INTERVIEW | Make Money: Build a Five-Tool Team to Make Better Decisions with Dr. Ricardo Valerdi
Dr. Ricardo Valerdi is an engineer, social entrepreneur, sports scientist, and engineering professor at the University of Arizona who specializes in helping teams think clearly and make better decisions. His work has helped organizations including SpaceX, the U.S. Army, Major League Baseball, and the NCAA, while his nonprofit, Science of Sport, has used sports to teach STEM concepts to more than 700,000 students. He’s also the author of The Five Tool Team, a practical framework for building teams that make smarter, more confident decisions.
On this episode we talk about:
How sports and data-driven decision-making can work together to create better outcomes
Using baseball to teach kids math, science, and the importance of understanding data
How confirmation bias and personal preferences can lead to poor financial and business decisions
Why you should focus on controlling your decisions rather than the outcomes you can't control
The “Five Tool Team” framework and why the best decision-making teams combine people with different strengths
Top 3 Takeaways
Don't let desire create blind spots. Whether you're choosing a baseball player or making a business decision, personal preferences can cause you to focus only on information that supports what you already want. Look at the full set of data before making the decision.
Control the controllables. You can't control every outcome, but you can control the quality of your decisions and the actions you take. Focus on what you can influence and accept that luck and circumstances will always play a role.
Build teams that complement your weaknesses. You don't have to possess every skill required to make great decisions. Ricardo's Five Tool Team framework—focus, look, analyze, scrutinize, and humanize—emphasizes bringing together people whose strengths fill the gaps in your own abilities.
Notable Quotes
"Desire creates blind spots."
"Ultimately what changes your life is the decisions that you make with the card that you are dealt."
"If you do that one thing the best than anybody else can do it, you can hit a grand slam."
Connect with Dr. Ricardo Valerdi:
Website: RicardoValerdi.com
Book: The Five Tool Team
Other: Science of Sport
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