Why I Created VECTOR™

Good decision-makers act. Great decisionmakers reassess.

Throughout my experience in the military, protective security, crisis management, emergency management, business continuity and resilience, I kept encountering the same challenge.

The problem was rarely a lack of action.

People acted. Plans existed and were enacted. Processes were followed.

The real challenge was that circumstances constantly changed.

Information evolved. Priorities shifted. Assumptions were challenged.

Yet people often continued making decisions based on information that was no longer current and an understanding of reality that no longer reflected the situation before them.

Perhaps most importantly, there was often no shared reality. Different teams worked from different information, different assumptions and different priorities. Decision-making remained concentrated rather than delegated, coordination became increasingly difficult and actions often drifted away from organisational intent.

In many cases, organisations relied on a single planning or response process regardless of whether circumstances called for immediate action, structured analysis or coordinated organisational decision-making.

The challenge was not simply a lack of action. It was maintaining alignment between reality, priorities and action as circumstances evolved.

That observation became the foundation of VECTOR™.

The Problem

Leaders rarely have complete information, unlimited time or perfect certainty.

Instead, they make decisions in environments characterised by:

• Uncertainty

• Pressure

• Complexity

• Consequence

Many decision-making models are excellent at helping people analyse a situation and take action.

Far fewer focus on what happens when reality changes. In practice - and my experience - this is where leadership matters most.

The Insight

The defining idea behind VECTOR™ emerged from a simple observation:

The value of a decision is determined not only by the action it creates, but by the willingness to reassess and adapt when circumstances change.

This insight eventually evolved into Continuous Reassessment, the defining concept within VECTOR™.

Continuous Reassessment is the discipline of continually testing whether our understanding remains valid, whether our priorities remain appropriate and whether our actions are producing the intended effect.

It is the mechanism that maintains alignment between reality, priorities and action.

Introducing VECTOR™

VECTOR™ consists of four interconnected decision phases:

• Regulate

• Verify

• Prioritise

• Execute

Connected by one defining concept:

Continuous Reassessment.

Together, the model seeks to create five outcomes:

Clarity. Understanding. Direction. Progress. Adaptation.

Or, more simply:

Clarity enables Understanding.Understanding establishes Direction.

Direction creates Progress.

Progress drives Adaptation.

Adaptation improves the next decision.

Looking Forward

Over the coming months, I will be exploring VECTOR™ through the Leadership on the Edge series, applying the model to real-world leadership challenges from military operations, exploration, crisis management and organisational leadership.

Because understanding a decision-making model is one thing.

Seeing it applied to real leadership challenges is another.

And perhaps the most important lesson that emerged during the development of VECTOR™ is this:

Good decision-makers act. Great decisionmakers reassess.

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Troy Park

Founder & Principal Practitioner

Montane Protective Security

VECTOR™ is Montane Protective Security's decision-making model for helping individuals, teams and organisations operate at the edge of uncertainty.

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