I loved this film. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Re lesson 2: how long should you stick with the strategy for to see whether it works or not?
Hi Selda. I’m not sure there’s a one-size-fits-all answer. In the film, Beane is wanted to trade Peña as a way to fully commit to the Moneyball strategy then let’s see what happens. His stance was let’s at least give this strategy a chance before we dismiss it.
As for how long you should stick to a strategy, it’s tough to say. I always go back to @Veronica Llorca-Smith’s growth. It took her what, a year before her growth here really took off? But now she’s one of the hottest writers on the platform. How many of us would have been patient enough to stick with Substack seeing slow growth over a year? I’m not sure I could.
At the same time, sometimes slow or no growth can signal you need to dump a strategy and switch lanes. It’s hard to say, wish I had a better answer.
Wassup Mack - Happy Tuesday! Am I late for the Moneyball party? lol
It's one of the best movies, btw.
I love how you draw out those two key lessons - having the courage to try something new when the old ways aren't working, and fully committing to your strategy even when facing resistance.
In any field, when you're doing something innovative, you'll face pushback from those invested in the status quo. Beane's conviction in sticking to his strategy despite early losses and criticism is everything.
Thank you so much for sharing.
See you on Thursday (will be fashionably late again)
Hey sis! I agree with you, the key lesson about sticking to your guns in the face of resistance is so crucial. I am thinking of two key scenes: First where he talks to the scouts and the scouts tell them they know what the problem is, they need to replace the star players they lost, like Jason Giambi. Beanie tells the head scout there isn't another Giambi out there, and even if there was, we couldn't afford him. "So what the F*CK are you talking about, man?" When he saw the scouts weren't even addressing the problem, he shut them down and stopped wasting his time dealing with them.
Then when Brand started questioning his wanting to trade Pena, Beane asked him 'Do you believe in this thing, or not?" Brand said he did, Beane asked him why are we even discussing this, then? He knew to focus on the issue at hand, the strategy as designed, and stop giving attention to people that were making his job harder.
Such valuable lessons that apply to all businesses. Focus on what moves the needle and ignore the noise, internal or external.
Fantastic movie! Peter Brand’s character is based on the real person, Paul DePodesta who has been the Chief Strategy Officer for my abysmal Cleveland Browns for the last few years. I really wish his baseball success formula translated better to football lol
Regardless, there are so many great takeaways from this movie, none greater than playing your own game rather than trying to play someone else’s!
I loved this film. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it. Re lesson 2: how long should you stick with the strategy for to see whether it works or not?
Hi Selda. I’m not sure there’s a one-size-fits-all answer. In the film, Beane is wanted to trade Peña as a way to fully commit to the Moneyball strategy then let’s see what happens. His stance was let’s at least give this strategy a chance before we dismiss it.
As for how long you should stick to a strategy, it’s tough to say. I always go back to @Veronica Llorca-Smith’s growth. It took her what, a year before her growth here really took off? But now she’s one of the hottest writers on the platform. How many of us would have been patient enough to stick with Substack seeing slow growth over a year? I’m not sure I could.
At the same time, sometimes slow or no growth can signal you need to dump a strategy and switch lanes. It’s hard to say, wish I had a better answer.
Understood, it makes sense that it would depend on quite a few factors. I guess you also need to go by gut feel sometimes
Wassup Mack - Happy Tuesday! Am I late for the Moneyball party? lol
It's one of the best movies, btw.
I love how you draw out those two key lessons - having the courage to try something new when the old ways aren't working, and fully committing to your strategy even when facing resistance.
In any field, when you're doing something innovative, you'll face pushback from those invested in the status quo. Beane's conviction in sticking to his strategy despite early losses and criticism is everything.
Thank you so much for sharing.
See you on Thursday (will be fashionably late again)
Hey sis! I agree with you, the key lesson about sticking to your guns in the face of resistance is so crucial. I am thinking of two key scenes: First where he talks to the scouts and the scouts tell them they know what the problem is, they need to replace the star players they lost, like Jason Giambi. Beanie tells the head scout there isn't another Giambi out there, and even if there was, we couldn't afford him. "So what the F*CK are you talking about, man?" When he saw the scouts weren't even addressing the problem, he shut them down and stopped wasting his time dealing with them.
Then when Brand started questioning his wanting to trade Pena, Beane asked him 'Do you believe in this thing, or not?" Brand said he did, Beane asked him why are we even discussing this, then? He knew to focus on the issue at hand, the strategy as designed, and stop giving attention to people that were making his job harder.
Such valuable lessons that apply to all businesses. Focus on what moves the needle and ignore the noise, internal or external.
Fantastic movie! Peter Brand’s character is based on the real person, Paul DePodesta who has been the Chief Strategy Officer for my abysmal Cleveland Browns for the last few years. I really wish his baseball success formula translated better to football lol
Regardless, there are so many great takeaways from this movie, none greater than playing your own game rather than trying to play someone else’s!
Very interesting, Jack! I had heard he was based on Paul, but wasn’t aware he was working with the Browns.
In “hey whipple” Luke talked about Zig when people are Zagging.
This is on point with that. Fun read 😀
Thanks David, wow that book is another blast from the past! He had some great ads!
Loved the movie "Moneyball". Looking forward to your take re the movie and marketing! btw, Happy Monday, Mack!
Thank you Joyce, Happy Monday!!!