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{{short description|Observe–orient–decide–act cycle}}
{{redirect|Ooda|the Japanese city|Ōda, Shimane}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}


The '''OODA loop''' (observe, orient, decide, act) is a decision-making model developed by  [[United States Air Force]] Colonel [[John Boyd (military strategist)|John Boyd]]. He applied the concept to the [[combat operations process]], often at the operational level during military campaigns. Analysts often apply the model to understand commercial operations and learning processes. The approach explains how agility can overcome raw power in dealing with human opponents.

==The OODA loop==
As can be seen from the diagram, the OODA loop includes continuous collection of feedback and observations. This enables late commitment, which is an important element of agility. This is in contrast to the [[PDCA]] (plan–do–check–act) cycle which requires early commitment.

==Use in law and business==
The OODA loop has become an important concept in [[litigation strategy|litigation]],{{sfn|Dreier|2012|pp=20–85}} business,{{sfn|Richards|2004|pp=162–171}} [[law enforcement]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Papenfuhs |first1=Steve (Pappy) |title=The OODA loop, reaction time, and decision making |date=15 February 2012 |url=https://www.police1.com/use-of-force/articles/the-ooda-loop-reaction-time-and-decision-making-fEOcXtsXFutU07cY/ |publisher=PoliceOne.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125183753/https://www.police1.com/use-of-force/articles/the-ooda-loop-reaction-time-and-decision-making-fEOcXtsXFutU07cY/ |access-date=3 November 2016 |archive-date=25 January 2021 }}</ref> management education,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ryder |first1=Mike |last2=Downs |first2=Carolyn |title=Rethinking reflective practice: John Boyd's OODA loop as an alternative to Kolb |journal=The International Journal of Management Education |date=November 2022 |volume=20 |issue=3 |page=100703 |doi=10.1016/j.ijme.2022.100703 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Ryder |first1=Mike |editor1-last=Wall |editor1-first=Tony |editor2-last=Trevisan |editor2-first=Laís Viera |editor3-last=Filho |editor3-first=Walter Leal |editor4-last=Shore |editor4-first=Adam |title=Sustainability in Business Education, Research and Practices |date=2024 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-3-031-55995-2 |pages=77–89 |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-55996-9_6 |chapter=Using OODA Loops to Build Sustainable Practice into Business Education|series=World Sustainability Series |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-55996-9_6 }}</ref> [[military strategy]] and [[Computer security|cyber security]], and [[cyberwarfare]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Fifth Domain: Defending Our Country, Our Companies, and Ourselves in the Age of Cyber Threats|last=Clarke|first=Richard|publisher=Penguin Press|year=2019|isbn=978-0525561965|pages=81}}</ref> According to Boyd, [[decision-making]] occurs in an iterative cycle of "observe, orient, decide, act". An entity (whether an individual or an organization) that can process this cycle quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly and/or more effectively than an opponent, can thereby get inside the opponent's decision cycle and gain the advantage.

[[Jamie Dimon]], chairman and CEO of [[JPMorgan Chase]], has said he uses the OODA loop in scenario evaluation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2024/04/09/jamie-dimon-jpmorgan-military-leadership-tactic-ooda-loop/|title=Jamie Dimon says he runs JPMorgan with a military tactic in mind named the 'OODA loop'|first=Eleanor|last=Pringle|website=Fortune|date=4 April 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/2024/10/29/jamie-dimon-world-war-three-fears-nuclear-proliferation/|title=Jamie Dimon says World War III may have already begun|first=Eleanor|last=Pringle|website=Fortune|date=29 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jpmorganchase.com/ir/annual-report/2023/ar-ceo-letters#management-lessons|title=Jamie Dimon's Letter to Shareholders, Annual Report 2023 &#124; JPMorganChase|website=www.jpmorganchase.com}}</ref>

==Criticism==
Some scholars are critical of the concept. Aviation historian Michael Hankins, for example, writes that "the OODA loop is vague enough that its defenders and attackers can each see what they want to see in it. For some, the OODA concept's flexibility is its strength, but for others it becomes so generalized as to lose its usefulness." He concludes that "The OODA loop is merely one way among a myriad of ways of describing intuitive processes of learning and decision making that most people experience daily. It is not incorrect, but neither is it unique or especially profound."<ref>{{cite book |first=Michael W. |last=Hankins |title=Flying Camelot: The F-15, the F-16, and the Weaponization of Fighter Pilot Nostalgia |series=Battlegrounds: Cornell Studies in Military History |location=Ithaca, NY |publisher=Cornell University Press |date=2021 |pages=134–135 |isbn=9781501760655 |oclc=1245345653}}</ref>

