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What does it take to lead when the stakes are literally life and death?
In this episode, Vijay and Mike sit down with Dr. Rich Staats — retired U.S. Army Major General, MIT Operations Research PhD, Hertz Fellow, and former Commanding General of the U.S. Army Reserve's 75th Innovation Command. Rich shares the three leadership principles he published in every command he held, the story of dining across the table from a man who threatened to kill him — and the one sentence that defused it — and why operations research sat at the center of every decision in his 41-year career. The conversation covers how much data a leader really needs, his "law of risk", lessons from running MITRE's OR department on briefing senior decision makers, and a candid take on generative AI: where it genuinely helps, and why he worries young analysts are losing their analytic muscle memory.
Timestamps
0:00 - Preview
0:47 - Meet Dr. Rich Staats
2:00 - How Rich and Mike met at an INFORMS conference
3:05 - What ties a career across combat, think tanks, and startups together
8:25 - "If it hadn't been for the war, we'd have retired several ranks earlier"
11:03 - The Iraq dinner story: "I could just kill you now"
14:14 - Double down on strengths or fix your weaknesses?
15:50 - Innovation in the military & the 75th Innovation Command
19:43 - OR at the center of 41 years of decisions
22:30 - How often did he actually build a model?
24:06 - The Red Pen Award: rewarding the best mistakes
25:23 - How much data do you need? The 80/20 lesson
28:10 - Advising senior executives: decision space, ranges, and the ORmadillos
32:40 - Generative AI: biggest hopes and red flags
37:30 - IP ownership and liability: the next 15–20 year challenge
38:58 - Where to find Rich
What You'll Learn
- The three leadership principles (Perrin, Stafford, Peterson) that work in combat units, think tanks, and startups alike
- Why respect and relationships (not command-and-control) kept Rich alive in Iraq
- How an OR mindset can shrink 2-hour meetings to 15 minutes
- How much data you actually need before deciding and why waiting for certainty is its own risk
- How to brief analysis to senior senior decision makers: decision space, ranges, and the value of information
- Where generative AI helps and how it can quietly erode analytic "muscle memory" and creativity
Follow the show
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/in/podcast/the-decision-intelligence-lab/id1811085064
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0lFoAVKqJHTYSZNpeN61ou?si=0ae973aab0174b3b
Connect with guest
- Rich's Website: https://zhalindor.com/
- Rich's Music: https://zhalindor.com/dreams
- Rich's Books: https://zhalindor.com/books
Connect with hosts
- Prof. Vijay Mehrotra (University of San Francisco): https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijay-mehrotra-ba9498/
- Prof. Michael Watson (Northwestern University): https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-watson-07600a1
About the podcast
The Decision Intelligence Lab podcast delivers real-world insights for data professionals, business leaders, and anyone seeking to leverage data & AI for smarter decision-making & successful business outcomes.
For business inquiries, email at decisionintelligencepodcast@gmail.com
