I was really enthralled by a piece of military lingo called “OODA loops” introduced to me by Professor Allen at BYUH. My attraction to the concept was mainly because I found it a useful way to augment my cognitive perception on how to form and execute decisions (I sometimes struggle with larger life decisions and used to feel that many aspects of those decisions were too restrictive or forced on me).
So it made sense — why not overhaul the entire dynamic of the way decisions are constructed?
Developed by Col. John Boyd of the U.S. Air Force, OODA loops is a simple decision making pattern technique. The Air Force really didn’t care for it much, or for Col. Boyd for that matter (who was undefeated record in aerial dogfighting — he could annihilate anyone within 40 seconds). The Marine Corp. very much appreciated Boyd and his work and it’s now part of the training officers receive in OCS.
OODA — an acronym — stands for: Observe, orient, decide and act.
Pretty much common sense, right?
We observe and take in information, oriented ourselves based on our instincts and then act on them given enough conviction. Indeed, besides breaking down an broad concept that decision making can sometimes be, there’s not much to OODA loops until you realize the trick to using them.
That trick isn’t to wait for enough observable information to allow some masterstroke of a decision manifest in ourselves. The purpose of OODA loops is to inspire us to make decisions irregardless of whether or not we have perfect information and to act with the intent to act again in rapid order.
In an aerial dogfight, pilots don’t make one move and wait for the chips to fall. The successful pilots act again based on their observations and ability to quickly orient themselves. Victory comes to the pilot that can cycle through several rounds of this process of observing, orienting, deciding and acting.
I.e., a person who can execute five quick decisions compared to someone who is bogged down and can only rattle out two decisions will emerge triumphant.
(Marines love this tactic because it encourages their officers to make mistakes. That’s right, the most lethal fighting entity since the Spartan Warriors of ancient Greece actively encourage mistakes to improve adaptation. Officers who don’t act quick or mess up are considered complacent.)
The OODA Loop shows how decision making is really an art form (and sometimes an exercise) everyone should be well versed in; not an enigma that daunts or molests us.
Moreover — as you internalize and contemplate OODA’s potential applications — you’ll discover it is a method that allows for complete spontaneity in life while disciplining us with some structure. Like all abstract concepts, its not something easily or immediately implementable without some work, but with a little thought and practice the mindset can be invaluable.
As the cliche goes, the only constant in life is change. Decision making is all about confronting change — whether or not that change is self-inflicted or brought on by external forces.
Unfortunately, we all too often view change as an undesirable element in our lives when change is really a good friend who visits us from time to time to make sure life is never too dull.
August 14th, 2007 in Commentary | 2 Comments »
There are tents offering an assortment of foods and services plastered all along the roads that take tourists around the complexes at Angkor Wat. There are not a lot of supply trucks that make runs to these “Mom and Pop’s” establishments.
Most of the time, the mechanized transport of choice is in fact the moped.
My Tuk Tuk had abandoned me to go attend a wedding celebration on the outskirts of Angkor Thom. After walking myself into a frenzy, I began taking photos of of the tent areas after eating lunch to get all the touts to shut up.
This photo was my favorite — the driver was so overloaded that he couldn’t even start his bike.
Camera equipment used on this exposure was:
Canon EOS 30D
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L-series lens
Indeed, I must confess again that my life is not so very hard.
July 14th, 2007 in Photography | No Comments »
I’ve been struggling lately trying to fully understand why women get themselves into “bad” relationships and get severely burned in the process. By “bad” I mean intentionally doomed — incompatible personalities, differences in values, opposing ideas of what they want to do with their lives.
Guys seem much more isolated from this tendency. And if not, don’t seem to suffer nearly as much in the end as women do.
I spent three hours talking to an old girlfriend tonight about the end of her doomed relationship.
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July 14th, 2007 in Journal | No Comments »
There’s an epic quality in witnessing a sunset. I’ve thought of them as the final great crescendo the day provides us no matter what the struggles and failings we may have experienced in the hours before.
If only we’d stop and take the time to pay attention and recognize.
I took this photo in the Gulf of Thailand during my trip to Southeast Asia in Spring of 2007. The only thing more spectacular than this was the starry night that followed it.
I used the following equipment to make the exposure:
- Canon EOS 30D
- Canon 17-40mm L-series lens
Amazingly, I forgot both my tripod and shutter switch and instead jerry rigged my camera’s timer to go off and placed it in a secure spot on a grounded boat to avoid camera shake.
