Originally developed by Air Force Colonel John Boyd as a decision-making process for combat operations, the OODA loop is a structured process that can be easily applied beyond its intended military context.

OODA stands for: Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. As proposed by Boyd it is represented as follows:

A simplified version of the Boyd OODA Loop:

Observations are the inputs. They are the facts and circumstances upon which decisions will be based. Orientation is the process by which facts and circumstances are analyzed. The background and experiences of the decision-maker are the prism through which inputs are evaluated. The decision is the point at which a course of action is formulated and finalized. This will likely require choosing between multiple courses of action. The act is the implementation of the arrived upon decision.  The process continually loops throughout the decision-making process.

The Boyd OODA Loop is an iterative process both between and within nodes. New information continually enters the system. The results of prior acts and decisions are incorporated into the loop. Velocity is a factor. Generally faster is better, although the speed at which the cycle loops will vary by the nature of the decision being made. The adage “the perfect is the enemy of the good” should be kept in mind. It is better to have a series of good actions rather than periods of inaction occasioned by seeking perfection. This is particularly the case if the decision being made is in response to an outside actor who has instituted its own decision-making processes.

The Boyd OODA Loop provides a framework for analysis for both incident response and risk avoidance. An example of the former might be formulating a fight-or-flight response in the face of a physical aggressor. An example of the later might be deciding whether or not to travel to, or to leave, a country or region based upon known and/or changing conditions. OODA provides a structured, intuitive, easy to understand and implement decision-making strategy that can be adopted to a wide variety of scenarios.