OODA Loop

1962

  • OODA = Observation, Orientation, Decision, Action
  • John Boyd in 1952 was a F-86 Sabre pilot in Korean war
  • by the end of the war, the F-86 pilots shot down 792 MiGs and lost only 78 Sabres, recording a victory to loss ratio of 10:1
  • Boyd studied, analyzed and combined ideas from psychology, biology, physics and theories
  • During his search for answers, Boyd made remarkable discoveries
  • This breakthrough idea would later lead to the creation of the undefeated F-15 Eagle

OODA loop is not so much a decision-making tool, as it is a mental model for individual and organizational learning and adaptation.

  • it’s not the person who runs through the OODA loop the fastest who wins
  • It’s the person who does so efficiently.