Editors note 2/4/24
This was originally written somewhere between 2008 and 2011 and aged so poorly that I had to rewrite it – if for no other reason than most of my current co-workers don’t have any fondness for the most important franchise of my youth.
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I’m going to incorrectly assume for the sake of this rule that you’ve seen the original Star Wars movies. Look, I’m Gen X and I can’t imagine a world where everyone hasn’t. I know how limited this worldview is and I’ve come to accept that if you haven’t seen these movies watching them now wouldn’t make much sense. Frankly, you’ve seen them already in half the movies made since. Instead, you should probably watch Glengarry Glen Ross so you can see what work in the time of Boomers was like, or Office Space to see what work was like for my kind right out of college. If you are really young, skip everything and go watch Idiocracy so you can start wrapping your head around what your future looks like. Go stream those now and come back whenever.
Cool. Now back to Star Wars.
In Star Wars, C-3P0 was a shiny golden “protocol” droid who existed in the universe because he could speak a million languages. For some reason, he was built without any bravery, and was the absolute worst character to have with you in a crisis. Pretty much every other character in the trilogy had a chance to do something heroic, but no one ever asked C-3PO to handle anything when lives were on the line. He usually fell apart. Sometimes he literally fell apart.
The exact opposite of C3P0 was his unassuming, reliable and brave buddy R2D2. A tiny droid that understood everyone, but could only speak in beeps. R2 delivered at key moments, time and again. Need a trash compactor stopped seconds from everyone being squished to death; done. Need a lightsaber lobbed perfectly into your hand from 100 yards while you backflip off a moving platform – no problem. R2D2 basically can fix any fucked up situation and usually paid a stiff price each time he did.
This pairing is unusually common at the C-Suite level:
- The C-3PO is a talker. Well dressed and well-spoken. Built for the main purpose of meeting people and facilitating communication. They know all the players in the room, their titles, customs, and how to speak their language.
- The R2-D2 is a doer. Anytime something really important needs doing the R2-D2 works it out. Often with little guidance and with huge odds against success.
There is no shame being a C-3PO. They are coveted. Companies need shiny people to talk to customers, prospects, business partners and other business units; to get investors and employees alike to buy into a shared future. Probably 90% of the CEOs I’ve met in my life are C-3POs. I can say that with a lot of confidence, as they are so easy to spot.
However, every C-3PO I met who was worth a damn had an R2-D2 in their corner. If they didn’t, every great idea, project and partnership that was put together would have failed spectacularly. While you always know who the C-3PO is the R2-D2s can run under the radar. A pro looks for the R2-D2s.
For your own career, it can be SO TEMPTING to invest your time sucking up to the C-3P0. They get the accolades and seem like they can do the most for your career. They are, well, obviously successful. I get it. Maybe you think some of that gold will rub off on you.
There is a time and place to start hanging with the C-3P0s. If you are reading this article, I’m pretty sure you aren’t ready for that. Instead, I propose to get shit done, get help in difficult situations and learn a lot along the way – find the R2-D2s and treat them well. A Pro is wise to treat R2-D2s better than C-3POs, as the R2-D2 only calls on you when necessary, but C3POs are always looking for more people they can get stuff from all the time.
I’ll go a step further. If you meet a shiny new executive and they have lots of great new ideas, but you can’t seem to find their R2-D2 anywhere… Expect chaos and inefficiency in their wake. Stay away unless you think you are ready to be an R2-D2 for them or simply don’t care about getting blown up.
Which brings me to my last point…. Over time, you need to figure out how to be competent enough in both roles. By nature, most of us will lean hard one way or the other. If you find your strengths leaning C-3PO – start building relationships with R2D2s you can trust. If you just like solving problems and are willing to be a heavy hitter without the politics – find your C-3P0 (just one) and keep them from blowing up.