[Editor’s note: this is the fifth article carrying on from an initial article about the OODA Loop]

Action figures don’t move unless you move them. They’re really inaction figures. They can’t observe, they do orient (but not in an OODA way), and they are fortunately not decisive. Hwever, as managers and hopefully leaders we can give action a home, a starting point, upon arriving at a decision.

Flow image by Patrick Edwin Moran – Own work, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3904554

Clearly the actions we take are often impacting others (which should be an influence on our decision). Looking at military biographies often the hardest part for those in command is the decision to send their troups, their soldiers, and friends into the battlefield. As leaders we have to take the decision in front of us that will require the actions of others into account.

Fortunately we have a field of materials that can help us with aligning those we lead and serve without necessarily making their lives a living hell.

Action is the pump of the heart that sends the pulse going so that we can sustain momentum, stay alive, and push into the next valuable decision. Action keeps the inertia going while entropy fights to slow us down.

But it is here that we then must immediately move to restart the process. Here we jump into observation, orientation and decision again. It is at this point in time where we face a need to have accountability. And that is another blog post.

What is the most powerful action motivator you have in your arsenal for your team?

– the MGMT