When a movie is anchored around real life experiences it’s tough not to walk away with a lesson learned. Moneyball is one of those movies; offering up heart and wisdom that can easily be utilized if you’re willing to re-examine your own life, career and business choices.
However, seeing and doing are two different things. Walking away with a new perspective, a willingness to consider other options is fine. It’s what you do with the information that makes the difference.
Know When it’s Time for a Paradigm Shift
Insanity has been described as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. And yet, so many business owners, company leaders and everyday employees will do just that: repeat the same mistake over and over or follow the same routine again and again without considering if what they are doing is the best way.
One of the most difficult decisions in life is to make a change, whether you are considering changing careers, changing companies or changing a method of doing business. One reason is it places you outside your comfort zone. Another is it’s not always easy to notice when something needs to be changed.
Though the term “paradigm shift” originated in the world of science and has been unabashedly overused among business professionals, it still helps to illustrate the idea that sometimes how we view the world around us is in need of a radical change. That is what General Manager Billy Beane did with the Oakland Athletics baseball club in 2002.
In the movie Moneyball, Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) sits at a table with a group of what could be described as baseball experts and debates how to replace key players who have been lost to other teams through free agency. Naturally, the good old boys’ club wants to do it the same old way: through good old-fashioned scouting. However, Beane decides it’s time for a change. He wants to use an unconventional method, a controversial system, based on statistical analysis of data.
In Howard Bryant’s January 15, 2010 ESPN.com article, “The Revolutionary,” Billy Beane noted, “It's all about evaluating skills and putting a price on them.” While the road ahead was difficult, filled with lots of rough patches, Beane knew that as the franchise with one of the lowest payrolls in the game he needed a competitive advantage.
As pointed out in Bryant’s article, “Since Beane took over in Oakland, how baseball players are evaluated -- and, perhaps even more importantly, who is hired to do the evaluating at the general manager level -- has never been the same.” Ultimately Oakland set a new baseball record of 20 straight wins that year.
Define the Problem then Be Willing to Change the Line Up
Sitting around that same table in the movie, none of the experts were able to properly define the problem for Beane. They repeatedly cited the need to fill the vacancies. They didn’t understand the bigger need to change how they approached the decisions they made. They were busy looking for players who were stars instead of looking for players who could become stars.
In David A. Whetten’s and Kim S. Cameron’s book, Developing Management Skills, the authors note, “Problem definition is probably the most critical step in creative problem solving. Once a problem is defined, solving it is often relatively simple.”
What Beane did was to understand that he wasn’t competing on an even playing field. He knew he needed to find less-expensive players who aspired to be the best, who statistically had good numbers and who could learn. He needed to turn them into the ballplayers he knew they could become and play them where they could be the most effective.
In Eric Harvey’s and Alexander Lucia’s handbook, 144 Ways to Walk the Talk, they offer leaders practical strategies for value-driven leadership. In the section on “Coaching Others” they suggest that you pay attention to “middle stars” not just “super stars” and “fallen stars.” “Most people shine somewhere in the middle.”
The role of a small business owner or company leader is to hire those who aspire. You don’t just assemble a team, you build a team; it’s a matter of finding the right players.
Want to be successful in business? Play the game your way. Make the decisions that work for your organization, your team. It’s not about following the herd or old-school rules, it’s about making the choices that are right for you. Remember: "When your enemy makes errors, get out of their way." Now that’s a good business lesson to learn.
Deborah S. Hildebrand - Deborah S. Hildebrand is a freelance writer & HR consultant with 20+ years in human resources & a Bachelor's degree in Business.
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