On October 21st, 2011, Theo Epstein took a job that many of his friends called career suicide. Epstein is the boy genius who guided the Boston Red Sox to their first World Series victory in 86 years. Epstein then chose to take on another colossal challenge by agreeing to become the President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs, who have been on a 108 -year quest to win the World Series. When Epstein was named the new President of Baseball Operations, Cubs fans would stop him on the streets of Chicago delving into conversations such as: “My dad is 87 years old and has been waiting all his life to see the Cubs win a World Series – what should I tell him?” Epstein always had the same reply, “I would say, ‘Tell him to take his vitamins,
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First, they made big goals for the team. Top to bottom from the front office to the team, the Cubs made a commitment to winning a World Series championship. Second was committing to having world – class facilities. The Cubs undertook a $575 million renovation project for Wrigley Field and built new training facilities in Arizona and the Dominican Republic. Third, relates to acquiring talent. After sensing the teams potential, Epstein convinced one of baseball’s best managers, Joe Maddon, and star pitcher, Jon Lester, to join the team. The next action was to build the base. It took patience and persistence and Epstein’s leadership to transform the Cub’s league worst farm system into one of baseball’s best. The emergence of young home – grown stars such as Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Addison Russell helped drive the Cub’s success. Also, the Cub’s front office has more than doubled and hired large numbers of recent college graduates. This front office home – grown talent has also been taught to work in accordance with “The Cubs Way”. Next, are accountability and development. Each employee of the Cubs has firm goals associated with success. The Cubs Way for assessing and increasing personal performance is the same for athletes and professionals. Each Cub has clear development goals and a program to achieve them. The Cubs have a working relationship with Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management to guide organizational learning and development. Last, are baseball and business office alignment. Aligning baseball and business operations is important in achieving superior on – field performance. By managing baseball and business operations “The Cubs Way” helps achieve that objective. Chicago Cubs senior baseball and business executives participate in multi – day Kellogg retreats to help assess progress and fine –
First, they made big goals for the team. Top to bottom from the front office to the team, the Cubs made a commitment to winning a World Series championship. Second was committing to having world – class facilities. The Cubs undertook a $575 million renovation project for Wrigley Field and built new training facilities in Arizona and the Dominican Republic. Third, relates to acquiring talent. After sensing the teams potential, Epstein convinced one of baseball’s best managers, Joe Maddon, and star pitcher, Jon Lester, to join the team. The next action was to build the base. It took patience and persistence and Epstein’s leadership to transform the Cub’s league worst farm system into one of baseball’s best. The emergence of young home – grown stars such as Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant, Kyle Schwarber, and Addison Russell helped drive the Cub’s success. Also, the Cub’s front office has more than doubled and hired large numbers of recent college graduates. This front office home – grown talent has also been taught to work in accordance with “The Cubs Way”. Next, are accountability and development. Each employee of the Cubs has firm goals associated with success. The Cubs Way for assessing and increasing personal performance is the same for athletes and professionals. Each Cub has clear development goals and a program to achieve them. The Cubs have a working relationship with Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management to guide organizational learning and development. Last, are baseball and business office alignment. Aligning baseball and business operations is important in achieving superior on – field performance. By managing baseball and business operations “The Cubs Way” helps achieve that objective. Chicago Cubs senior baseball and business executives participate in multi – day Kellogg retreats to help assess progress and fine –