Motivational Humor: Success Lessons from Each of the Superfriends

Pop quiz hotshot: who’s your favorite Superfriend? Don’t have an answer? Maybe you should, since there are lessons we can learn from each of them…

Growing up, The Superfriends was one of my favorite Saturday morning cartoons. I was a comic book junkie, so I loved seeing the comics come to life. Looking back on the cartoons now, I realize that they were pretty bad. Fun, but bad. In any case, I still love ’em…

The Superfriends were a team of heroes, made up of Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Batman and Robin. Like any team, each member had his or her strengths and weaknesses. As I was remembering the Superfriends, I got to thinking about what those strengths and weaknesses were, and what we, as non-superhero non-cartoon adults, could learn from them.

(Interestingly, I have use the heroes’ modern versions, since in the “Superfriends” all the heroes were basically the same person. Different powers with different voices and catch phrases, but other than that they were the exact same person. Same person, same personality, same moral compass. Every single one. Exactly. The. Same.)

Here are success lessons we can learn from each of the five original Superfriends:

Superman

Superman is one of the oldest superheroes, and still one of the most famous and popular. He has it all: super strength, invulnerability, flight, speed, heat vision, x-ray vision, super cold breathe, and, in some versions, the ability to encase his enemies in a giant Saran Wrap “S.”

Superman is so powerful that you wonder why he needs any “super friends” at all. He can pretty much handle anything on his own, right? No, not exactly. And that is because Superman is an idiot.

Ok, he’s not an idiot. He is often portrayed as being quite clever and savvy. The problem with Superman is that since he is so powerful, he tends to immediately launch into attack mode and tries to pummel his opponents into submission. This often leads to him being slapped down, trapped, or teleported away. You would think after the first twenty or so times that he would learn to pause and think before immediately jumping in. But no, when you’re that powerful, you just keep forging ahead.

Superman is the quintessential, “when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail,” guy. By assuming his one solution will apply to all problems, he often lands himself in trouble.

It’s easy to fall into this trap when you are really good or are the market leader. You start applying the same solution to every problem and just assume that your ability, experience, and strength will carry you through. This is how market leaders lose the lead and how small companies never even get going.

A big symptom of this is when people start applying the same solution to every single problem. That solution worked before, so why not again, right? Maybe, but each situation is different. Sometimes your “standard” solution will just make things worse. A little thought and analysis go a long way.

Lesson: Playing to your strengths is smart, but don’t get so caught up in what you are good at that you start making stupid assumptions.

Batman

You have to admire Batman. He has no powers at all; he’s just a well trained, physically fit, smart dude and he’s able to hold is own along side and against some of the Earth’s most powerful beings.

Face it: in the real world Batman and Superman would never team up. Batman would be pretty useless against Superman’s enemies (and Superman would be a bit of overkill dealing with Batman’s, no?) It would be like Wrestlemania III in 1986, when they had the “mixed tag-team” match featuring Hillbilly Jim and two midget wrestlers vs. King Kong Bundy and two other midget wrestlers. Cute idea, and sure, who doesn’t want to see Bundy give the big kibosh to Little Beaver, but really, at the end of the day, it’s just ridiculous.

Batman relies on his skill and intelligence (And somehow his intimidation. How Batman intimidates heroes who are immensely more powerful than him, I have no idea, but he does). Because of his smarts, Batman is often the most useful Superfriend.

So what’s Batman’s problem? Well, he’s kind of a jerk. He may be one of my favorite superheroes, but he’s also the hero I (and anyone who has a modicum of sense) would want to have dinner with. Dinner with Batman? That would suck! He would spend most of the time pointing out to you how stupid everything you are doing is, how bad the food is, and how stupid you are. That’s just for starters. If he did open up, it would be a deluge of repressed childhood memories of his parents being shot in front of him. And you know there is no way that guy is laughing at any of your jokes.

Batman has no personality and no social skills. He’s basically a Terminator only without the metal endoskeleton and Austrian accent.

He’s successful at what he does, but he doesn’t have much of a life. His smug sense of superiority also leads him to drop in and out of the hero group at his whim, which doesn’t do much for teamwork or morale.

