Years ago, while visiting friends in the United States, I happened to see the classic children’s film The Wizard of Oz. Near the end, Dorothy at last appears before the all-powerful wizard—a terrifying image of smoke and light. Only when her dog, Toto, tugs at a curtain over to one side does she see a very ordinary-looking man operating a variety of levers and switches to create the wizard’s fearsome image. The voice in the smoke bellows, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” but Dorothy persists. In an instant she has shattered the myth, revealing the truth about the wizard and his technique for perpetuating his power.
A version of this article appeared in the November–December 1990 issue of Harvard Business Review.
