MLB teams are typically optimistic about their prospects for winning in the upcoming season, and often such optimism is warranted. In the last four seasons (2022-2025), since MLB expanded its playoffs to 12 teams, 23 of the 48 teams making the playoffs did not make the playoffs in the previous year. Since teams can improve their competitiveness year over year, so can businesses and organizations.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have the highest payroll and best talent in baseball and have won the last two World Series championships. However, last season, five teams (Seattle Mariners, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds, and Cleveland Guardians) that at the start of the season ranked in the lower half of the team payroll rankings made the playoffs. Additionally, the Milwaukee Brewers had the best record in the National League with the 23rd highest payroll out of 30 teams in MLB, while the Cleveland Guardians won its second consecutive division title with the 25th highest payroll. So, it is more than just having the best talent. Let’s look at the other reasons teams improve that you can use in your business, starting with the “4 C’s:”
- Continuous Improvement: If you do not necessarily have the best talent, it is important to get the most out of that talent by focusing on continuous improvement, particularly on what we consider the “fundamentals.” The baseball teams that improve work both during Spring Training and the regular season on things like fielding, baserunning, relay throws, covering bases, and backing up bases and other fielders. In business, it means training your people to make your processes efficient, your customer service impeccable, and your sales pitches compelling.
- Consistent Culture: You may have heard the phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” meaning that your organizational culture is more important than your strategy or tactics. This particularly holds true during the long baseball regular season of 162 games. The teams that win are usually the ones with the best cultures that remain consistent during the year and across multiple years. The Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers are shining examples of teams that have succeeded in large part due to their cultures that allow their players to flourish. As a business leader, it is important to develop a culture that motivates people to do their best and be loyal to your organization.
- Combination of Analytics and Traditional Techniques: Ever since the publication of Michael Lewis’ bestseller, “Moneyball,” we have seen more MLB organizations use analytics to help drive their selection of players for their teams and strategies and tactics that will hopefully lead to more wins. However, it is the teams that combine analytics with traditional scouting and game planning who seem to do the best. As businesses, we will do our best by increasing our use of data analytics, but not to replace traditional techniques, but to augment them.
- Collaboration: While baseball is seen as more of an individual sport than football and basketball, as individual hitting, pitching, and fielding are all important, playing as a team is critical to winning. Particularly on defense, when it comes to backing up your teammates, cutting off throws, and covering bases, working together is a necessity. As businesses, we need to create a collaborative environment. Even in sales, where commissions are often individually based, we need to provide incentives for salespeople to share techniques and help those they work with (see mentoring section below). It is also critical for businesspeople in different functions to cooperate. For instance, marketing cannot make value propositions to customers without assurances from operations that such propositions are deliverable.
Beyond the 4 C’s, there are two more key lessons we can learn from baseball:
- How to Handle Failure: Baseball players fail more than they succeed. A great hitter in baseball is only successful about 30% of the time. A good pitcher typically gives up 3-4 runs in an average game. Baseball players learn to be resilient and adapt to succeed. Rather than succumb to failure, we need to develop a workforce that continues to work hard and find ways to achieve when things do not go their way.
- Mentoring throughout the Organization: The best organizations in baseball depend not only on their manager and coaches to bring along their younger players, but also use their veteran players to help develop rookies and other youngsters. In business, we should be the same way; while supervisors and other managers hold primary developmental responsibility, more experienced workers play a key role as well.
As the MLB season starts, watch closely to see which teams best embody the 4 C’s and our other two lessons. They are likely on their way to successful seasons. In addition, if you adopt these lessons, hope will not only spring eternal but will also come to fruition.
