The Decision Intelligence Handbook

Chapter 3. Decision Modeling: The Decision Design Process

Moneyball, the 2011 movie adapted from Michael Lewis’s book, tells the story of the struggling Oakland A’s baseball team. In the film, coach Billy Beane (played by Brad Pitt) tries something radical: using statistics to decide what players to recruit. Beane faces massive opposition but ultimately succeeds, bringing the A’s to the playoffs two years in a row on a much lower player budget than other teams.

Thanks to the film’s success, you might have heard this story before. What you’re less likely to know about is how our friend Dr. Erik Korem, a sports scientist, has done much the same for US football. Korem, in his role as director of Sports Science and Football Operations at Florida State University, equipped his football players with GPS and measurement devices to generate data on their movements. He used these statistics to optimize the game and bring his team back to the top of their division, winning the Atlantic Coast Conference and an Orange Bowl championship.

Later, after being selected as a Presidential Leader Scholar, Korem transferred his collegiate sports experience to helping anyone with a wearable device enhance their mental and physical fitness. He founded a startup, envisioning a wellness app called AIM7 that would make daily recommendations to its users designed to help them achieve their goals.

As he was launching AIM7, Korem discovered coauthor Pratt’s book Link at the library. He reached out to us to ...