OODA loop
In a situation of direct, bilateral conflict — dogfighting, Chess, test cricket, in/out referendums on membership of the European Union, an OODA loop is a combatant’s decision cycle: “observe, orient, decide, act”: the idea being you need to take in what is happening (observe), synthesise a theory of what the oppo is up to (orient),[1] figure out what to do (decide) and then do it (act) before the oppo gets through its own process of doing exactly that to you, and changes tack.
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The concept was invented by legendary US Air Force Colonel, John Boyd whose classic dog-fighting manoeuvre was to suddenly fly straight up, stalling his plane, obliging his pursuer to fly straight past him, then dropping down on the attacker and giving him the full nine yards.[2]
The player who can do it faster — thereby changing the parameters of
See also
References
- ↑ “Orient” doesn’t seem as good a word to me as “synthesise”, especially as that would have made the acronym “OSDA”, which all ninjas will find pleasing.
- ↑ Speaking of dogfighting, the legend that this expression originated from the total length of a Spitfire’s machine gun belt (hence to give it the full nine yards is to shoot everything you have at once), but disappointingly this appears to be an urban myth, at least according to Wikipedia. The phrase dates back to the late 19th century.