Gartner Symposium: IT leaders urged to do reps like Arnie

Doing reps, reps and more reps is the key to success, according to the Terminator and former governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Although he was referring to bodybuilding, Schwarzenegger is a big fan of repeatedly practising a task to master it.

Schwarzenegger was the special guest on the second day of the Gartner Symposium in Barcelona, and was invited to discuss how his life experiences can be applied to the world of IT. His advice applies to all aspects of life, and for the audience of IT decision-makers gathered at the Gartner keynote, reps applied to IT leadership.

Given one of his most famous roles as the killer robot in the James Cameron film The Terminator, Schwarzenegger said: “You know, people are worried about artificial intelligence, but I’m more worried about basic stupidity.”

In his book, Be useful, Schwarzenegger offers seven tools for life. He told the IT leaders gathered at the Gartner Symposium discovered how these “tools” could be applied to their own lives.

Schwarzenegger said a lot of what he learned in sport could also be applied on the movie set. “The more often you rehearse the scene, the better you get.”

Returning to his role as the Terminator, Schwarzenegger said he had wanted to play the part of Kyle Reese, the protagonist who would ultimately kill the machine, but during a lunch discussion, he listened to the film director explain why he would make the perfect Terminator.

“He [Cameron] said, ‘you should be the Terminator’, and I said, ‘no, no, no, no, no … I think he [the Terminator] only has 27 lines’. But he said, ‘this is going to be huge’.”

Cameron explained to Schwarzenegger that the Terminator would be the number one villain and the number one hero at the same time. “I didn’t talk anymore, I just listened. Three days later, I called him and said I would play the Terminator role.”

Schwarzenegger urged delegates to listen. “From talking, you never learn anything,” he said.

Another topic covered in the book is the importance of having good mentors, with Schwarzenegger recalling: “I had so many wonderful mentors that inspired me.”

Other life hacks covered in Be useful include having a strong vision, knowing when to say no, and having a good sense of comical timing. “Humour is so much part of our lives,” added Schwarzenegger.