OODA loop

OODA is an abbreviation for the words: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Developed and taught by John Boyd, a US military pilot, as a mental model for training other pilots.

Observe is about overseeing the whole, everything, facts and emotions, the different players and their (apparent) motives, culture and history and lots more. Or at least as much as I can muster and for as long as I feel there is time to do so.

Orient is about filtering important issues from less important ones. What do I find to be an important development right now and what is less urgent. What part of the totality do I want to focus my attention?

Decide is about making a decision on an which action at the moment can make the most impact on the situation as I think to perceive it. Where can I make the biggest difference? The decision to do nothing and to let things develop by themselves is also a valid choice and much overlooked in our current culture.

Act is to act out the decision.

The loop then starts back up from the top: observe changes.

Boyd learned that when a fighter pilot can go through this loop faster than his adversary, he can win the fight. The situation for the adversary will change too fast. Effectively his decision making is running after the facts.

Of course a pilot's loop is encapsulated in a different, bigger airforce loop which in turn is part of an even bigger loop of military strategy and doctrine.

We can apply this tool equally well to our own lives. By improving our observation: by taking stock of our whole life and its surroundings and knowing our own strengths and weaknesses, we can then orient better.

Then we can focus on the areas of our life we want to prioritize without having our attention drawn away by irrelevant (to us) distractions. And we're able to make better decisions that can make a difference.

In addition, I can imagine that when working on two or more different areas of your life, each area will have its own OODA loop going on. In each case a loop working on a finer scale both in time and in space.

If you would like to further think about this, consider the link with the following permaculture principles:

• Observe and interact
• Apply self regulation and accept feedback
• Design from patterns to details
• Creatively use and respond to change

These four principles also have parts of the OODA loop in them.