Analysis Paralysis

The term has been applied to 5GW theory to describe how targets of 5GW may react to the discovery that some form of 5GW may be occurring, or even to the discovery that an opponent is merely capable of conducting 5GW, without any verifiable proof of an actual 5GW campaign.  Excessive analysis without verifiable proof of the existence of a 5GW campaign may lead to individual or organizational paralysis that prevents a coherent response to any actual 5GW campaign -- whether that campaign is already in motion or has yet to be implemented.  Indeed, in extreme cases the onset of analysis paralysis may create a paranoia preventing responses to many other changes in the environment besides those caused by any 5GW campaign.

The term analysis paralysis may also be used, though less clearly, to describe an organization that is structurally incapable of effective action due to inefficient bureaucracy.  If no clear chain of command is present, or else a complex system of redundancies and/or authorizations are required before any action may be taken, the organization may suffer from institutional analysis paralysis.

In even more general terms, analysis paralysis describes a system focused upon itself, or upon its own problem-solving and/or operational processes, that becomes incapable of adapting to, or reorienting in response to, new realities in the larger environment.