Application in Business

Constantly push yourself to make sound decisions as rapidly as possible so that your tempo is greater than that of your competitors and be your own harshest critic when evaluating your own decision-making speed. Position decision-making authority as close to the action as possible. Use the ¹ / ₃ - ² / ₃ Rule to avoid monopolizing your people s precious time. Treat competitive encounters as multiperiod or multiarena contests; strive to think several steps ahead, as Rosenbluth did in the corporate travel market, or engage competitors on different fronts rapidly, as Jackson did in the Shenandoah Valley. Above all, do not let your competitors use superior tempo to get inside of your OODA loop and short-circuit your decision-making process.

Just as you constantly push yourself, constantly push your people to follow the example that you set so that rapid tempo pervades your organization. Prepare your people to make quick decisions under pressure through practice, perhaps by posing dilemmas related to your business and working with them to formulate and articulate plans in real time. Provide them with feedback so that they may sharpen their decision-making skills on an ongoing basis. Encourage vigorous debate in the decision-making process ”until the decision has been made. Consider making the investment ”in terms of time, money, and personnel ”necessary to institutionalize an R2P2 capability in your organization.

Realize that a growing reliance on information technology creates new opportunities ”and new vulnerabilities ”for rapid tempo. In the age of cell phones, E-mail, and the Internet, which enable near-instantaneous and near-ubiquitous transmission of information, the human decision-making process becomes the primary factor that limits tempo. Instead of relying on the aforementioned technological innovations as a crutch that allows you to recover from wasting time and deferring decisions, use them to get a product to market ahead of schedule or submit a presentation early. Finally, invest in systems security and redundancy to prevent a virus or communication breakdown from causing your high-tempo organization to come to a grinding halt.