I just watched the incredible Moneyball which was released on dvd on January 10th. It is the true story of Oakland A’s GM Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt, and his completely out-of-the-box approach to building a championship team on a shoestring budget.
Beane changed the way the game is evaluated and played. It is time for many churches to change the way ministry is done.
If your church has been declining in attendance and budget, read the quotes and principles below and see what you can apply. All quotes are from Beane unless otherwise noted.
- “My bar is to take this team to a championship.” – Leaders set high standards.
- You Can Accomplish Anything With Enough People, Money, and Time – To accomplish more ministry, you need more financial resources.
- You Must Have The Right People Around You – While Beane’s scouts were experienced, they did not see the game in a way that allowed them to compete. This led to the hiring of the unknown Peter Brand to become Beane’s Assistant GM.
- “There are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there is 50 feet of crap and then there’s us. It’s an unfair game.” – Leaders define reality.
- “We are the last dog to the bowl. Do you see what happens to the runt of the litter. He dies.”
- “If we try to play like the Yankees in here (board room), we will lose to the Yankees out there (on the field).” – Leaders cannot allow others to define how they should lead their teams.
- The Value of Chance Meetings – Beane met Brand completely by accident during a meeting in Cleveland. Always be ready for chance meetings because you never know when they will happen.
- “There is an epidemic failure in the game to understand what is really happening.” – Brand. The problem for leaders is to identify the problem. The solution is then obvious.
- “People who run ball clubs, they think in terms of buying players. Your goal shouldn’t be to buy players. Your goal should be to buy wins. And to buy wins you must buy runs.” – Brand. Churches should be all about reaching lost people, not whatever else they are focused on.
- “Baseball thinking is midievil. They are asking all the wrong questions.” – Brand. What questions are you asking in your current Board meetings? Are they bringing a new set of solutions.
- Great Talent and Solutions Are Often Found In Unusual Places. Brand studied economics at Yale.
- “If you lose the last game of the year, nobody cares how much you won during the regular season.” Great leaders do not confuse activity with accomplishment.
- “He gets on base. Do I care if it’s with a walk or a hit.” – Great leaders care more about results than what it takes to achieve them. Just don’t do something unethical or illegal.
- Great leaders give their teams confidence. – Part of the new plan was to put players in positions they had not played previously. As part of this process, they had to give the players confidence they could fulfill their new assignments.
- For New Plans To Succeed, You Must Have Buy-In At All Levels – Manager Art Howe was slow to implement the new plans thus delaying the team’s development.
- “Would you rather get a bullet to the head or fired to the chest and bleed to death.” – Practice Tough Conversations – As part of Brand’s development, Beane practiced with him how to cut players. Unfortunately, this is one of the difficult parts of leadership.
- Leaders Cannot Accept Consistent Failure – The team’s performance began to turn around when Beane got angry and would no longer tolerate an enviroment that accepted losing.
- Great Organizations Do Not Keep Malcontents Around Long – As part of improving the team, Beane got rid of three players that did not fit the new culture he was building.
- “You may not look like a winning team but you are one.” – Great leaders believe in their teams more than they believe in themselves.
- The Value Of Teaching – When Beane and Brand began showing the players the impact of their daily performance, their production increased.
- Give People A Picture Of What They Could Become – Beane and Brand took their “island of misfit toys” and showed them what they could become if they played to their strengths.
- “I hate losing more than I want to win.”
- “Let them make the mistakes. When your enemies are making mistakes don’t interrupt them. Their just giving you an out. If they want to give you an out, take it.”
- “I pay you to get on first. Not get thrown out at second.”
- “I made one decision in my life based on money and I swore I would never do it again.” – Beane gave up being the highest paid GM in sports history to be near his daughter. Great call by Beane and a picture for all of us.
- “He hit a home run and didn’t even realize it.” – Brand about a minor league player but the application was for Beane who though they did not win the championship, changed the way the game is evaluated.
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