Decision cycle

Overview

Examples of decision cycles

• In quality control, PDCA is used.
• In science, the scientific method can also be seen as a decision cycle.
• In the United States Armed Forces, a theory of an OODA loop has been advocated by Colonel John Boyd.
• In the lean startup methodology, the Build-Measure-Learn loop is used to guide product development.
• In management, Herbert A. Simon proposed a decision cycle of three steps. Much later, other scholars expanded his framework to five steps.
• In design thinking, the design process is often conceived as a decision cycle, such as Robert McKim's ETC.
• In the Getting Things Done time management method, workflow consists of a cycle of five stages.
• In the nursing process, the ADPIE process is used. Alternatively, the ASPIRE model includes an additional stage—Recheck—in between Implementation and Evaluation.
• In psychotherapy, the transtheoretical model posits five stages of intentional change. These stages were initially conceived as linear, but John C. Norcross said that for many people the stages are more appropriately viewed as a cycle.
• In USAID, the use of a Program Cycle, codified in the Automated Directive Systems 201, is USAID’s operational model for planning, delivering, assessing, and adapting development programming in a given region or country to achieve more effective and sustainable results in order to advance U.S. foreign policy. Relatedly, within the agency there exists resources regarding adaptive management decision cycles.