Four steps to achieve anything
Military Technology development has always been a topic of debate in intellectual circles. It is said that it is luxurious to spend on the military while the basic survival needs of people are not fulfilled. While the counter-argument is that without ensuring the safety of citizens, it is futile to talk about their needs and wants.
There have been numerous technological developments that were done for armed forces but later used as solutions for many everyday problems. Here are a few examples:
- Internet and GPS were initially developed for military usage, and we cannot thank the inventors enough for them!
- Packaged food was again developed for soldiers and now this has made the lives of so many people easier than before.
- Wristwatches were also developed for soldiers first.
- Aviator glasses were first developed for aviation aircraft pilots (and hence the name).
- Alan Turing’s work on developing the encryption decoding machine during World War II laid the foundation for computers (There is a fantastic movie made on it named “The Imitation Game”. I highly recommend that you watch it).
- Many materials developed for military applications were later used in other spaces.
- The whole field of ‘Operations Research’ has its origin in military development.
Today, I want to share another great technique, which has its origin in the military. Still, we can use it in our daily life to achieve success in life! So, get ready to expand your knowledge…
Colonel John Boyd- very few of you must have heard this name. Colonel John Boyd was, as the name suggests, a colonel and also a military strategist in US Air Force. One of his responsibilities was to develop combating strategies for fighter pilots. During his tenure, he came across the cliché problem of fighting with a mightier opponent and still not let the opponent win. Any defense expert will tell you that in a war, the sheer number of military assets or their technological superiority, is not sufficient to guarantee a victory. (And hence the thought that in the event of an India-China conflict, China will be massive on us unilaterally, is baseless.)
This small loop has vast applications in daily life. Right from achieving your daily targets, completing a project, winning a game, pacifying your boss, managing relations, and battling a crisis like COVID-19, OODA guidelines are applicable everywhere.
Observe:
The foundation of the OODA loop lies in the concept that all decisions are based on observations of the evolving situation combined with the assessment of the problem at hand. Observation updates a person about the changes in the situation in a continuously changing environment. As we are progressing, the world is becoming more and more dynamic everywhere. Without observation and learning, one’s knowledge and skills have the risk of becoming obsolete. Observation is basically collecting all the information you can by observing. For example, when we enter someone’s home, we subconsciously observe the degree of warmth of the welcome, the quality of furniture, size of the house, maintenance level of the house, etc. Based on many such factors, we create a judgment about our host. Similarly, when a customer enters a shop, an adroit salesman is quick to observe their style of clothes, their body language, tone of speaking, manners, facial expressions, and so on to create a judgment about the customer.
Orientation:
Orientation means decoding the information received by observation. The way we perceive information depends on how we see the world. Our upbringing, education, belief, environment, and mental state impact our perception of information. A right orientation is important to understand the observed information correctly. For example, in the western style of living, the most importance is given to attire. If a person's attire is not appealing, nobody would be keen to befriend or even talk to the person. It is said that we make an opinion about a stranger within the first 30 seconds of meeting him/her.
The process of making an opinion depends on our past experiences, education, the environment we come from, the belief system we follow, and much more. Let’s say a person has a notion that every rich person in the world owns an I-Phone compulsorily. So, whenever he meets a person, he judges the person's richness based on whether that person owns an I-Phone or not! We all have many such notions and beliefs. And based on those, we make a judgment and hence decide how to respond to the person or situation. Are all these notions correct? Not always! Often, we make mistakes, and that’s why it is essential to keep learning and update our notions and beliefs regularly.
In the examples quoted above, our behavior as a guest depends on our observation and how we interpret those observations. Similarly, the judgment made by the salesman I mention above is helpful in identifying the latent needs of the customer and hence crucial in achieving not just customer satisfaction but customer delight.
Decide:
Once you have oriented yourself, you need to decide on how to respond to that information. Any given situation has many possible responses, and you have to decide on one of those many.
Act:
Once decided, you must think and act faster than the opponent can think and act. Successful people and companies always gather information (observe), form hypotheses about customer activity and their competitors (orient), make decisions, and quickly act on them.
Since the OODA loop is well known now, fighter pilots' job today is to use it faster and efficiently than opponents. While engaging in a dog fight battle, the pilot who is more agile and steadfast in using OODA loop steps has the edge and is more likely to win.
The utility of OODA Loop:
I know that not every one of us will become an air force pilot near soon! Then why am I telling you this? i.e., the most crucial question is how the OODA loop is useful for you in your life?
I have mentioned two examples above, where we all use the OODA loop unknowingly in our daily lives. One thing that is common for all of us is that we all are either working or, at some point, have worked for attaining a certain goal(s) in our life. These goals can be your dreams or tasks, projects at the workplace. Often things don’t proceed the way we want them to. Obstacles are quite common, and we get frustrated. Many of us give up (if it is not compulsory otherwise) working on the idea or project. So, the idea is that instead of giving up, we can use the OODA loop to work around those obstacles and achieve our dreams or goals. A physical opponent is not necessary to use the OODA loop. Sometimes, circumstances themselves appear to be opposing us and are tough to fight than an actual person.
I hope that you find this information about the OODA loop useful. Please share the article on your Whatsapp statuses, Whatsapp groups, Facebook, and wherever else possible. Your support is the only motivation we have, as there are no monetary gains involved (yet!)…
Suggested Reading: 1. Rituals of a balanced life
Just amazing!! This OODA loop is the actual way of making ourselves educated for addressing the situations of life.
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