Nnjohn boyd ooda loop book

The ultimate guide to the ooda loop how to turn uncertainty. Understanding war is a working title designed to evoke the grand theory implicit in titles such as sun tzus art of war and clausewitzs on war. Im a little bit obsessed with john boyd and his theory of the ooda loop, but i knew little about the man himself. John boyd is probably the greatest military strategist to have never killed anybody. This is an accurate, but simplified version of john boyd s ooda loop. This video is a brief description of the ooda loops strategy made by air force co. Best known for his formulation of the ooda loop as a model for competitive decision making, colonel boyd was also an original thinker in developing tacti. John boyd and the ooda loop great strategists the ooda loop kinda represents how humans and organizations learn, grow, and survive a better peace continues its series on great strategists with a look at airpower theorist john boyd, who conceived of the ooda observe, orient, decide, and act loop.

He originally created the ooda loop for airtoair combat. John boyd s ooda loop, diagram originally drawn by john boyd, recreated by patrick moran 2008. John boyd is often known exclusively for the socalled ooda loop model he developed. While speed is undoubtedly important, the key to interrupting an opponents ooda loop lies not in acting faster, but in acting at the right time. Ive been studying boyd and the ooda loop for the past 23 years reading his briefings online, reading books about him and his work the maneuver warfare handbook westview special studies in military affairs and the mind of war. The first is that the os in the ooda loop deliberately force you to stop and. Chet richards, author, consultant, john boyd associate and strategy guru talks about john boyd, his ideas and applying the ooda loop concept to develop agile. The purpose of this paper is to sketch out how we destroy and create these patterns to permit us to both shape and be shaped by a changing environment. He sees col boyd s influence in the concept of isolating components of the enemies system to include individuals and groups of individuals. In the end, i punted the effort into the future, hoping that john boyd and his ooda loop might provide a way to break out of the clausewitzian triad. Decisionmaking, learning and leadership in soccer using boyd s ooda loop as a model. John boyd and the ooda loop great strategists us army. To help get you going, this page lists a few references that i can vouch for. Boyd is the creator of the ooda loop, for which this humble site is named after.

While boyd may be most famous for his ooda loop, this book shows that his ideas are not so simple. Boyd applied the concept to the combat operations process, often at the operational level during military campaigns. Mar 07, 2018 john boyd is one of the greatest military strategist to have lived, and to understand ooda loop its import to put it into context. This edition of the essence of winning and losing is a powerpoint rendering of the version that appeared for years in html on the nowdefunct web site. Were having a pretty solid discussion about robert greenes recent piece on the john boyd and the ooda loop. The concept now applies to every level of military command, from a fire team through a field army. People say things like that because everyone in the military knows about the inventor of the ooda loop, colonel john boyd. John boyd developed the ooda loop based on his experiences as a fighter pilot during the korean war and later as an instructor. Tactics do indeed influence strategy, or should, but only in the sense of refining it, not in creating something new.

The breakthrough discovery of the ooda loop solved john boyd s headscratching puzzle of the f86 sabres miraculous victory during the korean war. Out of this comes his famous ooda loop, observeorientdecideact. Air force, developed an iterative feedback model, what is now known as the ooda loop, after his experiences dogfighting in the korean war. The ooda model observe, orient, decide, and act is an information strategy concept for information warfare developed by colonel john boyd 19271997. The ooda loop was a tool developed by military strategist john boyd to explain how individuals and organizations can win in uncertain and chaotic environments.

Author daniel ford, who i found out while reading is also the author of the short story incident at muc wa that was the basis of go tell the spartans imho the best counter insurgency film of all time, passionately argues for a civilian based counterinsurgency effort, while simultaneously reminding us that because. The concept now applies to every level of military command, from a. First of all, organizational culture is critical to support a fast responding ooda loop. One strategy that ive found repeatedly effective is the ooda loop. Second, going beyond the ooda loop, boyd and richards document the. Maj brown describes the enemy as a system of human wills. Students of strategic theory often wonder what kind of book boyd might have produced has he sat down to write his thoughts into one coherent treatise. Boyd reads hundreds of history books on war and develops new tactics and ways of thinking about battle. John boyd, ooda short for observe, orient, decide, and act became a cornerstone of training for air. Best known for his formulation of the ooda loop as a model for competitive decision making, colonel boyd. Sep, 2018 taking this systems view of the ooda loop, the true vision of john boyd begins to emerge. Second, going beyond the ooda loop, boyd and richards document the advantages of strategies such as surprise and deception. This short ppt is designed to inform the student on this strategic way of thinking.

History and theory of combat in 1987, and peter paret published understanding war in 1993, so other titles are under consideration. Ooda loop you need to tighten your ooda loop on the. Twentytwo years ago tomorrow, colonel john boyd died. Boyd was a fighter pilot, and a damned good one at that. This model refers to a decisionmaking process and to the idea that military victory goes to the side that can complete the cycle from observation to action the fastest. If you have any questions or have something to add, please. From this perspective, i really appreciated this book. Theres no question that boyd is an influential and important figure, but coram has written this in his usual stylefind a military man who can be painted as an underappreciated, persecuted genius punished for his straightshooting and truth telling to the careerist brass, write in breathless hyperbole boyd is the greatest strategist since sun tzu and use.

