Week 224

Positive post Sunday, June 6, 2021- Week 224. 

Do you have to make quick decisions under pressure?  Whether at work or in our personal lives, most of us have been, or will be challenged with making very quick decisions with little or no information to support our decisions.  Some of us are required to do so frequently.  

Thinking about the importance of the decisions we make made me want to explore what guidance, tools and training are available to help us improve our decision making, especially when under pressure.  There are many professions that require split second decision making where lives are at stake.  A few examples include first responders, medical professionals and our armed forces.  What can we learn from the training and tools used by these professions that can help us make better timely decisions?

While researching decision making under pressure, I found a recent weekly Farman Street (FS) Brain Food article regarding fighter pilots, clearly a profession requiring split second decision making, often with lives on the line.  The article is titled, The OODA Loop: How Fighter Pilots Make Fast and Accurate Decisions.  Here’s the link: https://click.convertkit-mail4.com/o8ude3z5qosqhd939zaq/58hvh7h5o99628b6/aHR0cHM6Ly9mcy5ibG9nLzIwMjEvMDMvb29kYS1sb29wLw==: 

The OODA Loop, which has been used by fighter pilots to aid in making critical decisions under pressure, consists of 4 integrated parts, Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act.  According to the article, it’s a four-step process for making effective decisions in high-stakes situations. It involves collecting relevant information, recognizing potential biases, deciding, and acting, then repeating the process with new information, hence the “loop”.

The developer of the OODA Loop, U.S. Air Force Colonel John Boyd notes the value of being decisive, taking initiative, and staying autonomous.  Colonel Boyd suggests that these are universal assets that can apply to many situations.  If you choose to read the article, you will also find that the logic behind this process for making effective decisions in high-stakes situations may be used to support decisions we make in our personal and professional lives, especially those where our decisions are urgent.

As noted by Robert McKee and reinforced by Winston Churchill below, our true character is revealed when we make decisions under pressure.

Do you make thoughtful, educated decisions under pressure?

What tools do you use to make critical and timely decisions?