just doesn’t quit. He perseveres. So the next time you give a bad presentation, miss a deadline or get a rebuke from a boss that makes you want to quit, just think about Jake. Remember, it could be worse.