I eventually made my way to the marine corps archives to explore boyd s collection. John boyd and american security were helpful, and pestering the army and marine officers that i work with. Boyd was a maverick air force officer who wanted to integrate an array of divergent knowledge into a coherent system to help. According to this idea, the key to victory is to be able to create situations wherein one can make appropriate decisions more quickly than ones opponent. The fighter pilot who changed the art of war by robert.

Ill post more about boyd in the future, just because hes revolutionized how i think, but here are some of the thoughts i posted in the thread. It is now also often applied to understand commercial operations and learning processes. Taking this systems view of the ooda loop, the true vision of john boyd begins to emerge. Although the ooda model was clearly created for military purposes, elements of the same theory can also be applied to business strategy. Ooda loop by john boyd, a great decision making tool. Although ooda was clearly created for military purposes, elements of the same theory can also be applied to business strategy. Introduction to the strategic theories of john boyd. May 02, 2019 this is an accurate, but simplified version of john boyd s ooda loop. The first version carried the date 28 june 1995, and the last appeared some time in january 1996, a little over a year before colonel boyd. Jul 05, 2016 john boyd is probably the greatest military strategist to have never killed anybody. But more importantly, the ooda loop synthesizes the core ideas of the greatest military strategists, to explain why winners win and losers lose in the face of inevitable uncertainty. The first version carried the date 28 june 1995, and the last appeared some time in january 1996, a little over a year before colonel boyd died. The ooda loop is the cycle observeorientdecideact, developed by military strategist and united states air force colonel john boyd.

Much of boyd s thinking resulted in the concept of the ooda loop. Boyd developed the theory based on his earlier experience as a fighter pilot and work on energy maneuverability. Heres a short bio on boyd and an over view of his theory. Colonel john boyd on ooda, people, ideas, and technology. Having written the first book on john boyd that focused more on his ideas than his personal story, i have been asked by colleagues at air university press to edit and introduce the publication of john boyd s famous briefing entitled a. Ooda contd decision consider options and select a subsequent course of action action carry out the conceived decision once the result of the action is observed, you start over note that in combat or competing against the competition, you want to cycle through the four steps faster and better than the enemy, hence, it is a loop. The ooda loop was named by air force pilot john boyd to describe the psychological process leading up to an action.

John boyd, ooda short for observe, orient, decide, and act became a cornerstone of training for airtoair combat in the latter half of the 20th century. In fact, boyd himself often used this basic diagram when explaining the loop, but he had a much grander vision for it. He began his military career as a fighter pilot in the korean war, but he slowly transformed himself. Air force colonel john boyd, the ooda loop is a practical concept designed to be the foundation of rational thinking in confusing or chaotic situations. I began to read everything i could find on boyd, including books by grant hammond and frans osinga, the latter being the most indepth work on boyd s theory. The fighter pilot who changed the art of war as want to read. John boyd is one of the greatest military strategist to have lived, and to understand ooda loop its import to put it into context.

It is an acronym that explains the four steps of decisions making. The ooda loop has become an important concept in litigation, business, law enforcement. Having written the first book on john boyd that focused more on his ideas than his personal story, i have been asked by colleagues at air university press to edit and introduce the publication of john boyd s famous briefing entitled a discourse on winning and losing. Ooda loop by john boyd, a great decision making tool toolshero. It is a framework designed for pilots involved in air combat operations which has moved into mainstream business and entrepreneurship. John boyd was arguably the greatest american military theorist since the sea power strategist alfred thayer mahan at the turn of the 20th century. In the end, however, i punted the effort into the future, hoping that the late john boyd 19271997 and his ooda loop might provide a way to break out of the closed clausewitzian triad. He was a modernday clausewitz, or jomini, or some other dude they read. Observeorientdecideact or strategy was created by john boyd is described by some as the greatest military strategist in history that no one knows. The ooda loop observe, orient, decide, and act is an information strategy concept for information warfare developed by colonel john boyd 19271997. Mar 17, 2020 while speed is undoubtedly important, the key to interrupting an opponents ooda loop lies not in acting faster, but in acting at the right time. Jul 30, 2018 people say things like that because everyone in the military knows about the inventor of the ooda loop, colonel john boyd.

Boyds key concept was that of the decision cycle or ooda loop, the process by which an entity either an individual or an organization reacts to an event. Boyd 3 september 1976 abstract to comprehend and cope with our environment we develop mental patterns or concepts of meaning. A very interesting book about john boyd, who was a crack fighter pilot, and then later military strategist and reformer. Boyds ooda loop its not what you think chet richards j. Desert storm this clip, title, and description were not created by cspan. In more recent times, boyd was brought out of retirement by dick cheney to help plan operation desert storm. The ooda loop is the observeorientdecideact cycle developed by military strategist and united states air force colonel john boyd. In more recent times, boyd was brought out of retirement by. This decision making process consists of observe, orient, decide and act.