The OODA Loop: Overview (Part 1 of 5)

Former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, John Boyd, who over the course of his career was involved with the Korean War, the Gulf War, and Operation Desert Storm, developed the OODA Loop in 1951. OODA is an acronym for Observe Orient Decide Act. As Boyd arrived near the conclusion of the Korean War, he saw little combat, and did not have any kills, however he still became highly regarded for his philosophical approach to conflict analysis. Please note the similarity here between Boyd and Sun Tzu, whereby their philosophies dominated endeavors typically thought to be ruled by practical application. Boyd would eventually become known as the architect of the onslaught that intellectually and morally destroyed enemy forces in Operation Desert Storm. Boyd’s OODA Loop is an assault on the mind. It is simultaneously a system of learning, a framework for dealing with uncertainty, and a strategy to victory in direct combat. I find it superior to even Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, for results oriented, practical implementation. As a Core Framework I introduced to Systems Engineering over 4 years ago, we must now work towards its full adoption, in a practical way.

I began this 2020 Blueprint by quoting Bruce Lee who said to “Empty Your Cup”. This means to clear your mind of all prejudicial thought, assume nothing, and absorb everything. Boyd mirrors this sentiment, as he notes that we fail to adapt to changing circumstances and refuse to see the world as it is and instead force our vision to see the world as we feel it should be. Once you THINK you know it all, you actually DO know it all, because you can’t absorb anything else; Your Cup is Full. So, to be truly effective at using the OODA Loop, your mind must cyclically become void.

Boyd leverages a melding of 3 scientific and philosophical principals to systematically dismantle the accepted practice of only using pre-existing mental models when trying to understand a randomly changing reality. This results in less confusion and uncertainty when properly employed. The 3 principals are:

1. Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem

2. Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle

3. Carnot’s 2nd Law of Thermodynamics

The first principal, Kurt Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorem, infers that the logical model for reality, by definition, is incomplete and must constantly be refined with the absorption of new data. This gives us more precision, in regards to our observation of environmental stimuli. However, there are limitations to this precision which is observed in the next principle.

The second principle, Werner Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, says that it is impossible to simultaneously determine the position AND the velocity of a thing. Here, if we accurately triangulate the position of something, our ability to track its velocity is inversely compromised by that same value and vice-versa. This is somewhat confabulatory in that OUR Reality is not TRUE Reality, and we will always be limited in our ability to accurately interpret it. However, using these tools allows us to see True Reality more clearly than we would without them which increases our competitive advantage.

The final principal, Sadi Carnot’s Second Law of Thermodynamics, states that energy transference results in waste and that processes in an isolated system can only remain static or increase in entropy. This means that in a closed off environment things will either stay exactly the same or become increasingly disorderly, but never improve. In the business world, this may equate to one only to listening to the same people who only listen to the same people who only use the same methods but are trying to force those methods to work against a new problem. Here continually listening to folks who will only agree with everything you say, when you’re already using outdated modalities, results in your becoming increasingly error prone and irrelevant.

It doesn't matter if it's astrophysics or social systems, the result is the same, degradation and decay. This is one of the reasons why regular invitations from the SE Team’s Buddy Invite Program, given to people outside of our bulwarks, are so important; I need new people with fresh eyes, new ideas, and unfamiliar perspectives to analyze, challenge, and interact with the SE Collective. Conversely, care must still be taken on what stimuli are introduce into our closed system, as the resultant contamination, infection, and mutation may not be desirable. Anything that could severely hamper, or worse yet, derail the acquisition of excellence must be scrutinized, and countermeasures must be defined on how to eliminate them, before they are even introduced.

In order for you to excel at using OODA, it must be put into regular practice. The rest of your body can only walk a path after your brain has already taken the journey. Remember that when using the Systems Engineering practice of Exhaustive Visualization, your brain makes little distinction between real experiences and imagined experiences, so with it, you can efficiently gain time under tension that increases your well of experience, dexterity, and effectiveness. Not doing this will result in you hesitating, freezing up, back tracking, or running away. Think about the bad thing that can happen, before it happens, and imagine yourself in the situation attempting different things to resolve it. If you do this long enough and with enough focus, you’ll be better prepared when an exigent circumstance actually develops.

In Essence, Running Away Involves Lack of Ego-Driven Thought and Exposure of Your Back to Your Enemy, Whereas Retreating is Facing Your Enemy but Backing Away with Deliberate, Thoughtful Precision.

-- Charles Hodge

By being mentally prepared, we will make better decisions, even when things take a turn for the worse, and we will rarely run away. Though not always, running away is typically cowardly and used by the Weak; however, retreating is typically honorable and used by the Strong. Determining when to do what and how is a function of the Asset/Threat/Vulnerability Ratio (ATV).

--Charles