"If he got in trouble in the ninth or got a
baserunner, we were going to bring our closer in. That's what we've done all
year." – Matt Williams, National manager
On Saturday
night, the Nationals were one out away from tying up its National League
Division Series against the Giants at one game apiece. On the mound, the Nats had their best
pitcher in a groove that pitchers dream about. He had not given up a hit in six
innings. The start prior, he went the full nine without giving up a hit.
The Nats lost
the game because Matt Williams stuck to his plan.
With two outs in
the ninth, Jordan Zimmermann walked a batter. As you see from the quote above, Williams had his mind made up. Regardless of circumstances or variables, Williams was going to pull his starter if a runner reached base. Why? Because,
“That’s what we’ve done all year.”
That one
statement perfectly encapsulated why Matt Williams is not a good baseball manager.
Those are the words you never want to hear from a manager in any walk of life.
Watching the Nats
for the 2014 season made one thing very clear: Williams was the Nationals’ biggest
liability. He made questionable decisions, particularly with the bullpen,
all year long. The Nats’ incredibly talented lineup and pitching staff turned Williams
into nothing more than a chauffeur for the second half of the season. He just
needed to get out of the way.
But come October
in baseball, the manager is a difference maker. More than any other sport,
the manager in baseball has a distinct impact on the game with specific moves.
For two games, Williams has been severely out-managed by the Giants skipper,
Bruce Bochy, who not coincidentally has two World Series rings.
Williams’
insistence on doing what has worked in the past made me think of my
professional career and the difference between good managers and bad managers.
There are many different managerial styles for employees. It’s impossible to
say what works and what doesn’t work with any certainty because there are so
many variables to the manager/employee relationship. Some employees need the
stick – others needs the carrot.
However, there is
one trait that is universal to poor managers: they do not adapt. Matt Williams
embodied that on Saturday night.
Whether I’m
searching for a new job, starting a new one, or working with new vendors, I
will invariably ask, “Why?” Why do we this that way? Why are we going in this
direction? I need to hear a reason. I may not agree with the reason but I want
to know the thought process behind a decision.
“That’s the way we’ve
always done it,” makes me cringe. I have heard it far too often in my professional
life. Simply put, it is the worst possible answer you can give to explain a
business decision.
That answer will
get your business in trouble. If you think about the companies and industries
that have failed, it is usually their insistence on the status quo. Blackberry
did the same thing for years, until its market share was swallowed whole. Fox
kept relying on American Idol to drive ratings until the show had nothing left
to give and the network now languishes
in fourth place. The American auto
industry was on the brink of ruin by failing to innovate. I’m sure you have
your own example at the top of mind right now.
Please do not misinterpret
– what was worked in the past can certainly continue to work in the future. But
there must be a better reason to continue to doing so beyond past success. Our
world is changing far too fast to be beholden to what worked last year, last month or even
last week.
Two weeks ago,
someone asked me a question about our website.
I almost responded with, “Because that’s the way it’s always been,” before
stopping, feeling embarrassed and answering with, “I don’t know, let me find
out.” I found out. It wasn’t a good reason. We will be changing it.
Sure, it would
have been easier to succumb to the status quo, especially for a page that
accounts for such a minute percentage of our traffic. The path to success is
rarely the easier one.
On Saturday, Matt
Williams exemplified the fallacy of falling back on past successes. If you
cannot adapt to new situations, you will fail. That’s what poor managers do.
And that’s why I was a very unhappy person just past midnight Sunday morning.
Follow me on Twitter
Comments
Post a Comment