GUEST EDITORIAL: Lessons Learned From 2014's "The Imitation Game"

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Lessons Learned From 2014's "The Imitation Game"

by Kevin Gardner

During World War II, the Nazis used an encryption code called Enigma to send correspondence to troops. It was said to be unbreakable, but a team of British scientists and mathematicians led by Alan Turing was eventually able to crack with code by inventing a prototype computer. Without their efforts, the war could have lasted many more years and millions more people could have died. 

Turing was a pioneer in computer science and wrote an influential paper on artificial intelligence. For his efforts during the war alone, he should have been lauded as an international hero. Instead, he was prosecuted on charges of "indecency" for having a relationship with another gay man, which was illegal in England at the time. He was offered a choice of penalties and chose chemical castration, hormone treatments intended to suppress his sexual function but physically incapacitated him in other ways. 

The 2014 film "The Imitation Game," which takes its name from Turing's most influential paper, stars the chameleonic Benedict Cumberbatch in the role of the brilliant but beleaguered mathematician. Though tragic in some respects because of the injustice done to him, Turing's life and the film based on it also offer some valuable life lessons. 

Teamwork Is Important

Turing was a genius, and his work continues to have applications for computer science concepts, such as public key infrastructure, to this day. However, he didn't break the Enigma code by himself. He headed up a team of individuals who brought different talents to the table, and it was their collaborative efforts that ultimately resulted in success. 

Talent Can Be Found in Places You May Not Expect

In the 1940s, the conventional wisdom was that women could only perform menial work and weren't equipped for complicated problem-solving. Turing didn't buy that. In the movie, he gives prospective team members, male and female, a crossword puzzle to solve. A woman named Joan Clarke, played by Keira Knightley, solves it more quickly than her male counterparts, and Turing immediately adds her to the team. Diversity in team-building is a strength. Prejudices are not only unreasonable but can prevent you from putting together the best team.

Social Skills Help Facilitate Teamwork

At one point in the movie, Turing isolates himself to work on the device to decode Enigma. Clarke admonishes him that he "can't afford to behave like an ass," telling him that he has to involve the rest of the team and show them consideration. He makes it up to his co-workers the next day, and before long, one of them makes an improvement to the device that proves critical. 

A lot of team leaders and supervisors don't make the effort to be nice to co-workers and subordinates. While it's not their job to like you, it typically costs you very little to be nice, and if you show them appreciation, they are more likely to do their best work for you. 

The Way Things Have Always Been Done Isn't Necessarily the Best Way

While the device that Turing and his team put together is instrumental in breaking the code, the Nazis' protocol also helps. They begin every encrypted message with the same greeting, which allows the code breakers to start noticing patterns and program the machine more effectively. Had the Nazis forgone that bit of formality, it might have taken longer to break the Enigma code. 

However, the British military is not immune to this old-fashioned thinking either. They continue to try breaking the code by hand even after determining that it is hopeless and try to impose its order and discipline to Turing's project, which doesn't work. It is only after they determine that they need Turing more than he needs them that they give him the latitude he needs to invent the device needed to break the code. 

Due to the classified nature of the code-breaking efforts, Turing's contribution to the Allies' victory in World War II remained secret for many years after the war ended. In 2013, decades after Turing's death, Queen Elizabeth II issued him a posthumous pardon for the charges of indecency, the laws under which he was convicted having long since been abolished.