Moneyball, Competence Porn & What We Can Learn From It
Directed by Bennett Miller, and written by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin, Moneyball is a slow, methodical, yet utterly absorbing watch.
Based on the non-fiction book by Michael Lewis, in Moneyball, we follow the General Manager of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, Billy Beane, as he attempts to boost the fortunes of his deflated team.
Much like The Social Network (and much of Sorkin's work), Moneyball could be considered to fall under, the rather provocatively named, trope of 'competence porn'. Coined by writer John Rogers in 2009, the exact definition of 'competence porn' is debated but can loosely be described as 'talented people excelling in their job.' Yes, this description can be applied to almost any work of fiction you've ever consumed, however, I would reduce that rather deep pool by adding the criteria that the job being performed is grounded in reality and requires some form of intellect. So, less Captain America and Avengers: Endgame and more Stephen Hawking and The Theory of Everything.
For me, this type of film is a massive source of motivation. It's akin to a nine-year-old watching their favourite sports star on their TV screen and then trying to emulate them on the training field. It seems like an extremely lofty goal but it's also not completely outside the realms of possibility (unlike my childhood dreams of becoming Spider-Man.) In 'competence porn', watching "ordinary" people using the rather ordinary tools at their disposal to do extraordinary things is like watching Lionel Messi with a football.
So why shouldn't we, in the professional world, try to do the same?
Of course, Billy Beane's story isn't going to be immediately applicable to most of our real-world jobs, however, we can take some lessons:
Always Be Innovating
"We are card counters at the blackjack table. And we're gonna turn the odds on the casino." - Billy Beane
In Moneyball, for those unfamiliar, we follow Billy Beane's attempt at changing the game of baseball. 'America's pastime' is as traditional as they come, but with tradition comes a lack of innovation. Billy's idea: ignore the traditional baseball knowledge (much to the annoyance of his team) in favour of the contemporary statistics now available.
You might be more familiar with the phrasing: "Why would we change this process? This is how we've always done this?"
Yes, it's a cliché at this stage but how many of us are guilty of resisting change despite knowing the benefits? There always seem to be endless reasons not to change.
In Billy's case, it was new data that spurred the change. There was an opportunity to create a strategy that wasn't the norm, which also meant it was less costly.
So, are you consistently looking for opportunities to innovate?
The Importance of Metrics
"It's about getting things down to one number." - Peter Brand
How Billy's data-driven advantage comes about is through the work of his Assistant General Manager, Peter Brand.
The above quote from Peter brilliantly sums up the importance of metrics. If you can get what's important to you down to a single number then you've created an easy way to see if you're succeeding or not and, as a result, make sure you're leaning toward the side of success.
Of course, this starts with interrogating the data.
"What's that? You're not currently collecting data?"
Well, there's no better time to start than right now.
The Dangers of Bias
"People are overlooked for a variety of biased reasons and perceived flaws. Age, appearance, personality. Bill James and mathematics cut straight through that." - Peter Brand
In the same speech, Peter makes an excellent point on the dangers of bias. Although aimed at the selection of baseball players, we can very obviously expand the thinking to any team.
Peter specifically brings up the example of baseball player Chad Bradford who is undervalued in the league due to the fact that he "throws funny."
"This guy should cost $3m, we can get him for $237,000."
This sequence underlines how bias doesn't just exclude some people but excludes some exceptional people.
Are you allowing bias, unconscious or otherwise, to be prevalent in your team selection?
If you haven't already, I recommend you take a look at Moneyball (currently streaming on Netflix in the UK and Ireland), enjoy the sharp dialogue and maybe pick up a few lessons for the workplace along the way.
