Sunday, September 16, 2007
Five rules for shopping for talent
How the Oakland A's win so many games on a shoe-string budget
Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's, offers these tips when shopping for talent (excerpted from Michael Lewis' book, Moneyball):
We don't necessarily have an individual in mind when we go shopping (Step 4) as a baseball manager does; although we should have a clear picture of the skills, temperament and results-orientation our player should possess.
It's easier for us to see ourselves in the first three tips. Let's examine each of them:
Step 1 - change is always good. The natural tendency, when things are going well, is to leave them alone. This leads to complacency, a quick decline in performance and loss of competitive advantage. Keep looking for talent that will increase your competitive advantage.
Step 2 - feeling that you have to do something is problematic. When you feel trapped into making a hiring decision that doesn't feel right, you're about to make a bad decision. Step back, re-evaluate your needs and the options available to you. You may be able to restructure jobs or job responsibilities in ways to accommodate the talent that's available.
Step 3 - know exactly what the player is worth to you. All too often a job description enumerates the duties and responsibilities of the job along with a traditional pay scale for that type of job. A more effective way is to determine what results you want from a person in that role and what those results will add to the bottom line. This enables you to evaluate both your investment and the return you expect on that investment. As Billy says "you can put a dollar figure on it."
Billy Beane's tips - change is always good, don't feel locked into a decision, know what the talent's worth - are counter-intuitive. That's why they've helped him create one of the winningest records in baseball on one of the lowest budgets.
I'm always looking for new ideas to share with our readers. If you've something that intrigues you, please pass it along. My email address is dale@furtwengler.com.
How the Oakland A's win so many games on a shoe-string budget
Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's, offers these tips when shopping for talent (excerpted from Michael Lewis' book, Moneyball):
- No matter how successful you are, change is always good
- The day you say you have to do something, you're in trouble
- Know exactly what every player is worth to you; you can put a dollar figure on it
- Know exactly who you want and go after him
- Every deal you do will be publicly scutinized by subjective opinion
We don't necessarily have an individual in mind when we go shopping (Step 4) as a baseball manager does; although we should have a clear picture of the skills, temperament and results-orientation our player should possess.
It's easier for us to see ourselves in the first three tips. Let's examine each of them:
Step 1 - change is always good. The natural tendency, when things are going well, is to leave them alone. This leads to complacency, a quick decline in performance and loss of competitive advantage. Keep looking for talent that will increase your competitive advantage.
Step 2 - feeling that you have to do something is problematic. When you feel trapped into making a hiring decision that doesn't feel right, you're about to make a bad decision. Step back, re-evaluate your needs and the options available to you. You may be able to restructure jobs or job responsibilities in ways to accommodate the talent that's available.
Step 3 - know exactly what the player is worth to you. All too often a job description enumerates the duties and responsibilities of the job along with a traditional pay scale for that type of job. A more effective way is to determine what results you want from a person in that role and what those results will add to the bottom line. This enables you to evaluate both your investment and the return you expect on that investment. As Billy says "you can put a dollar figure on it."
Billy Beane's tips - change is always good, don't feel locked into a decision, know what the talent's worth - are counter-intuitive. That's why they've helped him create one of the winningest records in baseball on one of the lowest budgets.
I'm always looking for new ideas to share with our readers. If you've something that intrigues you, please pass it along. My email address is dale@furtwengler.com.
