{"id":82,"date":"2021-03-17T17:14:57","date_gmt":"2021-03-17T21:14:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/?p=82"},"modified":"2021-03-17T17:14:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T21:14:57","slug":"notes-on-the-tao-of-boyd-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/2021\/03\/17\/notes-on-the-tao-of-boyd-article\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes on The Tao of Boyd Article"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Tao of Boyd: How to Master the OODA Loop<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By Brett and Kate McKay<br>Article Link: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/articles\/ooda-loop\/\">https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/articles\/ooda-loop\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Starts with some background to explain who Boyd was and some of his notable contributions<ul><li>Aerial Attack Study<\/li><li>EM Theory<\/li><li>Work on F-15, F-16, A-10<\/li><li>Fails to mention his briefings such as patterns<\/li><li>Fails to mention his work in the reform movement<\/li><li>Fails to mention his work with the Marines and maneuver warfare<ul><li>These could be due to OODA playing a big part in it<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Introduces the OODA Loop<\/li><li>Briefly talks about how it is typically misunderstood<ul><li>Simplified<\/li><li>All about speed<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Why it is misunderstood<ul><li>No real written works, just briefings and<\/li><li><a href=\"http:\/\/pogoarchives.org\/m\/dni\/john_boyd_compendium\/destruction_and_creation.pdf\">\u201cDestruction and Creation.\u201d<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Talks about what the OODA loop really is<ul><li>\u201cits power is in the way it makes explicit, that which is usually implicit\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cIt is a learning system, a method for dealing with uncertainty, and a strategy for winning head-to-head contests and competitions\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cAmbiguity is central to Boyd\u2019s vision\u2026 not something to be feared but something that is a given\u2026We never have complete and perfect information. The best way to succeed is to revel in ambiguity.\u201d \u2013Grant Hammond, The Mind of War: John Boyd and American Security<\/li><li>Discusses ambiguity and inability to cope\/adapt<ul><li>\u201cWhen our circumstances change, we often fail to shift our perspective and instead continue to try to see the world as we feel it should be\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Discusses mental models<ul><li>What are mental models<\/li><li>How can they fail?<\/li><li>\u201cBoyd points to three philosophical and scientific principles to show that trying to understand a randomly changing universe with pre-existing mental models only results in confusion, ambiguity, and more uncertainty\u201d<\/li><li>\u201c<strong><em>G\u00f6del\u2019s Incompleteness Theorems. <\/em><\/strong>Boyd inferred from G\u00f6del\u2019s Incompleteness Theorems that any logical model of reality is incomplete (and possibly inconsistent) and must be continuously refined\/adapted in the face of new observations. However, as our observations about the world become more and more precise and subtle, a second principle kicks in which limits our ability to observe reality correctly: Heisenberg\u2019s Uncertainty Principle.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201c<strong><em>Heisenberg\u2019s Uncertainty Principle<\/em><\/strong><em>.<\/em> In a nutshell, this principle shows that we cannot simultaneously fix or determine the velocity <em>and<\/em> position of a particle or body. We can measure coordinates <em>or <\/em>movements of those particles, but not both. As we get a more and more precise measure of one value (velocity or positions), our measurement of the other value becomes more and more uncertain. The uncertainty of one variable is created simply by the act of observation. Applying this principle to understanding the world around us, Boyd inferred that even as we get more precise observations about a particular domain, we\u2019re likely to experience more uncertainty about another. Hence, there is a limitation in our ability to observe reality with precision.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201c<strong>2nd Law of Thermodynamics.<\/strong> Applying the <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Second_law_of_thermodynamics\">Second Law of Thermodynamics<\/a> to understanding reality, Boyd infers that individuals or organizations that don\u2019t communicate with the outside world by getting new information about the environment or by creating new mental models act like a \u201cclosed system.\u201d And just as a closed system in nature will have increasing entropy, or disorder, so too will a person or organization experience mental entropy or disorder if they\u2019re cut off from the outside world and new information. <strong>The more we rely on outdated mental models even while the world around us is changing, the more our mental \u201centropy\u201d goes up.