“If you challenge conventional wisdom, you will find ways to do things much better than they are currently done.”
Bill James
Leadership Principles by Brian Dodd
All quotes are from Beane unless otherwise noted:
Leaders set high standards. “My bar is to take this team to a championship.”
You Must Have The Right People Around You. While Beane’s scouts were experienced, they did not see the game in a way that allowed them to compete.
Leaders define reality. “There are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there is 50 feet of crap and then there’s us. It’s an unfair game.” – “We are the last dog to the bowl. Do you see what happens to the runt of the litter? He dies.” “If we try to play like the Yankees in here (board room), we will lose to the Yankees out there (on the field).”
Leaders cannot allow others to define how they should lead their teams. The Value of Chance Meetings – Beane met Brand completely by accident during a meeting in Cleveland. Always be ready for chance meetings because you never know when they will happen. “There is an epidemic failure in the game to understand what is really happening.” – Brand.
The problem for leaders is to identify the problem. The solution is then obvious. “People who run ball clubs, they think in terms of buying players. Your goal shouldn’t be to buy players. Your goal should be to buy wins. And to buy wins you must buy runs.” – Brand.
“Baseball thinking is medieval. They are asking all the wrong questions.” – Brand.
What questions are you asking in your current meetings? Are they bringing a new set of solutions. Great Talent and Solutions Are Often Found In Unusual Places. Brand studied economics at Yale. “If you lose the last game of the year, nobody cares how much you won during the regular season.”
Great leaders do not confuse activity with accomplishment. “He gets on base. Do I care if it’s with a walk or a hit, you do not.”
Great leaders care more about results than what it takes to achieve them. Just don’t do something unethical or illegal.
Great leaders give their teams confidence. – Part of the new plan was to put players in positions they had not played previously. As part of this process, they had to give the players confidence they could fulfill their new assignments.
For New Plans To Succeed, You Must Have Buy-In At All Levels – Manager Art Howe was slow to implement the new plans thus delaying the team’s development.
Practice Tough Conversations – As part of Brand’s development, Beane practiced with him how to cut players. Unfortunately, this is one of the difficult parts of leadership. “Would you rather get a bullet to the head or fired to the chest and bleed to death?”
Leaders Cannot Accept Consistent Failure – The team’s performance began to turn around when Beane got angry and would no longer tolerate an environment that accepted losing. “I hate losing more than I want to win.”
Great Organizations Do Not Keep Malcontents Around Long – As part of improving the team, Beane got rid of three players that did not fit the new culture he was building.
Great leaders believe in their teams more than they believe in themselves. “You may not look like a winning team but you are one.”
The Value Of Teaching – When Beane and Brand began showing the players the impact of their daily performance, their production increased.
Give People A Picture Of What They Could Become – Beane and Brand took their “island of misfit toys” and showed them what they could become if they played to their strengths.
“Let them make the mistakes. When your enemies are making mistakes don’t interrupt them. Their just giving you an out. If they want to give you an out, take it.”
“I made one decision in my life based on money and I swore I would never do it again.” – Beane gave up being the highest paid GM in sports history to be near his daughter. Great call by Beane and a picture for all of us.
“He hit a home run and didn’t even realize it.” – Brand about a minor league player but the application was for Beane who though they did not win the championship, changed the way the game is evaluated.
Additional Reading
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis
Points of Reflection
“If you do not know how to ask the right question, you discover nothing.”
W. Edwards Deming
“When you get the answer your looking for, ya hang up''
Billy Beane, Moneyball
“People in both fields operate with beliefs and biases. To the extent you can eliminate both and replace them with data, you gain a clear advantage.”
Michael Lewis, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game