The OODA Loop

John Boyd’s decision cycle from military strategy: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. The common failure is jumping straight to decide-and-act while skipping real observation and orientation. It’s a useful baseline — though the more powerful framing treats the loop as evolutionary, iterating toward better explanations rather than just faster reactions.

Why it matters: most bad decisions are orientation failures. Slow down the front of the loop before speeding up the back.