Moneyball – a change in ideas

Moneyball exemplifies the continuous struggle between the old world and the new world, the constant power play of I’m right and you’re wrong.  Billy Beane and Peter Brand’s plan to find overlooked, undervalued baseball players through the use of mathematical equations made no sense to the much older, super power recruiters.

The idea of out with the old and in with the new became a threat for the older recruiters. The idea of using mathematical figures as opposed to the “tried and tested” reliable method of one’s “gut feeling” would put any old world employee at odds with any new comer. Sticking with the old ways of how things are done and not attempting to try something new will always cause conflict. And it’s the struggle of finding something new, attempting to use it, and modifying it that becomes the focal point of any issue.

In times of recession and high unemployment rate, people are scared of losing their jobs. Even when times aren’t tough, a new employee who has some “weird” ideas that are brilliant for the company as a whole, this new person puts everyone else in his or her department on guard. Every move becomes scrutinized; every reason questioned and stomped on. It’s the extinguishing of old “popular ways” that pushes the old world into a web of fear putting them at odds with everything that is different.

The old world is more like the parent and the new world is the teenager rebelling against it. The teenager is more willing to push the boundaries of the old world views. They’re like the pop icons: Elvis Presley and his controversial hip shaking moves in the 50’s and Madonna’s provocative sexual content in the 80’s.  They were the “mavericks” by confronting/enduring the criticism of the social police. Beane and Brand being the teenagers of the recruiting group of the Oakland A’s, they had to take the necessary measures to see their plan through to get their point across – the plan will work.

And it’s any plan that will make or break one’s career. People are told “this is how we do it” or “that’s the way it’s been” and it’s this old way of thinking that potentially keeps businesses afloat just enough to get by or it causes the collapse of the company. New ideas may do either or the idea may propel a company to the top. A word may be worth a thousand pictures but it’s the idea and formula that brings that big picture together that drives this money making, money driven world.