The following is a script of our podcast published 07 August 2021. It is not a perfect transcript but should give you the general idea of where the conversation went.
Hello and welcome to God’s Gym, the podcast where we consider how we can reach our full potential as human beings, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Jesus said he had come that we might have life in abundance, and we ask, what is abundant life and how can we live it?
I am Mark, and with me is Graeme and we are both Army Chaplains and today we are talking about making decisions and specifically a technique pioneered by US Air Force fighter pilots.
Col. John Boyd may be one of the most influential military strategists of the twentieth century. As an Air Force pilot during the Korean War, he pioneered air combat tactics for one of the first jet-powered fighters, the F-86 Sabre.
Boyd is perhaps best known for “The OODA Loop,” a thought process to help pilots quickly think through complex situations, in which a split second can mean the difference between life and death. OODA is an acronym for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act.
His technique became so effective that it was adapted to other branches of the military and has since crossed over to the civilian sector and is implemented in the corporate world, academia and sport, in fact anywhere where it is important to make good decisions and quickly. Have you heard about it Graeme?
Graeme: So, no this is new to me, but I have certainly thought about making decisions before. It is something we all do on a daily basis and some days we are better at it than others. One issue I struggle with is paralysis by analysis which causes me to stumble!
Mark: you are right, one of the things is that the OODA loop forces us to make decisions. What about perfectionism, you mentioned that before the show?
Graeme: well, the thing about perfectionism is that you are so set up that every time you make a decision it has to be exactly right and this can cripple you.
Mark: Have you heard about the 80% rule? You gather 80% of the information and when you do you act rather than always waiting for all the information which you may never have.
Let’s look at each of the four steps and see what we think:
Observe
Though it seems obvious, how many of us take the time to truly observe things?
Graeme: Well, my doctor diagnosed me with a severe lack of observation. (It came out of nowhere!)
Mark: Often, we are running around on auto-pilot with our mind cluttered, distracted, and oblivious to so much of what is going on around us. Alternatively, we see what we want to see, or expect to see. And there is an element of our brain that is very good at filling in gaps of information with stuff it thinks is helpful. If you ever see one of those pieces of writing with all the middle bits of the words missing. And yet you can still read the words and make sense of the sentences. It is because our brains are very good at taking a little information and making it work for us. Do watch the video on YouTube about the basketball players bouncing the ball while a man walks on wearing a gorilla suit, and nearly half the people who see the video are so focussed on the basketball game they don’t notice the gorilla!
Now that is great generally but there is a much better way of working and that is to focus, to truly look around and read the room or street or situation.
If we presume we know stuff already, or we don’t intentionally look, then the result is that we react impulsively rather than acting intentionally and inevitably we will be blindsided by events. But if we take some moments just to look and take note then we can be more resilient when something happens. Learning to be careful observers, and intentionally practicing situational awareness, is the first step of the OODA Loop.
Graeme: I have seen that video and it is a bit scary, really. Part of me wondered if life is so fast paced nature of life today and we are expected to do everything so quickly and there is little time to pause and reflect on things, does it discourage this approach?
Mark: you are right and it can be useful for our brains to be on autopilot but there are situations where really we need to develop the skill of pausing and reflecting.
Orient
Having observed a situation unfolding, the second step of the OODA Loop is to orient. Orient means to identify the players in a situation, determine what is happening, and ask what part we are to have in the situation if any. I guess it is the analysis of what you have observed in the first step. You walk into a street and see loads of people and notice one person on their phone not paying attention and about to walk into the road in front of moving traffic. What part do you have to play in that scenario? You assess or orient yourself.
Again, we tend not to do this by default. We don’t analyse stuff but we tend to be quite emotional or instinctive and that’s not a bad thing most of the time, but why not take some time to reflect on what is going on around us?
Graeme: and thinking about that scenario, is there an issue that we secretly want to avoid becoming involved? So the default position is head down and down look around, but then that becomes a habit over time.
Mark: Ask some simple questions and see how better prepared we are when we have to act!
Like most spy movies with some fieldcraft training – they walk into a café and are asked to notice the people and what they are doing and analyse threats and possible action. What is your part to play in the situation?
Graeme: When we are bringing home our first child – classic really, I suddenly noticed every little detail and every idiot driver on the road more intensely than ever before. It is about having so much invested in the situation.
Decide
Having observed the situation, and oriented as to who the players are and what if any part we should have, the next step is to decide what action we should take.
What options do I have? What will be the logical conclusions of these actions? This is the crunch. Are we going to do something? If we don’t observe and orient, then we have no choice. We will just get carried along or just impacted by whatever is happening.
Act
Having observed the situation, oriented, and decided, we then act. At that point, our action is the result of a logical, well-thought decision, based on careful observation and orientation. It’s not impulsive, its not a reaction to a situation that we never saw coming. We are able to take more charge of our lives. Then having then acted we return to having observed and repeat the loop. And keep going as the situation develops or evolves.
Doesn’t that sound good? Having more control over your life is a great source of peace and strength and overall resilience. So what is there not to like.
Graeme: Other than the fact OODA sounds like something from Willy Wonka – nothing at all!
