How Not to Run an Organization.

So when Brian Cashman was looking to replace Joe Girardi, who never did anything but win, he put all the managerial candidates through a test.  He gave them the Yankees' roster, with names removed but all the numbers included, and asked them to make up a lineup for a theoretical game.

The guy who did it the best—or rather, the guy who matched up best with how Cashman would've chosen that lineup?  Aaron Boone.

"He got 'em all right!"  exulted Cashman, like a father kvelling over a son who had just aced the SATs.

Because, of course, that's what you want:  everyone in your organization thinking alike, in lockstep with a philosophy devised by individuals who, almost to a man, never played the game.

No creative tension.  No challenging input.  Just someone who is a mental extension of yourself in the dugout.

I don't want to blame yet another Yankees meltdown on Boone, who seems to be a good clubhouse manager, which is often more important than being a great field manager.

But hiring people who think just like you—or, more likely, simply have sussed out exactly how you think—is not the way you ever get better, it's not the way you ever think out of the box when things go wrong.