Stats

It’s a good time of year if you like football.  The big bowl games and end of the NFL season provide hours of collision-based fun as well as lots of fodder for the numbers junkies who call sports talk radio every day.  I guess that’s not limited to football since it’s hot stove season in baseball too.  With the Hall of Fame ballots going out, statistics are thrown around like beads at Mardi Gras.  There’s nothing wrong with all these numbers as we discuss sports, just as there isn’t when talking about business.  But they’re far from the entire story and that’s where people get off the track.

Numbers don’t show everything.  In fact, sometimes they can distract you from the real truth.  Want a sports example?  The classic one is Derek Jeter.  Oh sure, his numbers are pretty good and in some seasons they’re extraordinary.  As a die-hard Yankee fan I wouldn’t trade him for anyone but that’s not based on his numbers.  It’s based on his leadership.  It’s based on his character as a person and the example he sets for the rest of the team every day.  It’s based on non-measurable stuff.

Another example.  Chris Drury was selected for the USA Olympic hockey team.  His numbers are so-so and yet when Brian Burke, Team USA’s GM was asked why Drury was a pick when there are so many other forwards with better numbers…

“We picked Chris Drury ’cause he’s Chris Drury,” the U.S. general manager said Friday after the American delegation unveiled its Olympic roster following the Winter Classic at Fenway Park. “We know what he can do. We think he provides essential leadership – he’s as good as another coach in the dressing room as far as what he provides. He was one of the first players we reached out to when we put this team together, so he’s been involved from the get-go.

“I don’t have to say anything else about Chris Drury except that he’s Chris Drury. He represents a lot of things that we need if we’re going to be successful.”

You need to look beyond your numbers sometimes. Your best producer may not be your best leader. Your best client may not be your most important one in terms of helping you grow.  Are you getting beyond the stats?