Mark: Now one real challenge is making this a habit. Col. Boyd’s experience proved that as a learned discipline, it allowed them to remain calm under the intense pressure of air combat, which often meant the difference between life and death. With practice all four steps of the OODA Loop can be accomplished in 40 seconds! That’s quick but by practicing this process it became second-nature to his pilots.
Interestingly as a Christian I am encouraged to go through this process all the time in the bible. In Romans 12 I am encouraged to use my God-given brain and think about my life and the world around me.
In fact, as someone who believes in a God who has authority over me and cares about the world and the other people I share this world with, everything I do must be considered. Are my actions consistent with Scripture and pleasing to God? Will they be beneficial to those involved?
Graeme: Absolutely right at the heart of what it is to have Jesus as Lord of life – as in the military, we are all under authority and we don’t actually have ultimate authority over what we think, say and do! So this is a great point, we should recognise this and work with it.
Mark: Often we react based on emotion or our previous experiences. Sometimes we fight, flee or freeze due to basic primal responses. Sometimes we response only knowing part of the whole truth and sometimes we carry bias or prejudice and these all influence our responses so as a Christian I have to work hard to find a correct response sometimes. The OODA loop can help me in that.
Graeme: Completely, and Even the very act of pausing – whether we use the OODA loop well or not – allows us to consider better our actions.
Mark: Learning the four steps of the OODA Loop can be life changing. Who doesn’t want to avoid the heartache and consequences of ill-thought, impulsive decisions? Getting it right first time is always better than picking up the pieces afterwards.
Graeme: Talk about the idea that ‘it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to seek permission!’ and how that is fundamentally flawed. Of course, forgiveness is always on offer from God and often from others – but the consequences are potentially much better avoided.
Mark: There is another angle that I think is really important as well: Training. There is a saying sometimes attributed to US navy seals but was probably from the ancient Greek poet Archilochus who said:
“When we face battle, we don't rise to the level of our expectations; we fall to the level of our training."
What I think this means is that unless you build up the right skills and abilities as you go along, your options are always going to be limited. You might read the room and orient yourself in the situation. You might decide on a course of action and off you go, but you can only do what you can do and if you are lacking in something, you are out of time to learn what you need! I think this is true for sports, or for combat or leadership. If you have not put in the time in the gym, on the ranges or getting to know your people, your options are limited.
Graeme: Yes, I think ‘winging it’ only takes us so far! Even those of us who have had lots of practise in that area!! There is no question that building up the tank so there is plenty to draw on doesn’t have to make us complacent or assume that we will nail the problem – but it can give us a legitimate confidence that we are prepared to face challenges head on. Potentially even spur us to become involved in situations we might otherwise avoid or shy away from?
Mark: True, I know as a Christian this is so true as well. Our tendency to react according to our emotions, to follow the direction of your heart. But if you have been spending time in spiritual disciplines like prayer, reading, service to others, then you have an easier time trusting God and his guidance. But otherwise I lean into my own understanding and strengths and trust me that is not great. There’s a sense of “spiritual muscle memory” that comes to the forefront. Just as John Boyd trained his pilots to react correctly amid chaos, so we must train ourselves spiritually to react when the challenges of life and ministry come to the forefront.
How? Spend time with God. Dedicating time to deepening your relationship with God.
Graeme: Maybe be accountable to someone else as a mentor or friend. Having someone who asks questions of you and challenges you, while listening to both you and God, helps us come to know ourselves better. We all have biases, blind spots, and shortcomings, as well as strengths, talents, and giftedness. Just talking with someone yesterday about this very thing – and how we are often so resistant to let others in. To make ourselves vulnerable – requires an element of trust/faith in that other person…instead often motivated by self-preservation/pride.
Mark: Look for small (or large) ways to serve others and try new things and as you do observe, orient, decide and act in your relationship with those people and God. Even if you fail, you push the boundaries and practice truly living life.
Jesus said something really helpful in Luke’s Gospel when he said: 14:31
“What king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first, and determine whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that comes against him with twenty thousand?”
Christianity calls upon you to use your God-given brain, your mind, to think about what you are doing. It isn’t a set of beliefs and rituals. It turns out that the OODA loop existed before John Boyd wrote it down.
Don’t act thoughtlessly but understand what the Lord wants you to do. -Ephesians 5:17
So, when faced with any challenge, we can apply OODA:
Observe – wake up and pay attention
Orient – What is your part to play and what would God have you do?
Decide – the time for training is over, what are you going to do? Help others, serve God, be who God made you to be?
Act
In some ways this OODA loop helps make us more resilient but I think it’s greatest benefit is that it helps us reach our full potential and truly live life and make a difference. Have no regrets is a great goal and the OODA loop is one tool to live that way!
Well, there is so much more we could say about this and all the subjects we discuss. If you are listening and want to think let us know what you think then leave a message on our webpage at Godsgym.co.uk. Your comments are always welcome, and if there are topics or issues you would like us to address, we are always open to suggestions.
Until next time, thank you for listening and remember that you are capable of so much, God tells us so, so keep striving to reach your full potential as God made you.
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