July 9th, 2007 in Photography | No Comments »
My body is truly a peculiar thing. It’s been a struggle for me at times to understand it.
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July 9th, 2007 in Journal | No Comments »
Ao Nammao holds an endearing place in my consciousness as the closest I’ve been to heaven. I envy the owner and workers of the bungalows that I stayed at for they get to live the life we all dream of. Every morning and every night, the bungalow manager stands watch and bears witness to the sun’s majestic opening and climax before going back to work.
Most of us will work 80 hour work weeks to get two weeks off a year to glimpse at the rare privilege some people have already archived for every day of the week.
This exposure was taken with the following equipment:
- Canon EOS 30D
- Canon 17-40mm L-series lens
- Remote shutter switch
- Tripod
Expect an equally dramatic sunset photo to add symmetry to this post later in the week.
July 9th, 2007 in Photography | 1 Comment »
MySpace is just an odd place for random encounters these days.
The tally so far:
- 5 porn stars (sorry, I mean “aspiring” models)
- 1 crazy psychopath from the past
- 2 people thinking I was someone else
- 1 person trying to gain access for blackmail purposes (like there’s anything blackmail-able in my profile)
Add to that: Two people from my 5th grade elementary class who literally found me out of the blue. After talking with each of them a bit, it’s amazing how people turn out after embarking down radically different paths.
Not “wrong” paths or “bad” paths — just different.
One has been married, divorced, had a child and lost the child due to an alleged murder and is now crusading for child rights.
Stranger than that sounds, I’m actually enjoying catching up with people from “the past.” My 5th grade year was my last in public school before my parents started homeschooling me. At my own request.
Suffice to say, there’s not many warm fuzzies from that era.
In talking with them, it’s interesting to note how for many of us the social divides and barriers that once separated us are now utterly meaningless. It’s as if they never even existed. Now, Walnut Elementary school is no longer that place where a lot of things happened, but something we survived and shared together.
So now the question is, seeing as these things happen in threes, who else from the past is going to emerge from the shadows?
July 8th, 2007 in Journal | No Comments »
June is my favorite month of the year. It lays just past the border edge of summer that May ushers in while not being as extreme as August. The world always looks its best in June.
And, like always, I utterly squander it away.
A brief review of history:
2003: Stuck in Kansas doing who knows what. I don’t remember? Do you? I didn’t think so.
2004: Freakin’ Dr. Kimzey’s Economic 201 class during Spring Semester. ‘Nuff said.
2005: Economic Development with Dr. Hanes. More students use four letter words to describe this class than any other.
2006: Just had quit my first post-college job and went camping in the Ozarks. For a week. Not a total loss, but seizing only 1 out of 4 weeks is still a failing grade.
2007: Springfield Freakin’ Missouri. A sense of limbo gives way to stagnation. Work is work, nothing particularly meaningful. Nothing really eye catching in the local scene either. Housemate drama out the wazoo.
So, like every past June that I can remember, I get into an overly introspective mood that compels me to go into overdrive to salvage what’s left of the summer.
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June 27th, 2007 in Journal | No Comments »
Add to the ever-growing list: The Hmong, China’s second largest ethnic minority.
I think you’ll agree that my justifications are understandable after reading this excerpt from NPR:
In a clearing surrounded by mountains in southern China’s Yunnan province, members of the Miao are celebrating the new year with the Flower Mountain Festival. Would-be lovers court each other through song. Legend has it that the Miao’s distinctive piercing tones carry far in order to attract distant partners outside their own kin.
…
“Han Chinese don’t sing mountain songs,” he says. “They look at a partner’s talents, their figure, their weight, their family property, etc. But we find a partner through singing. Even if someone is very ugly, the main thing is if they can sing, then they might be able to show love. People who are too good-looking just love themselves.”
The women would run from me in mass. Children would wail and cry in fear. The men would gather pitchforks and torches and pursue me into the far flung regions of the Gobi Desert until my gravely, almost-tone-deaf voice was silenced forever.
So, the current “Cultures that Christopher Wouldn’t Thrive In” list looks something like this:
And the beat goes on.
June 25th, 2007 in Current Events | 1 Comment »
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I was really enthralled by a piece of military lingo called “OODA loops” introduced to me by Professor Allen at BYUH. My attraction to the concept was mainly because I found it a useful way to augment my cognitive perception on how to form and execute decisions (I sometimes struggle with larger life decisions and used to feel that many aspects of those decisions were too restrictive or forced on me). 
