Success, Calcanis, and Small Ball

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I love manufactured runs in baseball. I'm fascinated by the discipline and teamwork it takes to produce them. Small ball requires smart base running, outstanding timing, and an understanding of the game that is, quite frankly, astounding.

As a culture, however, I think we've lost interest in small ball. We like home runs, we like the three point shot, we like the 80 yard touchdown pass and the heroic individual effort Yes, those are all great things; the problem is, they're often unsustainable. What happens when LeBron has an off-night? What happens when a product that is supposed to be a wild success tanks?Apple, for example, can't release a new, revolutionary product every year. They hit a home run once every several years then build on that success with doubles and singles.

We're often not patient enough to succeed through doubles and singles. Recently, Jason Calacanis announced(It's a fascinating post, take some time to read it) that he was shutting down his podcast network. His contention was that the podcasting industry can only work under a certain set of circumstances and, though the network wasn't losing money, it was not the "breakout success" that he was looking for. That's fine. Podcasting wasn't the right business for him. Calacanis' goal is to make money: thisweekin.com wasn't doing it.

Too often, we fall in love with home runs and epic collapses. We are a hit driven society. if you're not doing it fast, don’t bother. If you can't be the first to the moon, skip it. If you can’t publish the story first, you have nothing to say.

There's not anything wrong with Calacanis' approach. We wouldn't have a lot of the great products we have today if it weren't for people like him. But not everyone can or should work that way. Sometimes it's enough to earn a salary and pay your bills. And sometimes "success" isn't something we find at work.