<\/strong>\u201d<\/li><li>Discuss examples illustrating these<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Synthesizing these 3 principles<ul><li>\u201cTaken together, these three notions support the idea that any inward-oriented and continued effort to improve the match concept with observed reality will only increase the degree of mismatch.\u201d [emphasis mine]<\/li><li>\u201cto the man with only a hammer, everything is a nail.\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li><strong>\u201cIt is a state of mind, a learning of the oneness of things, an appreciation for fundamental insights known in Eastern philosophy and religion as simply the Way [or Tao]. For Boyd, the Way is not an end but a process, a journey\u2026The connections, the insights that flow from examining the world in different ways, from different perspectives, from routinely examining the opposite proposition, were what were important. The key is mental agility.\u201d \u2013Grant Hammond<\/strong><\/li><li>OODA Loop&nbsp;<ul><li>Simple diagram<ul><li>Doesn\u2019t tell the whole picture<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Complete diagram<ul><li>Explain each part<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Observe<ul><li>\u201cIf we don\u2019t communicate with the outside world\u2013to gain information for knowledge and understanding\u2013we die out to become a non-discerning and uninteresting part of that world.\u201d \u2013John Boyd<\/li><li>\u201cBy observing and taking into account new information about our changing environment, our minds become an open system rather than a closed one, and we are able to gain the knowledge and understanding that\u2019s crucial in forming new mental models\u201d<\/li><li>Examples<\/li><li>Two problems in this phase<ul><li>\u201cWe often observe imperfect or incomplete information (thanks to Heisenberg\u2019s Uncertainty Principle)\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cWe can be inundated with so much information that separating the signal from the noise becomes difficult\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>As John Boyd scholar Frans P.B. Osinga notes in Science, Strategy, and War, \u201ceven if one has perfect information it is of no value if it is not coupled to a penetrating understanding of its meaning, if one does not see the patterns. Judgment is key. Without judgment, data means nothing. <strong>It is not necessarily the one with more information who will come out victorious, it is the one with better judgment, the one who is better at discerning patterns<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong>\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Orient<ul><li>\u201c<strong>The reason Orient is the schwerpunkt of the OODA Loop is because that\u2019s where our mental models exist, and it is our mental models that shape how everything in the OODA Loop works.<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>\u201c<\/li><li>As Osinga notes, \u201corientation shapes the way we interact with the environment\u2026it shapes the way we observe, the way we decide, the way we act. In this sense, orientation shapes the character of present OODA loops, while the present loop shapes the character of future orientation.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cDestructive deduction\u201d and \u201cCreative induction\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cImagine that you are on a ski slope with other skiers\u2026that you are in Florida riding in an outboard motorboat, maybe even towing water-skiers. Imagine that you are riding a bicycle on a nice spring day. Imagine that you are a parent taking your son to a department store and that you notice he is fascinated by the toy tractors or tanks with rubber caterpillar treads.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now imagine that you pull the skis off but you are still on the ski slope. Imagine also that you remove the outboard motor from the motorboat, and you are no longer in Florida. And from the bicycle you remove the handle-bar and discard the rest of the bike. Finally, you take off the rubber treads from the toy tractor or tanks. This leaves only the following separate pieces: skis, outboard motor, handlebars and rubber treads.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u201cA loser is someone (individual or group) who cannot build snowmobiles when facing uncertainty and unpredictable change; whereas a winner is someone (individual or group) who can build snowmobiles, and employ them in an appropriate fashion, when facing uncertainty and unpredictable change.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cit\u2019s a continual process; as soon as you create that new mental concept, it will quickly become outdated as the environment around you changes.\u201d<\/li><li>How?