Get Out, Get Online, Make a Decision
Create options before choosing under pressure
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 91%
Get Out, Get Online, Make a Decision is a three-part action sequence for uncertainty. First, leave the position that limits visibility or initiative. Second, establish a line from which the team can orient, coordinate, and create options. Third, decide using the information now available. The sequence matters: it avoids demanding a perfect answer before the team has moved into a position where a useful answer can emerge. Pasciuti introduces the phrase while describing how Marines exited tracked vehicles and formed a line under fire, then says he later adopted it for leadership philosophies. Used outside combat, the mechanism is still the same: break immobility, create a workable operating position, then make the best available decision and revise when conditions change.
Origin
Pasciuti learned the sequence as an infantry action and later adopted it for leadership philosophies.
Core principles
- 01Movement creates information
- 02Positioning creates options
- 03A decision follows orientation
- 04Waiting for perfect clarity can increase danger
How to run it
- 1
Get out
Exit the position that is keeping the team passive, blind, or constrained. Make the smallest safe move that restores initiative.
Pro tip Treat movement as a way to gain information, not as a substitute for thought.
Watch out Do not rush blindly when the current position is genuinely safer.
- 2
Get online
Establish a shared operating line so people can orient, coordinate, and see the same problem. Confirm who is covering which part of the situation.
Pro tip Use a simple formation or shared view that reduces ambiguity.
Watch out Movement without alignment can scatter effort.
- 3
Make a decision
Choose the next action using the information the new position provides. Communicate it clearly and adjust when reality changes.
Pro tip Prefer a reversible decision when uncertainty remains high.
Watch out Do not mistake decisiveness for certainty.
In the wild
Pasciuti describes Marines leaving opposite sides of tracked vehicles, getting online, and then deciding how to respond. The movement and formation converted confusion inside the vehicle into a position from which the unit could act.
→ The unit gained orientation and began responding as a coordinated force.
Common mistakes
Deciding before orienting
Choosing while still trapped in a low-information position can lock the team into a bad response.
Moving without alignment
Getting out without getting online can replace paralysis with uncoordinated activity.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for time-sensitive situations where movement and positioning reveal better options.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when immediate movement would create more risk than a deliberate pause.
From the transcript
“get out, get online, make a decision”
“We would get online. So, the the the saying is get out, get online, make a decision and that was what we always wanted to…”
From the episode
#305 AJ Pasciuti - Marine Scout Sniper on Hunting Juba, the Deadliest Enemy Sniper in Iraq