Military Strategies For Dealing With Risk - General Stanley McChrystal - #381

**Chris Williamson** (0:00)
Hello, everyone. welcome back to the show. My guest today is General Stanley McChrystal, and we are talking about the military strategies for dealing with risk. Stanley McChrystal is a retired four-star general, the former commander of the US and International Security Assistance Forces in Afghanistan, a CEO and an author. Risk is a constant throughout life. It's permanently shaping our individual and organisational behaviour, but humans are inherently bad at judging and adapting to risk. After 34 years of dealing with mortal risk in the field of combat, Stanley has a good insight into a better approach. I feel like whenever I speak to people who have really forged their ideas in stressful situations, in really, really intense environments, the difference of insight is pretty palpable. It makes me feel like such an armchair philosopher just sitting back and discussing ideas. When Stanley was trying to coordinate thousands and thousands of troops from 34 nations in Afghanistan and that he was the point man trying to put it all together. Yeah, tons of lessons to take away from today, especially if you're involved in organizing a business or any sort of community. Yeah, there's an awful lot to learn here. Before we get on to other news, me and video guy Dean have been thinking about kickstarting our Patreon, so stay tuned for updates about that. There will be cool, cool things, live streams and Q&As, behind the scenes stuff happening there. So yes, keep your ears peeled. In other news, this episode is brought to you by Pure Sport CBD. Their brand new updated unwind blend is the world's first nootropics infused CBD oil, which is the perfect blend of sleep inducing natural remedies. It'll help you to get to sleep on a night time, stay asleep and wake up feeling more rested and revitalized in the morning. They've also just released their Pure Sport mushroom mind and body blend, which is a powerful invigorating and stimulating blend of six mushrooms that seeks to enhance focus and also aid in relieving stress and anxiety. You might have thought, I really want to start using some nootropics or improve my brain function and brain health, but I don't know where to start and I don't know what blend to use or what dosage or how much at what times. And Pure Sport has taken all the guesswork out of it. You can get 20% off all full priced items by going to puresportcbd.com/modernwisdom and using the code MW20 at checkout. That's puresportcbd.com/modernwisdom and MW20 at checkout. They ship internationally, so no matter where you are, you can get the world's highest quality CBD products direct to your door. In other other news, this episode is brought to you by DW Aligners. You can get the perfect straight smile that you have always dreamed of. 70% cheaper than other invisible align methods in as little as three months. They've just released their night time aligners, which allow you to get straight teeth while you sleep. Maybe you're a food taster and you can't keep your aligners in during the day. This allows you to wear them at night. You take them out during the daytime and you still get the same amazing results that you would do with their day kit. You get appointed a treatment coordinator that helps you every step of the way. It's an easier, quicker and cheaper way to get the smile that you've always dreamed of while still receiving all the support and expertise that you would traditionally, plus they also offer great finance plans. You even get a free premium whitening kit with every plan. So not only do you now have straight teeth, we also have white teeth. Simply head to dwaligners.co.uk/modernwisdom.
You can check out all of the pricing, see how everything works and ask them questions. dwaligners.co.uk/modernwisdom. But now it's time for General Stanley McChrystal.
General Stanley McChrystal, welcome to the show.

**Stanley McChrystal** (4:15)
Well, Chris, thanks for having me. Please call me Stan.

**Chris Williamson** (4:18)
I was gonna say, it's kind of difficult to work out. What does it, calling a four-star general Stan feels oddly informal?

**Stanley McChrystal** (4:26)
I've been called a lot worse, Chris, so Stan would be great.

**Chris Williamson** (4:29)
What does the four stars mean? What does that mean in a general for the non-initiates amongst us?

**Stanley McChrystal** (4:34)
Sure, there are four levels of being a general. A brigadier general is one star, a major general is two stars, a lieutenant general is three stars, and then a plain general is four stars. Then only occasionally in American history, we created a general of the army, which is five stars, but the last one was during the second World War.