Michael Ovitz: The Psychology of Power
episodePreviously titled “Michael Ovitz: The Business of Relationships” — renamed by the publisher on Aug 3, 2026
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
I didn't go into business to win a popularity contest.
What drives Michael Ovitz's appetite for learning?
I went into business to win. You know, when Michael Crichton gave me the book of Jurassic Park, I put the right director with it, Steven Spielberg.
Why is telling the truth crucial in business?
There was no second choice.
You had a front row seat to Hollywood for a long time. Where did people go wrong?
I thought these power lists that they developed in the entertainment business were just sheer nonsense.
What are the common pitfalls in Hollywood?
It's an ephemeral thing power and it's fleeting and it doesn't last. And if you don't believe that, take a look at anyone that's had it. It's like a lease. It has a closed end and never a good one. I have been viewed by a lot of my friends as the world's best friend and the world's worst enemy.
Success to me is... I think that's the most beautiful answer I've heard in 200 and some episodes. One of the things that I admire about you is your voracious appetite for learning. And you started in the William Morris file room and you had access to all these, but it was like you, David Geffen, Barry Diller, all the same sort of path in the file room, reading the history. What's the modern equivalent of that, do you think, for people out there wanting to get ahead at work?
Well, I don't, I, you know, it's a really great question. I'm not sure, frankly, because one of my
How does one maintain strong relationships in business?
I love the internet and I love being on my computer to the point where my significant other wants to kill me sometimes because I just love surfing through the internet and going down rabbit holes. First of all, there's a...
What qualities should you look for when hiring top performers?
David Geffen and Barry Diller and I are very dissimilar human beings, but we do share a couple of very similar traits. All three of us cut our teeth in the early years in the entertainment business. All three of us have voracious appetites for learning, and all three of us have a voracious appetite to read. David and Barry are two of the smartest guys that I know, and They're on top of everything.
How can one stay grounded in a high-stakes environment?
If you talk to them, you know, it's extraordinary how well read they are. These guys didn't go to college. They're better read than most PhDs that I know in any field. And secondly, we all three demonstrated that as mailroom employees, where we knew the quickest path was education. I have a thing I always say to people that work with me, knowledge is power. And it works for you and against you. And it works for you if you embrace it, use it, read, and try to index it in your head for context. Works against you if it turns you into a liar. And lying is a, when I started at CA in 74, it became very clear to me that lying was a industrial problem in the entertainment business. everybody didn't tell the truth.
One of the reasons they did not tell the truth is since they didn't know the term knowledge is power, but they knew it innately that they had to have an answer. So you could call up an agent and ask them a question. They felt this necessity to have an answer.
What is the importance of packaging ideas into outcomes?
And by doing that, they'd sometimes more than half the time make it up. So we started some very simple rules-based which I was shocked in retrospect how revolutionary they were. But they were simple. To me, it was like simpleton logic. Don't lie. If you don't have an answer, here's your answer. Tell you what, Shane, I'm going to get back to you because I don't know the answer to that question, but I'm going to find out. That's highly acceptable. Entertainment business, everybody knows everything. They know everything. It's not possible, by the way. Not possible.
It's the same inside most organizations. Everybody will make up an answer on the fly. Well, I think people want to show that they're in the know.
And I think it's just very fine to show that you're not and that you want to find out. And then the second thing we did was insist on teamwork, which was shocking to everybody because in – You know, for 75 years, it was one client, one agent. And we would not allow that. All of our clients had multiple agents, so they could talk to a lot of different people. In the years I was at CAA, we never lost a client. And the reason was if they tired of one person, they'd go to the next.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:03
2
What drives Michael Ovitz's appetite for learning?
0:03–0:13
3
Why is telling the truth crucial in business?
0:13–0:26
4
What are the common pitfalls in Hollywood?
0:26–1:26
5
How does one maintain strong relationships in business?
1:26–1:47
6
What qualities should you look for when hiring top performers?
1:47–2:16
7
How can one stay grounded in a high-stakes environment?
2:16–3:32
8
What is the importance of packaging ideas into outcomes?
3:32–1:34:00
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The Knowledge Project
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