01 May Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done
Metrics, Analysis, Quantifiable Results.
You hear a lot about “analytics” in sports these days – particularly in baseball; and it isn’t always in a positive manner. Why? Because the application of the em pirical data seems to be stripping the game of the decisions that are based on a feeling, rooted in experience and having ‘been in this situation before’. You hear about how a game isn’t just being managed from the dugout, but also actively from the front office.
They always say that numbers don’t lie. Which is true. Calculations and formulas are absolute.
But when you apply them to human performance, where variables such as psychology, the situational energy, and the talent of the competing athletes are what will determine the outcome, numbers become significantly less absolute about how things will go.
This is seen every year during the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament. If everything went according to the numbers, the higher-seeded teams would always win and once the #1 seeded teams all made it to the Final Four, the next set of team-comparing data would clearly tell you who would ultimately win the National Championship.
Is this the way it happens? Of course not.
The point here is don’t get bogged down by analysis. If you have ‘experiential data’ to apply to a situation, then go with it. In the end, it’s all about making things happen and getting things done.
— Brian Hoek
