On Money Ball, The Oakland A's and The Electrical Industry (Part 1 of 4)
Bill Floyd
In "The Boxer" Paul Simon sang, "A man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest."
At the latest NAED meeting in San Antonio, Paul DePodesta, former assistant GM of the Oakland A's, was the keynote speaker. He and GM Billy Beane were featured in the popular book and movie Money Ball. His talk was about baseball but it was really about CHANGE. The same change that the electrical industry, and other industries, are undergoing today.
DePodesta said the A's had limited resources. Sound familiar? He talked about the "We've always done it that way" mentality. He said that every team followed the same formula, scouted the same players, evaluated them the same way. The results were predictable - the big money teams always won. The small market teams were always on the outside looking in. Since necessity is the mother of invention, if the A's were to compete, they had to innovate.
Fast forward to today and your business. The shaky ground you are walking on is caused by technology. Does that mean that the big money teams win? After all if you all play the same game, by the same rules how do you take on the millions of dollars and all the manpower that, Grainger, AMAZON, and other industry giants can throw at the problem? The answer is simple. You can't. Here's where adopting the Money Ball approach makes sense. Don't play their game, make them play yours. Be creative, don't accept the status quo. Stop paying lip service to the greatest challenge of our time and devote real time to studying the technology problem, cutting through the clutter, and understanding the most practical available solutions.
You can tell yourself everything is OK. You're still growing. You don't need technology. You're doing all right. But as Simon said, "A man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest." and it's no secret that as we move forward, ruthless progress takes no prisoners. If you are not planning now, you are on borrowed time. DePodesta and Beane could have remained blind to reality and chosen mediocrity or they could adjust and succeed. You have the same choice.
Next Issue - Part 2: Real inexpensive examples to succeeding with technology.
For both Distributors and Manufacturers relying only on your own ability to attract viewers to your website leaves an awful lot of industry eyeballs on the table. Contact us. We'll tell you more.
At the latest NAED meeting in San Antonio, Paul DePodesta, former assistant GM of the Oakland A's, was the keynote speaker. He and GM Billy Beane were featured in the popular book and movie Money Ball. His talk was about baseball but it was really about CHANGE. The same change that the electrical industry, and other industries, are undergoing today.
DePodesta said the A's had limited resources. Sound familiar? He talked about the "We've always done it that way" mentality. He said that every team followed the same formula, scouted the same players, evaluated them the same way. The results were predictable - the big money teams always won. The small market teams were always on the outside looking in. Since necessity is the mother of invention, if the A's were to compete, they had to innovate.
Fast forward to today and your business. The shaky ground you are walking on is caused by technology. Does that mean that the big money teams win? After all if you all play the same game, by the same rules how do you take on the millions of dollars and all the manpower that, Grainger, AMAZON, and other industry giants can throw at the problem? The answer is simple. You can't. Here's where adopting the Money Ball approach makes sense. Don't play their game, make them play yours. Be creative, don't accept the status quo. Stop paying lip service to the greatest challenge of our time and devote real time to studying the technology problem, cutting through the clutter, and understanding the most practical available solutions.
You can tell yourself everything is OK. You're still growing. You don't need technology. You're doing all right. But as Simon said, "A man sees what he wants to see and disregards the rest." and it's no secret that as we move forward, ruthless progress takes no prisoners. If you are not planning now, you are on borrowed time. DePodesta and Beane could have remained blind to reality and chosen mediocrity or they could adjust and succeed. You have the same choice.
Next Issue - Part 2: Real inexpensive examples to succeeding with technology.
For both Distributors and Manufacturers relying only on your own ability to attract viewers to your website leaves an awful lot of industry eyeballs on the table. Contact us. We'll tell you more.
