"Fire, Ready, Aim" is rapidly becoming the action sequence of leaders today as the pace of daily decision-making demand outstrips the readiness of some leaders and organizations to respond. The heavy pressure for real-time responsiveness to the complex needs of customers, vendors, regulators or employees is causing many leaders to increasingly respond before they are ready. According to Wikipedia, Tao is a 500 B.C. Chinese symbol normally translated as meaning wisdom for the "way" or "path." A common theme in Taoist literature is that fulfillment in life cannot be attained by forcing one's own destiny. Instead, we must become completely adaptive to nature's path, because the only constant in the universe is change.  The Tao of execution can be boiled down to three simple words: Focused, Fast and Flexible. They represent what we should strive for as the natural operating style for our leaders and corresponding organizations - if we are going to compete in real time! 

Focused, agile organizations possess the characteristics described in renowned Harvard Professor John Kotter's recent book entitled "Sense of Urgency". Hence, the Tao of Execution includes the energy generated with a "true sense of urgency" ... listen to Professor Kotter describe it here:

Today's business environment is a battlefield.  You must outpace your competition and make decisions in an ever-changing and chaotic world.  To gain an advantage you need the tools to assess the future and act quickly - AGILITY is the essence of successful leadership.

The OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) is a model 

that was created by USAF Col. John Boyd. It was originally designed for Korean-era fighter pilots as a way to understand conflict and provide military leaders with a model or method for making decisions and assessing their impact. 

See how using the OODA loop can help you.  LEARN MORE