Tempo is the rate or speed of motion or activity; pace.
KPIs are measurable values that provide a metric to gauge how well a function is achieving business objectives.
Here are a few examples from ITIL KPI Service Operation that we can use to understand how activity or tempo can be measured:
- Mean time to resolve: The average time between the start and resolution of an incident
- Mean time to detect: The average time to detect incidents
- Incident resolution effort: The average work effort for resolving incidents
We use KPIs to continuously improve processes within our organizations using values that we can be certain are true. Zero-day exploits, advanced persistent threats, new ransomware attacks—uncertainty is a constant for a security professional. It can be crippling to the decision-making process and it makes things much more difficult. Some are afraid to make a call because they haven't received all of the information yet. Some call it paralysis by analysis. How do you manage the uncertainty?
Let's take an excerpt about uncertainty from intelligence operations:
Identify and evaluate existing conditions and capabilities
On the basis of those existing conditions and capabilities, estimate possible enemy courses of action and provide insight into possible future actions
Aid in identifying friendly critical vulnerabilities that the threat may exploit
Assist in developing and evaluating friendly courses of action"
Military officers undergo training where they have to make decisions on data that is incomplete. It prepares them to make decisions when they are in critical or otherwise crisis situations. It is called recognitional decision-making. This method of decision-making can increase the tempo and the ability to maintain the initiative against the enemy. However it requires a large amount of study on the topic prior to the crisis occurring, moral courage, and the leader assuming the risk of quick planning without the aid of other experienced personnel.