Time.
Time is our true wealth.
We have an indefinite block of time allotted to us.
It depletes with each passing second.
We have no idea how much time we have.
We cannot take it for granted.
If we make effective decisions quickly, we can economize our time.
If we can make those decisions faster than our competitors, the market, the rate of change, etc., we gain a competitive advantage.
If we do not, we condemn ourselves to obsolescence, irrelevance, defeat, etc.
This is one of the most universal excerpts from MCDP 1: Warfighting.
You don’t even have to change a single word.
I’ll bet it applies to your line of work.
What do you think?
“Time is a critical factor in effective decisionmaking—often the most important factor. A key part of effective decisionmaking is realizing how much decision time is available and making the most of that time. In general, whoever can make and implement decisions consistently faster gains a tremendous, often decisive advantage. Decisionmaking in execution thus becomes a time-competitive process, and timeliness of decisions becomes essential to generating tempo. Timely decisions demand rapid thinking with consideration limited to essential factors. In such situations, we should spare no effort to accelerate our decisionmaking ability. That said, we should also recognize those situations in which time is not a limiting factor—such as deliberate planning situations—and should not rush our decisions unnecessarily.”
-MCDP 1: Warfighting, p. 85
Tempo and rhythm are parts of the pattern of events. Timing is about synchronizing actions with events (it is relative to a tempo or pattern of events). So - hitting the right tempo - e.g., when synchronizing with other musicians. Or finding the right stride for maintaining a desired pace or for catching a pass "in stride." So - I think that Boyd was not talking about time or speed in absolute terms -- but in relative terms - e.g., braking suddenly so that the guy who was on your tail is now in your sights! Thus - a slower aircraft can defeat a faster aircraft.
The key is "timing" not "time" per se -- It is possible to be too fast (to rush things) as well as too slow. Actually, with respect to Boyd - I think he is mainly talking about the capacity for "change" rather than "speed." Change is a higher derivative than velocity.