The OODA loop: How fighter pilots make fast and accurate decisions

As a software developer, I've seen OODA Loop used as a framework for how the org should develop.

In my experience, the general idea is a good one, but there are some common holes people fall into:

It's important to remember that as cool as it might sound to think so, a business is not a dogfight. It's not a sports match. No business war can be won in 40 seconds, so one should consider the time scales they are operating in for what being faster their your competition means.
Confusing speed and nimbleness with just doing something. Deploying faster than your competition doesn't mean you're orienting better than your competition. I haven't met a company that succeeded because they could deploy 100 times a day (the opposite can be a problem, though).
And finally, this is common of any framework that gets popular: just saying you're doing OODA Loop is not the same as doing OODA Loop. It's not a talking point at a meeting, it's a company culture.

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Great article! I also really enjoyed the book about John Boyd - "The Fighter Pilot who Change the Art of War" from Robert Coram

Another good article on this from Brett McKay where he talks about how to quickly redirect or reorient:

"You constantly have to break apart your old paradigms and put the resulting pieces back together to create a new perspective that better matches your current reality.
Boyd calls this process destructive deduction."

https://www.artofmanliness.com/articles/ooda-loop/

sjono

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6 years ago
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As a software developer, I've seen OODA Loop used as a framework for how the org should develop.

In my experience, the general idea is a good one, but there are some common holes people fall into:
- It's important to remember that as cool as it might sound to think so, a business is not a dogfight. It's not a sports match. No business war can be won in 40 seconds, so one should consider the time scales they are operating in for what being faster their your competition means.
- Confusing speed and nimbleness with just doing something. Deploying faster than your competition doesn't mean you're orienting better than your competition. I haven't met a company that succeeded because they could deploy 100 times a day (the opposite can be a problem, though).
- And finally, this is common of any framework that gets popular: just saying you're doing OODA Loop is not the same as doing OODA Loop. It's not a talking point at a meeting, it's a company culture.
mmatalka

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6 years ago
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