The Door

I sat in bed on Saturday night with my two beautiful children sleeping between my beautiful wife and I; a humbled smile on my face. As a life-long Oakland A's fan the story of Moneyball was a glorious viewing pleasure. Long before the Oakland A's winning streak of 2002, there were the A's of the 70's that were paid to grow mustaches to embrace the hippies and bikers that supported their team. Long before Billy Beane there was Bill Martin....Crazy George and Rickey Henderson's stolen base record. There was an Earthquake that unified two sides of Northern California during a world series. The most famous home run ever hit started in the hand of a clutch Oakland A's reliever. Heart breaking at times, glorious in others, baseball is certainly a romantic sport.

A person I consider a very good friend has suffered and thrived as a member of the Oakland A's staff. They await a new stadium, their cross town rivals have won a World Championship and the recent fire sale of their team's talent makes the Giambi/Damon departure look like a walk int the park. There can be no glory without heartbreak and such is the story of Moneyball.

Golden Globe Nominee, Jonah Hill, called the story of Moneyball punk rock - Amen! The movie is not about the Oakland A's or even baseball. It is about finding the door where others see a dead end. Billy Beane and Peter Brand bucked the tradition of the most traditional sport in the world and created a new way of operating. That is the challenge that faces us all, no matter what we do. We cannot bow to the New York Yankee's of business because they have more staff, more clients and bigger operating costs. We have to use our gift of inventive thought to flip our respective industries on their ear.

Here's what happens: a company gathers market share, they systematize their business plan and profit drives their mission. People become numbers and reputation creates customers.....In hindsight, they stop creating ways of attracting new clients because they focus on margin management. The sales folk get lazy and count their money instead of hunting. Someone call Billy Beane!

The standard in any industry exists only to be broken. The rich think they are getting richer while the commoners plan a way to storm the tower. Every great company is built by a chairman or chairwoman who is hungry. This is the definition of punk rock: viewing the norm as a stagnant weight station on the road to success. Nothing is cemented, permanence stopped a second ago, and being at the top of the ladder only reveals the color of your bloomers. Our fleeting moments on this earth are only an invitation to chase a pennant every day!

There is a moment in Moneyball when Billy Beane reveals how badly he wants to win. He states that the only game worth winning is the last game of the year. His pursuit of perfection is equal parts torture and joy. Billy Beane missed his daughter's growing up to build a team worth watching on a shoe string budget...and I voiced my disapproval from the stands. His time lost encapsulated in a song that his daughter played for him. My frustration erased by a Scott Hatteberg home run!

Sports are an incomprehensible metaphor for life. You cannot make this stuff up. The human spirit cannot be systematized or defined by metrics. With every achievement the bar is set only to be raised higher.

Find The Door!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave

The Ultimate Act of Definace

In 2006, William Taylor wrote a book called Mavericks at Work. I devoured the book! I loved the concept of rule breakers sticking to their guns to gain authority. This, to me, is the true definition of winning. That you do not need the most gifted players but those with conviction, an uncompromising purpose, the willingness to work hard and a lack of appreciation for convention. Yes, the aforementioned pillars of maverick leadership matched my personal mission to perfection.

The story of moneyball hits the silver screen today. An exploration of the way Billy Beane went to war with convention every day and had a lot of fun doing it. The great Jonah Hill categorized the movie as the ultimate punk rock story during his recent appearance on the Howard Stern show. Like William Taylor's book, Bennett Miller's film matches my personal mission.

I lived it, I loved it, it was punk rock, but it also made a lot of sense. 

Through my reflection on the aforementioned works of art, one theme has emerged crystal clear:
Leaders lead because they have a burning desire to challenge the status quo!

Conformity, sticking on the path most traveled and being part of the herd ~ leads to a predictable and manageable life - Booooring!

Every great leader has been met with shaking heads. The nay-sayers always shake in their boots when their inability to step out of their comfort zone backfires.

Great leaders have respect for tradition. So much so, that they feel they owe it to those who have come before them to improve upon their work. You do not need to be a conformist to climb the corporate ladder. You do not have to be agreeable to make progress. The best leaders are not the best followers. 

It's pretty simple, as a person you get to a point when your pride is challenged through your profession. Those who see inefficiency and throw their hand up open a door. Sure, there is an elegance needed to establish new ground. But, leadership starts with two things:
An inability to accept the under-developed ideas of others and the courage to make them better!

Lead, Follow, or get out of the way!

Don't Forget to Remember!

Dave