Why do so many business and #marketing leaders love the movie Moneyball?
Yes, the “baseball" movie about how the 2002 Oakland Athletics had one of the lowest payrolls in Major League Baseball and used advanced data analytics to go on baseball’s longest winning streak in 70 years.
Here are 5 reasons why.
1. It’s a masterclass in winning as the underdog. There are too many business books written by the winners who had monopolistic advantages over their rivals. These books are largely unhelpful. Most of us are playing as the underdog in some area. Perhaps you’re the underdog in your category. Perhaps you’re behind forecast this quarter. Perhaps you don’t have the budget you’d like. This movie is all about finding creative solutions and winning within that underdog reality.
2. Leadership is isolating. I don’t care if you have a clear vision, believe in it deeply, and communicate it often. You will face skepticism, resistance, friction. Because you’re changing things, and that changes the things people are doing. And that can feel very unsettling for people. And you may feel alone on top of that change pyramid.
3. Data is always your secret weapon. Everyone in baseball in 2002 had access to the same statistics. But the Oakland Athletics were the first ones who turned that commodity information into secret insights. It makes you wonder what secrets are hiding in your data - that could tell you these initiatives are a complete waste of time, or that you should double-down on these others?
4. Aaron Sorkin is a killer writer. He not only wrote Moneyball, but The West Wing, A Few Good Men, The Social Network. He’s kind of the best. And the more you hear great writing, the more you’ll recognize when you get close to it yourself.
5. The movie probably feeds a leader's ego a little bit. "Look at me. I’m just like Brad Pitt. I know what’s best - if only everyone would listen to me - we’d be fine." It’s like those guys who watched the Last Dance and said, “See, Michael Jordan gets it. That’s exactly why I’m so hard on people, too!” You’re not MJ bro. You’re not Brad Pitt either. But you can learn a whole lot by watching him in this movie.
So make it a day. Watch it with your team. And realize that you’ll only win with an entirely different playbook than your competition.
7 сен 2024
