The fat myth behind the doer is better than the thinker for jobs that need fast responses
One of my favourite stupid images is doing the rounds again, and I will get onto the soap box again but give a totally different angle as to why it is wrong.
The premise of the image is doing and not thinking, or actions speak louder than thinking. But there is always someone that brings up ER rooms as an opinion. This is not the case, and blatant nonsense.
Let’s take professions such as fighter pilots, soldiers, firemen, emergency response teams, and ER staff, and their ability to respond (or “DO”) quickly. In high-pressure situations, their ability to react quickly is a direct result of years of training, studying, thinking, repetition, and practice. These individuals have honed their skills through dedicated preparation and thoughtful consideration, which allows them to react in mere seconds when the situation calls for it.
This is where the OODA loop comes into play. The OODA loop stands for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act, and it represents the decision-making process that individuals like fighter pilots and emergency responders go through when faced with a critical situation. The OODA loop stresses the importance of quickly processing and analyzing information in order to make informed decisions and take effective action rapidly.
The first step of the OODA loop is to Observe, which involves collecting and analyzing information about the situation. Next, individuals must Orient themselves, which involves understanding the context of the situation and making sense of the information they have gathered. Then, they Decide on a course of action and Act on it, making use of their training and expertise to execute their plan.
Years of study, practice, and repetition have honed these individuals' ability to rapidly process information, analyze the situation, and act quickly. This is what sets them apart in high-pressure situations and allows them to make life-saving decisions in mere moments.
In summary, acting or doing without observing, orienting, and understanding is just stupid. One’s ability to act quickly is based on one’s experience and understanding of the domain. Suggesting anyone do something without thinking is terrible advise.
References
OODA Loop. Boyd, J. (1987). A Discourse on Winning and Losing.
"Training and Practice to Improve Emergency Response" by Thomas A. Gallagher and Richard I. Thornton
"Motor Learning and Performance: A Problem-Based Learning Approach" by Richard A. Schmidt and Timothy D. Lee.