CarusoBlog

Buy Bonds or Read Moneyball

Composed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada--

Now that Barry Bonds has done the deed, baseball afficionados can focus on something else for a while.  I'm not a big fan of the sport, but I played a lot shortstop and second base in my life, so I enjoy the game and certainly appreciate its finer points.

I thought I knew baseball pretty well until I read Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael M. Lewis.  Ultimately, this is a biography of Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland Athletics.  Beane has almost single handedly changed how people think about baseball.

Beane taught the world to think about the process of winning rather than just the outcome.  Baseball brains used to care deeply about home runs.  Now they are enamored with on-base percentage (OBP).  Mathematically speaking, OBP is roughly three times more important than slugging percentage.  OBP is even more important than runs scored, if you can believe that.

Beane and company are big on research.  When the A's Assistant General Manager Paul DePodesta started bringing his laptop computer to meetings, coaches and scouts became extremely nervous.  Apparently, the computer  rarely lies and has become a dependable tool for making a variety of important decisions. 

For example, it almost never works out when a baseball player is signed right out of high school.  The kid has not matured physically, mentally, emotionally or psychologically so he can rarely deliver on the adults' expectations. 

My favorite quote from the book:  What begins as a failure of the imagination, ends as a marketing efficiency.  Also:  An explanation is where the mind comes to rest.

I deliver a lot of sales training and I see a corollary in the business world.  So many business owners and sales managers are more interested in the outcome of a sales campaign than the process.  Let's use a baseball analogy to drive home (drive home, get it?) my point.   

In business, we're interested in how many "runs are scored," but if we put our attention toward "moving men around the bases," we will "score runs."

Meet Palm Springs' Newest Celebrity

Composed in Palm Springs, California--

I'm in the desert city of Palm Springs to deliver a keynote speech at a convention.  I've climbed rock at nearby Joshua Tree National Park, but have never experienced this unusual American city.  Palm Springs has become famous as a mecca for old-school celebrities such as Liberace, Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. 

I like to exercise in the morning so today I decided to beat the heat by running early.  I stepped out the front door of the Hyatt Hotel and was bent over to stretch my hamstrings when I heard someone approaching me. 

I looked up to see a gaunt woman speed walking past.  She looked tan and fit, but she was incredibly skinny and get this-- she was carrying a purse.  Nobody carries a purse when they are exercising.  Turns out the woman is Darlene Rockey, one of the Palm Spring's newest celebrities. 

In the old days, Palm Springs celebrities were famous for their acting skills and singing abilities.  Rockey may possess such talents, but she's famous because of her illness and her extreme behavior.  Darlene Rockey is anorexic.

Ms. Rockey carries a purse when she exercises because she walks 20 miles a day, which takes most of the morning.  She was on Dr. Phil a while back and she has had extensive media coverage.  It's not as much fun meeting people who are famous for being sick, is it?

I've Hired An Assistant to Help Host My Leadership Retreat

Posted from Oxnard, California--

I need help hosting a leadership retreat at my home September 18 and 19. 

My guests are expecting a lot of personal attention from me.  I've even promised to cook them dinner on one of the nights.  Yikes!  Realizing that I can't pull this off alone, I've searched high and low for a personal assistant to help save the day.  Mission accomplished!

I looked for someone who was loyal to the cause and someone who would be friendly to guests.  The best kind of hostess is selfless and has the innate ability to make people smile and forget about their problems.  I have found the perfect assistant.  Her name is Barbie.  She's a deer-head chihauhaua and she's perfect for the job at hand.

When Barbie greets you, I promise you'll forget about all your worldly problems.  Relaxation and a comfortable learning environment are the keys to an excellent business retreat.  You'll get to meet Barbie at my leadership retreat in the fall!

We See Things As We Are

Posted from Royal Oak, Michigan--

I've been collecting quotations for some time now. 

My favorite quotes can be famous words from well-known people, but just as often, the memorable line originates from an obscure or ordinary person.  Here's a quotation that recently captured my attention:

“We see things not as they are, but as we are.”

  --H.M. Tomlinson

I don't know if H.M. is a man or a woman, which makes him/her obscure in my book.  In any case, Tomlinson is right on.  This idea has huge ramifications when relating to people, selling, raising children and talking our parents.

Recently, I traveled to Chicago to help a client deliver a sales training program to his team.  Part of the message was how to facilitate something called "planned giving."  Planned giving is the idea of creating an organic legacy by contributing money to a good cause so that people will remember you in that way. 

This type of dialog usually takes place between financial planners and senior citizens, but some of us have to speak to our parents on the subject.  David Solie, in his book, Saying It To Seniors, makes the case that people who are not senior citizens have no idea what it's like to be that old.

We pretend to relate to these nice people, but at the end of the day, we see them as we are, rather than as they are.  This false perspective often leads to miscommunication and misunderstandings.

Taking the broader view and being open to other perspectives takes more time and energy, but it usually produces a more accurate assessment of what's really happening.