==See also==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Decision cycle]]
* [[Double-loop learning]]
* [[Feedback loop]]
* Improvement cycle
** [[DMAIC]]
** [[PDCA]]
* [[Learning cycle]]
* [[Maneuver warfare]]
* [[Mental model]]
* [[Nursing process]]
* [[Problem solving]]
* [[Situation awareness]]
* [[SWOT analysis]]
* [[United States Army Strategist]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite journal |last=Bazin |first=Aaron A. |date=January–February 2005 |title=Boyd's O-O-D-A loop and the infantry company commander |journal=[[Infantry (magazine)|Infantry]] |volume=94 |issue=1 |pages=17–19 |id={{ProQuest|219733932}} |url=https://d-n-i.net/fcs/pdf/bazin_ooda.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last = Boyd |first = John R. |url = https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Destruction_%26_Creation.pdf |title = Destruction and Creation |publisher = U.S. Army Command and General Staff College |date = 3 September 1976}}
* {{cite web |last=Boyd |first=John, R. |date=28 June 1995 |title=The Essence of Winning and Losing |url=https://danford.net/boyd/essence.htm |website=danford.net}} A supposed five-slide set by Boyd.
* {{cite book |last=Dreier |first=A. S. |title=Strategy, Planning & Litigating to Win: Orchestrating Trial Outcomes with Systems Theory, Psychology, Military Science, and Utility Theory |date=2012 |location=Boston, MA |publisher=Conatus Press |isbn=978-0615676951 |oclc=917563752}}
* {{cite web |last=Greene |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Greene (American author) |date=24 February 2007 |title=OODA and You |url=https://powerseductionandwar.com/ooda-and-you/ |website=powerseductionandwar.com}}
* {{cite magazine |last=Hillaker |first=Harry |author-link=Harry Hillaker |date=July 1997 |title=Tribute To John R. Boyd |magazine=Code One Magazine |url=https://www.codeonemagazine.com/article.html?item_id=156 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070917232626/http://www.codeonemagazine.com/archives/1997/articles/jul_97/july2a_97.html |archive-date=2007-09-17 |url-status=live}}
* {{cite book |last=Osinga |first=Frans P. B. |date=2007 |orig-year=2005 |title=Science, strategy and war: the strategic theory of John Boyd |series=Strategy and history |volume=18 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0415371032 |oclc=67773991 |doi=10.4324/9780203088869}} [http://www.projectwhitehorse.com/pdfs/ScienceStrategyWar_Osinga.pdf PDF of the dissertation version].
* {{cite book |last1=Owen |first1=Jillian |last2=Burstein |first2=Frada |last3=Hall |first3=William P. |date=2004 |chapter=Knowledge reuse in project management |editor1-last=Linger |editor1-first=Henry |editor2-last=Fisher |editor2-first=Julie |editor3-last=Wojtkowski |editor3-first=Wita |editor4-last=Wojtkowski |editor4-first=W. Gregory |editor5-last=Zupančič |editor5-first=Jože |editor6-last=Vigo |editor6-first=Kitty |editor7-last=Arnold |editor7-first=Josie |title=Constructing the Infrastructure for the Knowledge Economy: Methods and Tools, Theory and Structure |location=New York |publisher=Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers |pages=443–454 |isbn=0306485540 |oclc=55877281 |doi=10.1007/978-1-4757-4852-9_33}}
* {{cite book |last=Richards |first=Chet |date=2004 |title=Certain to Win: The Strategy of John Boyd, Applied to Business |location=Philadelphia |publisher=[[Xlibris]] |isbn=1413453775 |oclc=57207751}}
* {{cite web |last=Schuck |first=Tod |date=11 May 2017 |title=OODA Loop 2.0: Information, Not Agility, Is Life |url=https://breakingdefense.com/2017/05/ooda-loop-2-0-information-not-agility-is-life/ |website=Breaking Defense}}
* {{cite journal |last=Ullman |first=David G. |date=April 2007 |title='OO-OO-OO!': the sound of a broken OODA loop |journal=CrossTalk: The Journal of Defense Software Engineering |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=22–25 |citeseerx=10.1.1.170.5341 |url=http://crosstalkonline.org/storage/issue-archives/2007/200704/200704-Ullman.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728010539/http://crosstalkonline.org/storage/issue-archives/2007/200704/200704-Ullman.pdf |archive-date=2012-07-28}}

== External links ==
* [https://danford.net/boyd/ The John Boyd Library] (archived documents by Boyd)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ooda Loop}}
[[Category:Feedback]]
[[Category:Intelligence analysis]]
[[Category:Strategy]]
[[Category:Systems analysis]]
[[Category:United States Air Force]]