John Boyd’s OODA Loop deserves to be better known than it is. It is a simple and powerful model of the decision-making cycle. Consequently, Project Managers, Change Managers, and Risk Managers can apply it in a broad range of situations.
Likewise, it is also a useful model for time management, personal effectiveness, conflict, coaching, influence, and many other areas. So, this article is part of our series of essential models for Project Managers.
Contents
In this article, we will look at:
- What is the OODA Loop?
- Using Your OODA Loop to Gain Control of Your Project
- The OODA Loop and Coaching
- Learn More: Related Ideas and Insights
This is a simple model. But it is super-powerful, so let’s dive straight in!
What is the OODA Loop?
The OODA Loop is a four-step cycle, which then repeats itself.
The cycle of the OODA Loop is:
- Observation
- Orientation
- Decision
- Action
This sequence of steps can help you take control of any situation. Indeed, Colonel John Boyd, who developed the model, asserted that, if you can cycle around the loop faster than events are occurring, you gain an advantage. Events seem to slow down, leaving you with the feeling of being able to dictate what will happen next.
We can represent the OODA Loop with a simple diagram…
So, let’s review the four steps…
Observation
Let’s start with Observation. The Observation step requires us to collect current information using all of our senses. In the project context, this is about both:
- formal reporting and data gathering
- Informally staying alert to everything that is happening around you
As Project Managers, we need to sharpen our perceptions to take in more data, and to do so with greater accuracy.
Orientation
We then Orient ourselves by analyzing and synthesizing the data into a model of reality. This is what Boyd describes as ‘sense-making’; we are making sense of what is happening. And we do so in the context of what we are aiming to achieve.
Then, in Project Management, we compare the reality we have observed, and our understanding of it, to whatever plan we already have. This lends us insight into our situation. Now we can start to form options for how to act.
Decision
Decision-making is a big part of Project Management. What makes it effective are three things:
- Having a strong basis for making a robust decision
This is what the Observe and Orient steps of the OODA Loop give us. - Making your decision in a timely manner
The OODA LOop model stresses speed of decision-making. - Evaluation and subsequent preparedness to revidse your decision
That’s why the OODA Loop is a loop – we immediately observe the outcmes of our decision and make sense of what we can learn, before making a bnew decision (which could be to do nothing new, until the next cycle).
So, we must then make a Decision, determining how we will act.
We have two great resources for you, on decision-making:
- The Essential Guide to Robust Project Decision Making
- Rapid Decision Making in Projects: How to Get it Right
Action
Action is the pursuit of your decision. Once you have made your decision, Boyd says act as quickly and effectively as you can.
Closing the OODA Loop
We cycle around the loop by:
- Observing the outcomes from our Action,
- Orienting the outcomes to our intentions,
- revising our Decision, and
- taking our next Action.
And so the OODA Loop continues.
Using Your OODA Loop to Gain Control
Boyd asserted that the faster you cycle around the OODA Loop, the greater your control over events. If you are:
- competing against another person (conflict) or
- taking-on another organization (negotiation), or you are
- trying to overcome circumstances (project management)
… then by cycling at a rate that is faster than other people’s responses, or external events, you gain an advantage. Clearly, if you don’t Observe and Orient accurately, your Decision will be flawed. This is not about speed at any price, but about honing your acuity and analysis skills.
Of course, you will make the wrong decisions sometimes. The success-determining element is the speed with which you recognize your mistake, understand it, and make corrections.
The Origins of the OODA Loop
Perhaps the reason for the model’s relative obscurity is its origin. John Boyd was a Colonel in the US Air Force. As a military strategist, he applied what he learned in Korea to develop the OODA Loop. Two other factors are that:
- Boyd’s original formulation was more complex than the version presented here
- Boyd never published any of his thinking – all we have are some 1970s view slides and some poor quality videos of Boyd speaking
The core concept of the OODA loop has been applied far beyond its origins. I have used the ideas widely. And I have seen it applied to other areas too: sports, manufacturing, and corporate strategy.
Similar Models to the OODA Loop
Boyd’s OODA Loop has many close relations:
- Project Managers’ monitor and control cycle
And, of course, this is the primary application of the OODA Loop to Project Management. - Trainers’ plan-do-review cycle
- Deming’s plan-do-check-act
(also called the Schewart Cycle) - Six Sigma’s define-measure-analyse-improve-control
(DMAIC – see What is Six Sigma? …and DMAIC | Video)
All of them recognize one fundamental truth.
One intervention is rarely enough to effect the full change that you want.
Repeating the intervention may not be sufficient either. The decision cycle tells us to examine our world often and adjust our approach accordingly.
The OODA Loop and Coaching
This brings me to a last insight on the OODA Loop. It has an important place in workplace coaching.
All Project Managers will want to adopt some form of a coaching approach to develop their people. Coaching can help with motivation, performance levels, and skills development. See our feature article, How Coaching Skills will Make You a Better Project Leader.
The GROW Model (Goal-Reality-Options-Will) is one of the most widely adopted frameworks, best described in John Whitmore’s ‘Coaching for Performance‘. It is the model we describe in our own article.
Whitmore identifies Awareness and Responsibility as the foundations of coaching. The OODA Loop is another powerful way of articulating the message that, to grow, we must be constantly aware of our environment and understand it, and we must take responsibility for what we will do, and then do it.
Learn More: Related Ideas and Insights
Project Problem Solving
- Let’s start with this video, which is framed as being about solving problems, but embeds some of the core philosophy of the OODA Loop and, in particular, the Observation step: Two Approaches to Solving Project Problems.
- For more on problem-solving, generally: Problem Solving: A Systematic Approach
Staying in Control
- Thinking about Project Control, this video will really make you think: The Project Control Paradox | Video.
- This video presents a complementary model, the SCOPE Model, for how to stay calm in a crisis: How to Keep Cool in a Crisis: Stay calm when your project goes wrong!! | Video
The Monitor and Control Cycle is a Tool for the Delivery Stage of Your Project
- Our main article on the delivery stage of a project is The Secret of Project Delivery: Project Implementation Heartbeat
- If you want to deliver more quickly, take a look at this video: Speed up Your Projects: Faster Project Delivery | Video
- And this video will make you think: Project Delivery is the Easy Part of Managing Projects | Video
Are You Familiar with the OODA Loop?
Please do tell us about your experience with this – or any similar model you have worked with.