<ul><li>Multiple mental models to pull from<ul><li>\u201cThe Air Force has got a doctrine, the Army\u2019s got a doctrine, Navy\u2019s got a doctrine, everybody\u2019s got a doctrine. [But if you] read my work, \u2018doctrine\u2019 doesn\u2019t appear in there even once. You can\u2019t find it. You know why I don\u2019t have it in there? Because it\u2019s doctrine on day one, and every day after it becomes dogma. That\u2019s why\u2026.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cWell, I understand you\u2019re going to have to write [military] doctrine, and that\u2019s all right\u2026 [But] even after you write it, assume it\u2019s not right. And look at a whole lot of other doctrines \u2013 German doctrine, other kinds of doctrines \u2013 and learn those too. And then you\u2019ve got a bunch of doctrines, and the reason you want to learn them all [is so that] you\u2019re not captured by any one, and you can lift stuff out of here, stuff out of there\u2026. You can put your snowmobile [together], and you do better than anyone else. <strong>If you got one doctrine, you\u2019re a dinosaur. Period<\/strong><strong>.<\/strong>\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cIn his presentation of Strategic Game of ? and ?, Boyd lays out seven disciplines every military strategist (or any person strategizing how to win any kind of conflict or competition) ought to know:\u201d<ul><li>Mathematical Logic<\/li><li>Physics<\/li><li>Thermodynamics<\/li><li>Biology<\/li><li>Psychology<\/li><li>Anthropology<\/li><li>Conflict (Game Theory)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Destroy and create mental models<\/li><li>Always be orienting<\/li><li>Test or validate mental models before operation<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Decide<ul><li>\u201ccomponent in which actors decide among action alternatives generated in the Orientation phase.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cFor Boyd, it\u2019s impossible to select a perfectly matching mental model because:<ul><li>We often have imperfect information of our environment<\/li><li>Even if we had perfect information, Heisenberg\u2019s Uncertainty Principle prevents us from attaining a perfect match-up between our environment and our mental model\u201c<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cWhen we decide, we\u2019re essentially moving forward with our best hypothesis \u2014 our best \u201ceducated guess\u201d \u2014 about which mental model will work\u201d<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Act<ul><li>\u201cBoyd has \u201cTest\u201d next to \u201cAct,\u201d again indicating that the OODA Loop is not only a decision process, but a learning system\u201d<\/li><li>As Osinga notes in Science, Strategy, and War, actions \u201cfeed back into the systems as validity checks on the correctness and adequacy of the existing orientation patterns.\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cWe gotta get an image or picture in our head, which we call orientation. Then we have to make a decision as to what we\u2019re going to do, and then implement the decision\u2026.Then we look at the [resulting] action, plus our observation, and we drag in new data, new orientation, new decision, new action, ad infinitum\u2026\u201d \u2013John Boyd<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>Tempo<ul><li>\u201cUnder OODA loop theory every combatant observes the situation, orients himself\u2026decides what to do and then does it. If his opponent can do this faster, however, his own actions become outdated and disconnected to the true situation, and his opponent\u2019s advantage increases geometrically.\u201d -John Boyd<\/li><li>Talks about why tempo is important and relevant<ul><li>Does not use the word friction<\/li><li>Alludes to the fact it is relative to the opponent<\/li><\/ul><\/li><li>\u201cFirst, the individual or organization that can go through successful, consecutive OODA Loops faster than their opponent will win the conflict. Second, rapid OODA Looping on your part \u201cresets\u201d your opponent\u2019s OODA Loop by causing confusion \u2013 it sends them back to square one\u201c<\/li><li>Talks about how people misinterpret speed\/tempo<\/li><li>\u201cWhat often gets overlooked by folks studying the OODA Loop is that when Boyd talked about rapid tempo, he often meant rapid changes in tempo\u201d<\/li><li>\u201cour actions need to be surprising, ambiguous, and varying; speeding up and slowing down your actions quickly and irregularly can create confusion just as much and sometimes more than simply blowing through your OODA Loop\u201d<\/li><li>Discusses how this time scales based on level (tactical, operational, strategic)<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My notes from reading &#8220;The Tao of Boyd: How to Master the OODA Loop&#8221; by Brett and Kate McKay<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[8,9],"class_list":["post-82","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boyd","category-warfighting","tag-boyd","tag-warfighting","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83,"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82\/revisions\/83"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danielfitzgerald.dev\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}