Tag Archives: ooda loop
The importance of having real-time vision
We can draw many lessons from the world of sports onto business, I was watching a feature video on ESPN on Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash on a Point Guard’s Vision and couldn’t help but see the correlation between vision in sports and in business. In business there’s talk of the need of having a vision or a BIG idea behind and organization’s direction, but there’s also the real-time vision a leader needs to possess to make sense of things in a rapidly changing world and make a right decision.
Just like an NBA point guard is defined by how well he runs his offense and assist his teammates to a position where they have the advantage, a business leader is judged by the strategic decisions he makes to position his company so it’s business strategy gives it an advantage.
Strategy is all about making choices and in a rapid changing world the ability to see the play develop (Observe), read the defense (Orient), seeing the gap (Decide) and exploit it (Act) by making the perfect pass is of vital importance.
See a pattern there? The OODA loop.
On the fly, improvisational, rapid strategy development and Steve Nash knows all about it. The OODA is not going to work all the time, it’s a tool to assist in learning about an environment and making decisions, it doesn’t make visions come true but it’s better that relying on a static plan of action in a dynamic world.
The lesson is: As business leaders we must develop real-time vision to strategize on the fly and create order out of chaos.
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Weekend innovation tip: Outthink opponents like Peyton Manning
Ah yes the Super Bowl is here and we have one of the greatest quarterbacks in the game playing in it: Peyton Manning.
Peyton Manning is unlike any quarterback, he operates a no huddle offense that relies on reading the defense and making adjustments before the snap. This helps create confusion for the defense so they don’t really know what’s coming at them. What makes all this possible is his great use of the OODA loop, which stands for observe, orient, decide, and act.
This happens so fast that opposing defenses have a hard time making a play on him because the ball leaves his hands so fast, that they’re left guessing where he might throw the ball. This enabled him to be sacked only 10 times this season!
What this means is that he had more opportunities to throw the ball to his receivers for plays. (more…)
Conventions are made to be challenged
Are you the underdog?
Malcolm Gladwell has written a insightful article on competitive strategy on how David beats Goliath by challenging the conventions of how battles are supposed to be fought.
Using examples from basketball, military war games and anecdotes of military history Gladwell exposes ways that inferior teams have used unconventional tactics to break the rules and beat superior opponents.
How underdogs break the rules
- When underdogs choose not to play by Goliath’s rules, they win.
- David can beat Goliath by substituting effort for ability.
- Brake the rhythm of encounters to match your speed.
- Effort can trump ability.
- Relentless effort is in fact something rarer than the ability to engage in some finely tuned act of motor coordination.
- Always challenge the conventions of how battles are supposed to be fought.
- Bring your own rules to the game.
Key Takeaway:
Effort can trump ability and conventions are made to be challenged.
Although the article doesn’t explicitly state it, speed and agility are the hallmarks of the OODA Loop created by military strategist John Boyd, which is used to get into your opponent’s decision cycle and then use speed to break his rhythm…this gives strategists a unique advantage.
If you’re interested in how you can break the rules of the game by using real-time strategic thinking I recommend your read about the OODA Loop (for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act)
