Boyd and OODA

Essays rooted in or influenced by John Boyd's work on decision cycles, competitive tempo, and strategic agility. Boyd's OODA loop - Observe, Orient, Decide, Act - is a recurring framework throughout the archive, but these pieces engage with it most directly.

John Boyd never published a book, but his briefings and the interpretations of his followers have shaped strategic thinking across military, business, and policy domains. The OODA loop is the most widely known piece of his work, though often reduced to a simplistic "be faster" message that misses the deeper insight about orientation and the destruction of an opponent's ability to make coherent decisions.

The essays below approach Boyd's ideas from different angles. Some engage directly with the OODA framework. Others use adjacent concepts - tempo, maneuverability, initiative, pattern rigidity - that draw from the same intellectual tradition without necessarily citing Boyd by name. Together, they form one of the strongest thematic threads in the archive.

May 3, 2011
A Moment of Silence with John Boyd
Reflecting on the influence of John Boyd at the place where he is buried. What his ideas mean in retrospect and why they continue to resonate.
July 24, 2011
Chet Richards Review of Tempo
A review of the Tempo thesis from a Boyd scholar and strategist. How the OODA tradition intersects with the tempo framework.
October 25, 2011
Thrust, Drag, and the 10x Effect
Aerodynamic metaphors for momentum and productivity, informed by Boyd's emphasis on energy and maneuverability.
July 16, 2012
Positioning Moves Versus Melee Moves
Two kinds of strategic moves and the tempo that governs each - a distinction rooted in Boyd's thinking about initiative and orientation.
October 2, 2012
Annealing the Tactical Pattern Stack
How tactical patterns solidify and become rigid, and the deliberate process of reheating and reshaping them.
June 24, 2013
Lagrangian and Eulerian Decision Making
Two frameworks from physics applied to decision cycles. The Lagrangian view tracks a particle; the Eulerian view observes from a fixed position.
September 9, 2013
The Practice of Making Decisions
Decision-making as a skill that improves with deliberate practice, not just accumulated experience.
June 3, 2011
Towards Thick Strategy Narratives
Moving past thin abstractions in strategy toward stories rich enough to survive contact with reality.

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