This is what Boyd referred to as “getting inside their loop.” As this process continues, the relatively slower side continues to generate increasingly irrelevant observations, leading to more disconnected decisions, and so forth.If the quicker side can maintain this mismatch, the slower side will become increasingly disconnected from the environment and their actions will become increasingly unrelated to the actual situation.

It also has the effect of resetting an adversary’s loop by causing confusion - sending them back to the observation phase, back to figuring out how to proceed.This mismatch in orientation can provide a fleeting opportunity for the quicker side to continue to exploit the effects of the first move, before the slower side understands what is happening.The side with the relatively quicker loop will, at times, have a more relevant picture of the unfolding situation because they are shaping it rather than being forced to adapt to it.This has the effect of compressing the time an adversary has to reorient in response to what is happening in their environment. If action flows nearly instantaneously from orientation, the quickness of the overall loop is accelerated.He called them “implicit guidance and control,” and they are the most important part of understanding the OODA loop as an aid for evolving tactics, operations, and strategy.Ĭonsider the implications of the following excerpt from Marine Major Paul Tremblay’s insightful paper (Tremblay, 2015) on the misunderstood nature of the OODA loop: In John Boyd’s final depiction of the OODA loop, he highlighted two key flows: one going from orientation to observation and one from orientation to action. It also helps us see how to step out of reaction mode and begin shaping the strategic environment to our advantage. Boyd’s framework highlights the critical role that mental models play in our decision making: if our mental models are out of touch with the emerging reality, our resulting decisions and actions will be as well.Ī deeper understanding of the OODA loop helps us avoid this pitfall by generating and refining new, more relevant mental models to guide our actions. The first article in this series introduced Colonel John Boyd’s OODA loop, a visual representation of the process that human beings use to learn and adapt in rapidly changing environments. In other words: you look like a blur to your enemies.” Eric Ries

But instead of looking erratic, the many units of your organization act in concert to produce a coherent whole. “Following this approach, an organization can act with incredible speed, constantly updating its strategy before an opponent can even figure out what’s happening.

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