SPOILER ALERT!! (Excerpts from Wikipedia) The central premise of Moneyball is that the collected wisdom of baseball insiders (including players, managers, coaches, scouts, and the front office) over the past century is subjective and often flawed. Statistics such as stolen bases, runs batted in, and batting average, typically used to gauge players, are relics of a 19th century view of the game and the statistics that were available at the time. The book argues that the Oakland A's' front office took advantage of more empirical gauges of player performance to field a team that could compete successfully against richer competitors in Major League Baseball....These observations often flew in the face of conventional baseball wisdom and the beliefs of many baseball scouts and executives...By re-evaluating the strategies that produce wins on the field, the 2002 Athletics, with approximately $41 million in salary, were competitive with larger market teams such as the New York Yankees, who spent over $125 million in payroll that same season...Several themes Lewis explored in the book include: insiders vs. outsiders (established traditionalists vs. upstart proponents of sabermetriics), the democratization of information causing a flattening of hierarchies, and the ruthless drive for efficiency that capitalism demands. Moneyball also touches onto the A's methods of prospect selection...The book documents Beane's often-tense discussions with his scouting staff (who favored traditional subjective evaluation of potential rather than objective sabermetrics) in preparation for the draft to the actual draft, which defied all expectations and was considered at the time a wildly successful (if unorthodox) effort by Beane.
While on vacation, my son Graham and I saw the movie version - based on
the book - based on a true story. The movie stars Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and others, all of whom give excellent performances. But since the A.I.M. of this blog is not to review or promote movies or books, (having said that, this book and this movie are excellent) let me get to the Moneyball ministry/leadership applications as I see them...Obvious:
1. Just because something has worked in the past, doesn't necessarily mean it is what will work in the present or the future.
2. Every methodology is worth re-evaluating.
3. The message is sacred, cows aren't!
4. Risk has its risks, (but often has its returns as well).
5. Risk-takers are not always well liked - even (especially?) if they succeed.
6. Our MVPs might just be our players who are currently on the bench, (or not even on the roster).
Not-So-Obvious:
1. New, bold ideas should be handled with care.
2. We need to keep track of the right numbers - placing importance in the right stats.
3. The managers need to be brought in sooner, rather than later. This might save the bold idea from sabotage.
4. A new approach is worth taking if the leader is convinced of its merit - regardless of whether or not it makes the leader popular.
5. Staying to see another season through is a better decision (if you have the luxury of being a part of the decision-making process) than taking a "better" offer after a few successes.
Down the "line" with Moneyball: (all quotes from Brad Pitt's Billy Beane)
(After a terrible Oakland A's loss, Brad/Beane walks into the clubhouse to find his players partying)"Is losing fun?" (They agree it isn't) "Then why are you having fun?"
(Brad/Beane trying to explain to his new approach to the A's top scout) "Adapt or die."
"If he's a good hitter, why isn't he hittin' good?" (Brad/Beane to a room full of his staff - all baseball lifers - who have been touting the "merits" of a player Brad/Beane doesn't want)
(Brad/Beane explaining part of the plan to some of his payers) "When the enemy's making mistakes, don't interrupt them."
(Brad/Beane to Jonah Hill's character near the end of the movie) "How can you not be romantic about Baseball?" This last one doesn't have much of a ministry/leadership application, it just resonates with me, even though I'm a fan of the
