How Great Teams Make Decisions with Ricardo Valerdi

How Great Teams Make Decisions with Ricardo Valerdi

Welcome to the What's Next! Podcast with Tiffani Bova. 

My guest this week is Dr. Ricardo Valerdi. Ricardo has studied decision-making in some of very unique environments, from SpaceX and the U.S. Army to Major League Baseball and the NCAA. Ricardo is an engineer and a sports scientist professor at the University of Arizona, social entrepreneur, and author of the new book, The Five Tooled Team. His work challenges the idea that great decisions come from one brilliant leader and instead asks us to think about decision-making as a team capacity, something that can actually be designed, practiced and improved.

 

THIS EPISODE IS PERFECT FOR…leaders, managers, and teams looking to make better decisions, build stronger decision-making processes, and create space for diverse perspectives.

 

TODAY'S MAIN MESSAGE…we often think great decisions come down to having the smartest person, the most data, or the best technology in the room. Ricardo makes the case that it's really about having a good process and creating space for people to challenge assumptions, bring different perspectives, and ask better questions. In this conversation, he explains why leaders need to know which decisions deserve deep analysis and which ones can simply be made and adjusted along the way.

 

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Great decisions can still lead to bad outcomes. It's best to focus on the quality of the decision-making process.
• The smartest person in the room can sometimes make a team less curious and less willing to challenge assumptions.
• Most decisions are reversible, so they don't need the same time and energy as truly irreversible decisions.
• Strong teams align around the "why" while giving people flexibility in how they get there.

 

WHAT I LOVE MOST…better decision-making isn't about having all the answers. It's about asking better questions, listening to people who see things differently, and being willing to say, "I may be wrong."

 

Running Time: 28:20

 

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Find Ricardo Online:

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Ricardo's Book:

The Five-Tool Team: Bringing Out the Best in People to Make Better Decisions