#323: Calling balls and strikes
There is a strike zone defined for a reason, why is it okay for an umpire to ignore it? What baseball, the Trump indictment, and your business decisions have in common.
For those that don’t follow baseball, the 97 in the picture below is where the ball is, clearly way out of the strike zone. However, this umpire is ‘ringing the batter up’ in an apparent miscarriage of justice. The batter must walk back to the dugout, head down, and bite his tongue. Should he choose to argue and debate his case with the umpire, he can be thrown out of the game, and most often is.
It’s baseball, they say. Part of the game, they say. Human error and all that other BS.
This is one of the most infuriating things about baseball in today’s game. There is a technology that can be 100% accurate, and the average accuracy for an MLB Umpire is only 92%. That means we allow umpires to make over 20 mistakes per game.
Compare the reaction of the fans now. The Blue team will smile, take their out, and move on to the next inning. The White team just lost an out, and there are only 27 of those in a game! However, when it happens in their favor the next inning, they forget about it and say that the umpire is just evening the score.
Equal Justice Under the Law
Last week’s Department of Justice (DOJ) decision to indict former President Trump resembles baseball’s strike zone.
In the Trump case, the DOJ is an umpire calling balls and strikes. We have a red-and-blue team that is either applauding or debating the call. Technology shows that the same referee made different calls under similar circumstances. We call that technology history in this case.
But just like baseball, something other than facts comes into the decision-making process. Subjectivity, nuance, personality, and many other intangible factors are used to apply the rules. I don’t want to mix metaphors, but Michael Jordan never seemed to get called for traveling, but Isaiah Thomas (Detroit Pistons great) often was! Was it because Michael Jordan was more loved? Detroit as a city less important?
We are redefining what fair and equal justice means as we go along based on personal details. And that is not equal justice.
Leadership lesson
Are you calling balls and strikes in your organization fairly? Or are you using subjective feelings to make your decisions?
What are the losers saying as you make those decisions? Are they screaming and debating that you unfairly treat one team better than the others? Are you giving those teams a make-up call on the next decision you have to make?
How can you avoid the subjectiveness used in decision-making?
This is one of the most simple yet hard-to-apply rules out there. Before you decide whether there will be a winner or a loser, make sure there are clear rules and expectations. Let’s say that you want to kick off one new project, and you have stated that the only thing that matters is the return on investment (ROI).
If Team A has a forecasted ROI of 20%, while Team B has a 15% projection, you must choose Team A to maintain your credibility. If Team B has provided other important information, such as a more significant market opportunity, your strike zone is changing. Your goalposts are moving. But to be ‘fair,’ you must choose Team A’s project. The next time you kick off a project you can add new criteria, but you need to make it clear to both teams why Team A’s project was picked.
Back to baseball
We have known for years that some umpires favored wider or higher strike zones, and we were forced to live with it. But that all became debatable in 1985 when NBC showed us the first virtual strike zone. Over time, we began to trust the box more than the umpire, and eventually, we will have robots calling balls and strikes. Why? Because we lost trust in the judge and jury in this case.
When you have players making millions of dollars a year and teams valued in the billions, you want an equal application of the rules.
Now to politics
Years ago, when we had only three news networks, we could only consume what we were being shown on TV. We had to have trust in the system and that there was an overall equally applied justice system. Today, with 24-hour news cycles, and hundreds of credible sources on the Internet, we are seeing the new virtual strike zone. And we are losing trust in the institutions that call the balls and strikes.
When you have a government that spends trillions of dollars, you want an equal application of justice so the voters are treated with the respect they deserve. Else, they lose trust, and the entire system breaks down.
And your business
You must maintain your credibility as your strike zone changes and goalposts move. You must not look like you favor one side over the other; transparency in your decision-making is essential.
Maintaining an equal justice or opportunity system means that as the variables change, you must also. Otherwise, your followers will lose the trust you so desperately need to lead your team into the future.
Your business may not be measured in billions or trillions, but your integrity is priceless. When you have rules and expectations, you must apply them equally, or your team breaks down.