This book, first published in 2003, has been re-released after the recent film which starred Brad Pitt and earned him an Oscar nomination. I decided to review it because, as I read the book and watched the film, I found myself thinking about the broader implications for business; are the lessons only applicable to baseball or to sport, or are their wider applications?
The story is of how the manager of a mid-level baseball team - Billy Beane of Oakland Athletics - achieved great success in the mid-1990s, despite having limited financial resources. His team consistently out-performed teams like the New York Yankees, even though they had about a quarter of the wage budget. He achieved this by a recruitment policy that challenged all the traditional views about success. Using statistical analysis and backed up by a computer whizz kid, he found out that the ability to hit the ball and get to first base was the main factor that determined success, even if other aspects of performance - like catching or running - were below par. Therefore he brought in a group of low cost hitters who could not do much else.
This shocked the baseball community - particularly the veterans who scouted for talent - because their traditional ideas were being challenged. However it impressed those who owned the clubs and Beane was soon besieged with offers to leave Oakland
This is a fascinating story and I can strongly recommend the book and the film, but do the lessons apply to business more widely? It may be stretching things a bit but I think they do, for instance?
- How many businesses focus on the wrong KPIs, because that’s the way it has always been done?
- How many businesses recruit people on subjective criteria - like personal appearance - rather than ability to get the job done?
- How many businesses fail to take advantage of the quantitative data that is available and instead make ‘gut feel’ decisions?
The other lesson for business came afterwards in the story. Competitive advantage is rarely sustainable over the long term and Billy Beane’s team is now back among the also-rans as other teams have caught up and applied similar methods of analysis.
There is one other interesting postscript. Other sports have copied the analytical methods that are now used throughout baseball, notably cricket, where the opposite conclusion was reached, that fielding was much more important than was once thought. But with football the success has been more mixed. Ironically the owner of Boston Red Sox, John Henry, bought control of Liverpool FC and brought in a new ‘Director of Football’, believing that the same methods could bring success. It is early days but the signs are not good!
Buy the book;
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