OODA Loop

The OODA or Observe-Orient-Decide-Act Loop is an interesting decision making theory which has it roots in the miltary. The brain-child of Col. John Boyd, it emphasizes the need for quick decision making in a continuous process which pays attention to the reaction of the opposition. Broadly, the four step loop goes like this:

1. Observe - To be aware of the situation in the environment and factors around oneself. This step involves being observant enough to identify objects of interest and to be experienced and discreet enough to pick out only essential elements for the decision making process.
   
   
2. Orient - With the situational information gathered, apply past ideas, cultural background, experience and analysis to gain understanding of what all these elements of the environment mean. Also, trying to understand the opposition (in some cases) and how their decision making process may work given the same set of situational factors will also enable a better decision in the next step.
   
   
3. Decide - Based on the first two steps, select a best fit option to be implemented. There may be several alternatives present in theis stage and some limited mental hypothesis may be used to select the most appropriate one.
   
   
4. Act - The implementation phase itself to put the chosen alternative into action. In some cases, the action may be a limited ones used as a means to test out the effective-ness of complete commitment.

And the cycle doesn't stop here, it continues again as the last action taken affects the situation and one has to start at the observation stage again.

This is a pretty interesting decision making process and probably one that can become faster as one gets used to the schematic framework of this. The resulting increase in decision making speed should be a tremendous advantage in many situations.

( Further Reading : Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War )