Elearning! Magazine: Building Smarter Companies via Learning & Workplace Technologies.
Page 7 of 52
Editor'sNote Is Data Your 'Moneyball'?
LEARNING LESSONS FROM HOLLYWOOD AND AN UPSTART MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL MANAGER
I
f you haven't seen the Academy Award-nominated motion picture "Moneyball" and you are a learning leader, you should see it. Its premise is about how a low-budget Oakland baseball team that did not have the talent (or purse) attempted to field a World Series team.
Enter the "Big Data" analyst who has collected data across the field of available players (played by
Academy Award nominee Jonah Hill). He sells the concept of buying players who get on base most, no matter their position, age or flaws. The analyst effectively sells the concept to Billy Beane, general man- ager of Oakland A's (played by another Oscar nominee, Brad Pitt, who also co-produced the film). Guess what? It worked! That Oakland team made the playoffs and went to the World Series. Bean's approach was an offshoot of the original "big data" concept embraced by "Sabermetrics,"
which many Major League teams use today. The goal of this type of analysis is to determine the value of a player or team in current or past seasons and to predict the value of a player or team in the future. Many areas of study are still in development, specifically in the area of performance measurement. What does this have to do with learning? In this issue of Elearning!, we see how the big-budget teams like Proctor & Gamble are leveraging big
data and digitizing their enterprises. >> Beginning on page 16, read what P&G; CEO Robert McDonald says about how he wins market share, launches new products, and recruits talent — all armed with this digital data.
>> Then, read how Patti and Jack Phillips of the ROI Institute think we should be collecting data on outcomes of learning investments and measuring business impact. That article begins on page 21.
>> Finally, on page 31, three CEOs of learning technology companies share how today's learning and talent systems are the repository of "talent data."
If you take the lead from "Moneyball," you may have access to the data that will take your team from
the basement to World Series. We want to hear from you. Email your thoughts, comments and sugges- tions to editor@2elearning.com. —Jerry Roche, editorial director
Elearning! March / Aoril 2012 7
