Metaphors

Illustrating the importance of data and analytics

There may be no more poignant metaphors about data and analytics than Moneyball (book or movie) and Trouble With The Curve. The following quotes and their corresponding film clips speak volumes about the lifeblood of your organization.

Moneyball Metaphor

The story of the Oakland A’s and their integration of analytics into their recruiting strategy illustrates the important role that data and analytics play in the success of an organization. Organizations who do not embrace data-driven decision making and do not utilize the wealth of knowledge gained from analytics are losing an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage. The Moneyball metaphor is one that Competitive Analytics uses often to “hit home” on the necessity of using analytics to maximize profits and enhance performance.

“Anybody who’s not tearing down their team right now and rebuilding it using [analytics] . . . they’re dinosaurs..”

John Henry, Owner, Boston Red Sox

“It’s about getting things down to one number, using stats the way we read them, we’ll find value nobody else can see.”

Peter Brand (Paul DePodesta), Assistant to General Manager, Oakland A’s

Trouble With The Curve - The “Anti-Moneyball” Metaphor

A certain level of intuition and creative analysis must be integrated in the business intelligence process. Trouble With The Curve, the “anti-moneyball” movie, explores the necessity of utilizing an industry veteran’s gut feelings and experience to make business decisions. In today’s competitive landscape, an executive must combine both Moneyball tactics and intuition to reach an optimized, effective business decision.

“Pete, scouts, good scouts, they’re the heart of this game. They decide who’s going to play and if they’re lucky they decide how he’s going to be played. But a computer, that can’t tell if a kid’s got instincts or not, or if he can hit a cut off man or hit behind the runner or look in a kid’s face that’s just gone 0 for 4 and know if he’s going to be able to come back the next night like nothing’s happened. No a computer can’t tell you all that crap”

Gus Lobel (Clint Eastwood), Baseball Scout for the Atlanta Braves