Leadership Thought #375 – Change Management Lessons From The Movie Moneyball

Change management lessons can appear from a wide variety of sources.

As a diehard New York Yankee fan, I must admit to not being excited about the movie Moneyball with Brad Pitt when it came out. The story is about the exploits of Billy Beane as General Manager of the Oakland A’s when he transformed his approach to running a baseball team. When it got nominated for an Academy Award, I thought I should see it one day, but didn’t rush out to buy it. I finally saw it last week and was blown away. At this point, I should trust anything Aaron Sorkin is involved with. Not only is the movie professionally written, directed, and acted, but it also contains many essential lessons in change management that apply to my work with business leaders. It was as if they had a leadership expert on the writing team. I want to highlight the following takeaways:

• Never get complacent about leadership, especially when you have had some success. It is your responsibility to push the organization to become stronger.
• Always be on the lookout for talent, and don’t let a person’s status or experience overshadow their potential when evaluating candidates.
• Don’t let your ego get in the way of listening to what others say about the state of your organization or industry – be open to constructive, unconventional thinking.
• You can learn and apply something you don’t initially understand, especially if you hire someone who is knowledgeable about it.
• Recognize your reality and develop a strategy that fits it; not every team has Yankee money.
• Expect resistance when you make significant changes and challenge conventional wisdom, but maintain your resolve and keep moving forward.
• There is a substantial difference between earning people’s respect and being popular — always choose the former over the latter.
• Pick your battles wisely and avoid unnecessary conflict on minor issues.
• Always be straightforward and honest with your communication. Leave no room for misinterpretation.
• As the leader, many people need to feel that you believe in them before they can fully believe in themselves.
• Don’t be afraid to remove people who are a bad fit with your culture or system— remove the nonbelievers and bad role models.
• Understand that your job is to build the best team, not become enamored with superstar position players — sometimes you need to let talented people go.
• There are times when the leader must embrace his/her communication role and rally and/or challenge the team.
• Expect a brief performance dip after implementing significant changes because it takes time for people to adjust.
• There are more important things than money, starting with how you feel about yourself, your work, and the needs of those closest to you.

I recommend that anyone in a leadership position watch this movie and identify the commonalities with their experiences. Change management is a critical leadership skill. At its best, it feels like an accurate reflection of the human experience and resonates deeply on an individual level. Leadership will always be as much art as it is science.

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• Game-change: Moneyball and the reality of social business. (thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com)
• Moneyball’s Billy Beane Leads Off Internet Week With Lessons About Data, Hiring (mediabistro.com)
• Review: Moneyball (2011) (thefilmoracle.wordpress.com)
• America’s Pastime: Revolutionized; Sabermetrics Analysis (rantsports.com)
• Moneyball and Finding the Real, Ongoing Competitive Edge (women2.org)