Tag Archives: ooda
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…)
What is strategy? Part trois
The future belongs to those that are fluid, fast and nonlinear.
It’s always great to hear other people think about strategy as a learning mechanism and less as a detail step by step plan. Here’s a recent presentation by Matthew Milan dubbed ‘The New Strategy’ where he argues that strategy as it’s practiced is dead. No s**t!
I’ve written about how most people see strategy as a detailed step by step action plan whereas I think strategy is finding or creating options that give me an advantage at any moment, the OODA loop which Matthew mentions is based on this principle.
You win by being able to go through a decision cycle as fast everything is changing around you and then deciding which option best fits the moment.
Being fast, fluid and unpredictable gives a strategist great power over people following a rule book because nothing is ever cast in stone, adaptability is your greatest weapon.
Watch the accompanied video of Matthew’s presentation.
