The world of business has undergone significant changes in the last 30 years. Most notably, the speed of business has accelerated dramatically, making the traditional paradigm inadequate for the rapid reactions businesses need to stay competitive. Making high-speed decisions has become a discipline in itself, and no one does this better than the Air Force.

Colonel John Boyd of the USAF described the decision-making process in a dogfight as a recurring “Loop,” which he coined the “OODA Loop.” The acronym OODA stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. In essence, it involves observing a situation, orienting oneself to potential solutions, making a decision, and then taking action. The process then repeats. Having a small OODA loop means making decisions quickly, while a wide or large OODA loop indicates taking excessively long to decide. The goal is to “get inside” your opponent’s OODA loop. By making decisions faster, you cause your enemy to fall behind, reacting to decisions and actions you made cycles ago, thereby losing the initiative and enabling you to maneuver for the kill.

On the business front, several tools can help tighten up your OODA loop. Above all, a company dashboard is the most critical as it assists with the first two steps: Observe and Orient.

A dashboard is nothing more than a visual summary of key performance indicators and metrics. However, it enables several crucial functions. First, it allows you to observe events and patterns emerging in real time, significantly enhancing your observation capabilities. Secondly, it serves as an outstanding tool for orientation. By easily monitoring KPIs and metrics, you can identify areas of weakness and strength, empowering you to decide and take action accordingly.

Dashboards are simple and intuitive and can be used anywhere. They are also becoming almost a mandatory element of most businesses’ data architecture.

Take charge and tighten up your organization’s OODA loop! To learn more about how a dashboard can increase your organization’s speed, reach out to pfreeman@condotty.com to schedule a free consultation. We would love to discuss your business goals and obstacles.