If you’re not a baseball fan, the name Billy Beane may have meant nothing to you until last week. The new film Moneyball opened over the weekend to big box office receipts across the country. Based on the book of the same name, Moneyball tells the story of Beane, the Oakland Athletics’ general manager who revolutionized the drafting of players to create a team that’s been able to compete with giant franchises despite the limitations of a shoestring budget.
Traditionally, scouts seek out players who demonstrate qualities like speed, batting average etc. Beane’s approach emphasizes statistical analysis that demonstrates that slugging percentages and on base averages are more important to winning ball games. The system gets quite complicated, but suffice it to say that Beane’s approach has flown in the face of 100 years of traditional baseball practices, constituting a revolutionary approach in team building. Beane’s concepts have garnered allies and enemies. They’ve also created a winning franchise that operates on roughly $40 million in salary costs as compared to the New York Yankees who spend around $120 million on their players. Beane has taught Major League Baseball a number of lessons and he has a trick or two you should implement in your next presentation.
Throw Out the Rulebook
The number one lesson we can take away from Beane and Moneyball is that there are no rules. Who said you have to have text on every slide? Who said you had to use a certain prop? Who said you couldn’t? We all seek advice out and do our homework to make our presentations better, but never forget to question popular taste. Just because “nobody’s doing it” doesn’t mean somebody shouldn’t. The thing that no one’s ever tried may be exactly what you should go for.
Expand Your Toolbox
While Beane’s success with his team looks a bit like magic or a miracle, nothing could be further from the truth. Beane was confident in the face of his naysayers because he had the research and the stats to back his play. He’d brought a whole new analysis of the game to bear on his recruiting process and this new tool made all the difference. What new tools can you add to your next presentation to take it to the next level?
No Limits
At the end of the day, the Moneyball story looks a lot like Cinderella. Despite the complexities of baseball recruiting and the statistical innovations Beane employs, he was no different from any artist, inventor or entrepreneur who has to scheme a way to make a lot out of a little. What if a presenter is suddenly faced with a crashed laptop or an audience they didn’t expect? Don’t let anything get in the way of a great presentation. The answer to exasperation is always innovation.
