The bad old habit, yeah! think, rethink, decide, do it, over and over again.

Stop! Have you ever thought of taking this practice a step ahead?!

I have collected two great examples for us to think about today. Ready to think? let’s do it together.

The first shot is “Moneyball” trailer. The movie is focused on “Oakland A’s general manager… challenges the system and defies conventional wisdom when his is forced to rebuild his small-market team on a limited budget. Despite opposition from the old guard, the media, fans and their own field manager… forever changes the way the game is played”.

The main lesson from this movie, in my opinion, is to think differently on something  which is already well defined and learned…

The traditional thinking is being challenged here, and by using stats and analyses, the GM turns to do the smartest things in order to win the big players game.

The second shot is from “Draft day“, “a life-changing day for a few hundred young men with dreams of playing in the NFL, general manager Sonny Weaver goes against advice making a series of risky, unexpected maneuvers to save his team”.
The movie, similarly to the one above, deals with a day of shaking the national football league foundations, when the manager, who appears to be working under extreme pressure, makes so-called “risky” decisions, based on research and planning.

I would like to take these two example, and kindly ask you my readers, to apply a different view in your day-to-day work.

Are you required to report on sales? Plan the budget for next year? Initiate a new program? Monitor and improve processes?
Please, use the numbers. Use them because they are so easy to reach. They are there, waiting for you to put in an Excel sheet or any other package you use… and finally – to use them smartly.

What do I mean by that? I have encountered many managers who knew how to produce stats, but did not know to pick out the wheat from the chaff.
Focus on your goal, and extract the number that enable you to decide smartly. How to focus on your goal? Right on my next post (-:

In short:
There are numbers, which may help you to decide smartly and differently. Use them!

P.S. Do not forget to watch the full movies, if you haven’t yet.