You can measure success a lot of ways.

Happiness. Family. Money. Fame. Recognition. Just to name a few.

Another way, could be the change you create. That might look a little something like the Oakland Athletics (A’s) and what’s now known as Moneyball.

Baseball is an extremely traditional sport. They didn’t get instant replay until recently.

So, in the early 2000s, when the Oakland A’s began basing every decision on data, they were laughed at. It was highly controversial.

They began hiring data analysts from Wall Street to help them find the edge they needed. Being a low budget team, they were able to level the playing field with deep data insights.

It was the Moneyball era.

Now, some may not call them a success, because they haven’t won a world series since they introduced this concept to the league.

But, the Red Sox and many other teams have.

They started movement in baseball.

Almost 20 years later, teams are hacking other teams’ databases for data and analytical insights.

Success, at least for the A’s, is the fact that baseball is no longer hiring ex-baseball players to run their scouting and front offices. Baseball now hires Ivy League grads to crunch numbers and find the edge.

How far an idea spreads and is adopted can be a great measure of success.