Moneyball is one of those movies. Whether I am at home or traveling, if I scroll through the guide and it's on, I'm clicking. I don't even have to watch it anymore, I just like to listen to it; because even though it’s a baseball movie, it not. It’s a more than that, especially to organizational leaders.
If you don’t know the story, here is the gist: Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) guides the nearly bankrupt A’s from the bottom of the standings to within a game of the American League Championship Series, on a shoe string budget, and forever changes baseball by using data analytics instead of “traditional scouting” to build a roster and maximize talent on the field.
However, of all Billy’s great lines in the film, my favorite is something I picked up from a keynote Beane did a couple years ago.
“Making a decision without data and information is like running through a room in the dark not knowing where the furniture is.”
When it comes to hiring top talent, we don’t have mounds of statistics to reference or mathematical equations to show a candidate’s production in different situations. Most hiring managers are left in the dark to mull over the decision based on what the candidate told them and what the resume says.
I’d venture to say everyone who has hired based on the “eye test” and gut feeling has been let down more than once. I know I have, but when we use scientific behavioral data in the decision; we remove biases, eliminate the guess work and filter for candidates that are the right fit for the team before we put them on the field.
You are likely selling every day on the value and importance of intelligent solutions, advanced analytics and using actionable data to make decisions. Why not give yourself the best chance to win by turning the lights on and applying “people data” to the most critical choices your team is making: who to add to your roster.
This challenge is what prompted us to become a certified partner of The Predictive Index®. If you have been stumbling in the dark and want to learn more about how data can help you make better hiring decisions, Click Here.
SPOILER ALERT: Two years after the A’s run and record breaking 20-game win streak, the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years by applying the exact same methods to build their own championship team.
