Michael Lewis’s bestselling book-turned movie, Moneyball, transcends time and audiences. What on the surface appeared to be a story about an underdog baseball team finding a way to compete against teams with larger payrolls has become a popular and inspirational approach across multiple industries.

Especially in the very public arena of professional sports, valuable lessons learned the hard way carry far greater visibility and credibility. In Moneyball, the Oakland Athletics (the A’s) were forced to find a way to compete against teams bigger, stronger, and richer. They did so first by drawing upon Peter Drucker’s philosophies. The A’s leadership team asked themselves what Drucker refers to as the naive question: If we weren’t already doing it this way, is this the way we would start? That question forced the A’s to think critically about how they defined both value and success. In short, they questioned their approach and the underlying reasons for the norms in their industry.

The A’s re-evaluated what contributed to success and figured out how to measure it. As a result, they established processes for scouting and development, found undervalued assets, and redefined how to build a winning team.

When was the last time you stepped back from your job and asked the naive question? If you weren’t already doing it the way you are, how would you start? Do you do things just because that’s the way they’ve always been done? Are you gathering and evaluating the right data? What does winning look like for your industry, and what would you do to get there if you started over today?

Paul DePodesta, one of the leading characters in the Moneyball story, shares many of his approaches on Open Sesame Plus, including a course that discusses the importance of the naive question, the incredibly valuable decision-making matrix with its very slippery and dangerous quadrant of “Good Outcome, Bad Process” and tips for identifying where your successes fall.

For these and other business insights, check out the continuous drop of new courses by On This Topic, lessons taught by high-achieving individuals in the world of sports.