Listen, you don’t have to be a jerk and alienate people to be successful. Life is too short. Do what you do the best you can, but remember, at the end of the day it’s our relationships that make life worth living.

Lesson: Don’t be a jerk. Life is too short.

Aquaman

Ah Aquaman. I have already written a whole post dedicated to Aquaman. If you’re unfamiliar, Aquaman is “king of the seas” (or “prince of the oceans,” or “lord of the lakes” or something like that). He can breathe underwater, has super strength, and can talk to fish. Of course it made perfect sense for him to join a group that spends 95% of its time on dry land…

And therein lies Aquaman’s problem. He rules underwater! No one can mess with him down there. But rather than maximizing his skills and talents, he joins a group where he becomes pretty useless. Unless they happen to be fighting near a lake. Or pool. I guess he would be awesome for breaking up disturbances at the local YMCA.

This is a problem many of us fall into. Rather than seeking out the best ways to leverage our abilities and make the most of our passion, we go for what’s closest, easiest, or most convenient. That’s nice in the short term, but in the long term you are really selling yourself short.

Lesson: Environment matters. Are you somewhere where you can make the most of your passions, interests, and talents?

Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman’s kind of a bad ass, but she’s also in this weird limbo place. She’s basically a female “Superman lite.” She doesn’t bring much to the table that Superman doesn’t. Except for her lasso and bracelets, which aren’t all that useful anyway.

But it never hurts to have two super powerful near invulnerable people on you team, so Wonder Woman’s ok. The interesting thing about Wonder Woman is that it seems every story that centers around her somehow involves something from her past. Some other Amazon from Paradise Island (or Themyscira, or wherever the heck she’s from) has a grudge, or some God she pissed off years ago wants revenge, or some family member is jealous, etc. Frankly, I don’t know how she has the time to deal with new issues…

Of course we all face this from time to time. By avoiding or not dealing with problems as they occur, we leave ourselves open to have them come back and bite us later on. This could be a physical ailment we don’t deal with, a relationship that is going south that we ignore, or a financial reality we just don’t want to face.

It is very tough to deal with the present and future when plagued by problems from the past. If you can just let them go and move on without doing anything, great. But often times you’ll need to be a little more proactive or those issues will just linger and grow. It’s worth doing though, because that then clears the path ahead of you.

Lesson: It’s hard to move forward until you’ve taken care of the past. Tie up your loose ends and move on.

Robin

Robin gets a bad rap. Most people, once they get past the age of seven, find that Robin is really only good for one thing: making insinuations about Batman’s romantic preferences.

But think about it, Robin is just “Batman lite.” He’s a less good version of Batman in every way. He’s not as strong, not as smart, not as good a fighter, and certainly not as intimidating (would you be intimidated by a 16 year old kid in green underwear, elf boots, bright red tunic and yellow cape? I think not. The Hamburgler is a more intimidating masked character).

And yet with all those limitations Robin is able to hang with the most powerful people on the planet. Robin and Superman fighting side by side??? No way. But it happened…

“How did it happen,” you ask. Simple. Robin is the latter part of “Batman and…” The only reason Robin got into the Superfriends is because of his association with Batman. If he showed up at the Hall of Justice on his own one day, resplendent in his peacockesque outfit, and asked for a job application, you think he would have been accepted? No way! Even Aquaman would have laughed at him.

This just goes to show you, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Robin knew the right guy, and he made superhero history.

The real world is not that different. You obviously want to get very good at what you do, but both your improvement and your ultimate success can be greatly accelerated by building the right relationships.

Those relationships take time, so start building them now. You never know who may be your ticket into the Justice League…

Lesson: Never underestimate the power of a partner or mentor.

The next time you find yourself watching an episode of the Superfriends, think about these lessons. Of course, you may very well never find yourself watching an episode of the Superfriends, in which case I invite you to think about these lessons anyway; if they’re good enough for Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman, shouldn’t they be good enough for you?

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By Avish Parashar. As the world's only Motivational Improviser, Avish uses techniques from the world of improv comedy to engage, entertain, and educate audiences on ideas around change, creativity, and motivation. Connect with Avish on Google+

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