Hardball: Are You Playing to Play or Playing to Win?

It is important to make a distinction between recreation and competition, both of which can have great value and are most obvious in athletics as well as in the business world. According to Stalk and Lachenauer, "Softball players have no competitive advantage or, if they have one, may not know what it is or may be unable to exploit it. Often softballers can drift along for years, finding ways -- through trade loading, for example, or cost cutting -- to stay afloat from quarter to quarter. A few may seek to disguise their poor performance through activities -- such as creating shell customers -- that are questionable, if not illegal. In the parlance of pitching, such companies are throwing junk." The focus of this book is on winners in business who have always played hardball: those who "use every legitimate resource and strategy available to them to gain advantage over their competitors...[and by doing so] attract more customers, gain market share, boost profits, reward their employees, and weaken their competitors' positions." Hardballers are wholly committed to winning "the game" and do so, key point, by always playing by its "rules." Their goal is always decisive victory so as to sustain dominance. With regard to social responsibility, it is noteworthy that Stalk and Lachenauer quote Milton Friedman's observation that there is "one and only one" in business: "...to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud." In a company playing hardball, it is the leader's main role to keep alive the quest for competitive advantage and engage everyone else in that quest, constantly maintaining total focus on what Stalk and Lachenauer refer to as "the heart of the matter --- a very small set of vital issues whose resolution will determine the future of the organization." Obviously, Stalk and Lachenauer take a no-nonsense approach to playing to win. "Sometimes hardball players have to play a little rough and, when they do, they don't apologize for it." It is important to remember that the hardball perspective includes employees as well as customers, vendors, and service providers as well as competitors. Expectations are high and there is zero-tolerance of anything less than a best effort. When creating discomfort for others, hardballers must be willing and able to tolerate it themselves. They know what it means when claiming "We mean business." They do. Think about the most successful professional teams such as the Boston Celtics, Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Yankees, and Montreal Canadiens. Members of each of their championship teams made all manner of personal sacrifices to achieve their team's success. I recall Jack Dempsey's comment that "champions get up when they can't." The most successful athletic teams are renowned for gaining and then sustaining dominance over an opponent. They work ha

Using baseball vernacular, the authors of this book say that the most successful companies are those that keep their mind on developing strategies that gain them competitive advantage, which in turn will bring them substantial sales margins, above-average profit margins and earnings, lower-than-average debt, higher-than average credit ratings, and most important, leading market share. How can you possibly argue with that. But then they talk about drawing a bright line in what they call the caution zone. That's the point where society clearly says stop: up say, until someone finds you've created a Love Canal; a Bhopal, India gas leak; or of course that lovely morning when the Justice Department's Anti Trust Folk come calling. I could do without the sports comparisons, but the descriptions of the actions of various companies, the anecdotes of success, how the game is played in the major leagues (sorry, I had to) is quite interesting and well worth the low cost of the book. All you need is one or two good ideas to make up your cost and time.

Hardball is a refreshing, unapologetic return to what drives success - strategy. The authors do a great job laying out the precepts and the supporting case histories are clear and compelling. It is a driving read and it rewards rereading.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who is thinking that it's about time! There has been a disturbing trend recently of "soft" management books such as "Who Moved My Cheese?" that artfully avoid the harsh realities of a brutally competitive marketplace. Hardball combines informative vignettes of winning strategies with prescriptive advice for managers in a context that will ring true for anyone who has been following the business press recently. While some may complain that Hardball preaches strategies and tactics that sound distasteful to some, one only need to look as far as respected industry giants such as Wal-Mart and Toyota to find Hardball practitioners. Stalk et al makes it clear that these and other companies got to where they are today by mowing down Softball players. I would recommend this book most to managers who find themselves in companies that consistently play Softball today - companies afraid to target their competitors' profit sanctuaries, companies afraid to respond with overwhelming force - for a harsh dose of reality. I found the book to be both informative and entertaining in this respect.

I absolutely love this book. Recently business bestsellers have been focused on the soft aspects only. This is a necessary, but not sufficient condition. While "Hardball" focus on strategy and tactics to frustrate competitors it acknowledges the importance of empowering employees, delighting customers, and taking care of the ecosystem. While never walking borderline on ethical issues, it challenges companies to go back to the basics of capitalism.