Making Quick Decisions = Opportunity x Improvise x Speed
My intent here is to provide three simple rules for making quick decisions — or what I call — Beta Mode Thinking.
As Louis Chew surmises in Introducing The Beta Mode: A Permanent Work In Progress, “We’re all a work in progress. We’re all in Beta Mode.” I previously published a work in progress called How To Get Inside The Enemy OODA Loop. This is simply a continuation of that discussion.
You can examine the following as either simple rules for making quick decisions or as a formula for Beta Mode Thinking.
Formula
Opportunity x Improvise x Speed = Making Quick Decisions (or Beta Mode Thinking).
Simple Rules
For a more detailed examination of this idea, I recommend reading Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives by Tim Harford.
Rule #1: Opportunity
You must first get into a position of opportunity. Once achieved, do something new to shock your opponent.
Rule #2: Improvise
Improvise around obstacles. Then seek to confuse your opponent.
Rule #3: Speed
Move faster than those who try to stop you. Then repeat the cycle/rules relentlessly.
Finally, never leave Beta Mode. As Chew remarked, “By staying in Beta, there is no fear of failure.”
