R. Lance Garcia

OODA Loop

The OODA Loop is a concept originated by military strategist and fellow autodidact, Col. John Boyd of the US Air Force (aka “Forty-Second Boyd” for his ability to beat any opposing pilot in aerial combat in under forty seconds). Boyd hypothesized that all intelligent organisms and organizations undergo a continuous cycle of interaction with their environment. Boyd breaks this cycle down to four interrelated and overlapping processes through which one cycles continuously:

• Observation: the collection of data by means of the senses
• Orientation: the analysis and synthesis of data to form one’s current mental perspective
• Decision: the determination of a course of action based on one’s current mental perspective
• Action: the physical playing-out of decisions

An important decision-making cycle that favors agility over raw power in dealing with human opponents in any endeavor from combat to athletics to business.