2021: Creating the Lexicon of Future

O is for OODA

The OODA loop is the cycle observe–orient–decide–act, developed by military strategist and United States Air Force Colonel John Boyd. Boyd applied the concept to the combat operations process, often at the operational level during military campaigns. It is now also often applied to understand commercial operations and learning processes. The approach explains how agility can overcome raw power in dealing with human opponents. It is especially applicable to cyber security and cyberwarfare. ~ The OODA Loop

The OODA Loop Decision Cycle via https://www.flexrule.com/archives/decision-cycle-ooda/

Four Essential Questions to Make Better Decisions

I have a theory. We are all born into a question that shapes our perspective on the world, affecting our choices in both conscious and unconscious ways. Those questions are:

1. Is it true?
2. Has it ever been true?
3. Could it be true?
4. Should it be true?

As I was thinking about the OODA Loop, it was easy to map those questions to the decision-making process illustrated below:

Augmented OODA Decision Making Model

There are truths we’ve been acculturated to believe and accept that are dangerously undermining our ability to function as a society.

For example, let’s examine the phrase “survival of the fittest”

Question 1: Is it true?

What’s more, although the phrase conjures up an image of a violent struggle for survival, in reality the word “fittest” seldom means the strongest or the most aggressive. On the contrary, it can mean anything from the best camouflaged or the most fecund to the cleverest or the most cooperative. Forget Rambo, think Einstein or Gandhi.~ Evolution myths: ‘Survival of the fittest’ justifies ‘everyone for themselves’

Question 2: Has it ever been true?

What we see in the wild is not every animal for itself. Cooperation is an incredibly successful survival strategy. Indeed it has been the basis of all the most dramatic steps in the history of life. Complex…