With the “new look” Boston Red Sox off to a fast start to the 2013 baseball season, and in anticipation of Opening Day at Fenway Park, I was reminded of a Kalido blog article with a great baseball analogy that has stuck with me, which nicely compliments some good Marketing advice from a colleague of mine.
Steve Dalkowski. Source: SportsHollywood.com
Writing for the Kalido blog, Mike Wheeler introduced Steve Dalkowski, probably the fastest pitcher in baseball history, whose fastball was routinely well over 100MPH, with top speed estimates as high as 125MPH. Dalkowski struck out 1,396 batters in just 995 minor league games during the late 50′s and early 60′s.
Unfortunately, Dalkowski’s incredible fastball was also incredibly unpredictable: He also walked 1,354 batters and won only 46 of the 236 games he started.
Mike Wheeler’s well-taken point was that focusing on raw speed at the expense of reliability is unwise and self-defeating, whether you’re talking about a super-fast pitcher with no control, or super-fast data delivery without the controls of (Kalido) data governance.
But there’s much more to Steve Dalkowski’s story – with a related Marketing lesson as well.
Posted by Mike Urbonas 
Sherlock Holmes turned 125 years old last year, and he’s never been more alive and well. The world seems more captivated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s legendary London detective than ever before. Much of this excitement has been driven recently by the smash BBC One TV series Sherlock, drawing rave reviews for its update of Holmes and Dr. Watson as present-day Londoners fighting 21st-century crime. (Similarly, the U.S. version of the series, Elementary, is also a major new hit.)
Onward: How Starbucks Fought for its Life Without Losing its Soul (2010). Schultz compellingly conveys his dedication and passion for the company and, of course, great coffee. Returning in January 2008 as Starbucks’ ceo (Starbucks uses lower case for all company titles), Schultz would save the company from its doldrums and rekindle long-lasting success, soundly refuting critics who had proclaimed Starbucks’ best days were behind it.
