Moneyball Pt. 2: How to Lead with Data and Heart
Billy Beane’s leadership story in Moneyball teaches us that real transformation isn’t just about numbers — it’s about aligning people to a bold new vision. Brian Nutwell and Drew Paroz explore how leaders thrive by balancing strategy and empathy.
🌟 Key Takeaways:
🔹 Vision is recontextualizing the problem to find innovative strategies.
🔹 Compassion builds trust to implement those strategies effectively.
🔹 Leading at the edges means connecting vision with ground-level reality — without micromanaging.
🧠 Memorable Quotes:
🔹 "Zero percent of the time does a revolution work seamlessly from day zero."
🔹 "Align the dreams top to bottom in the organization, or it’s not going to work."
⚡ Actionable Insights:
🔹 Don’t just create a vision — spend time aligning the people who bring it to life.
🔹 Expect failure early; stay committed but adapt with empathy.
🔹 Great leadership means being visionary and grounded — every day.
🎯 WonderTour Challenge:
Audit your leadership: Are you spending enough time both zoomed out (strategy) and zoomed in (people)? Pick one small adjustment to better balance both this week.
🌟 Key Takeaways:
🔹 Vision is recontextualizing the problem to find innovative strategies.
🔹 Compassion builds trust to implement those strategies effectively.
🔹 Leading at the edges means connecting vision with ground-level reality — without micromanaging.
🧠 Memorable Quotes:
🔹 "Zero percent of the time does a revolution work seamlessly from day zero."
🔹 "Align the dreams top to bottom in the organization, or it’s not going to work."
⚡ Actionable Insights:
🔹 Don’t just create a vision — spend time aligning the people who bring it to life.
🔹 Expect failure early; stay committed but adapt with empathy.
🔹 Great leadership means being visionary and grounded — every day.
🎯 WonderTour Challenge:
Audit your leadership: Are you spending enough time both zoomed out (strategy) and zoomed in (people)? Pick one small adjustment to better balance both this week.
Creators and Guests
Host
Brian Nutwell
Brian Nutwell is an experienced product, process, and analysis leader. He loves connecting with other people and their passions, taking absolutely everything back to first principles, and waking up each day with the hope of learning something new. He is delighted to join Wonder Tour, to help discover pragmatic leadership lessons in our favorite mythic stories.
Host
Drew Paroz
Drew Paroz leads at the intersection point of people, data, and strategy. For Drew, nothing is better than breaking down problems and systems into building blocks of thought except using those blocks to synthesize fresh models. Drew is on a lifelong Wonder Tour to help take those building blocks into life change in himself and others.
