Articles
Boyd’s Cycle Examined In Detail - Part 3
The Third (Hidden) "O" in "OO_DA"
By: Frank Borelli
http://www.borelliconsulting.com
For any contemporary warrior who is not already familiar with Boyd's Cycle - the human decision making paradym - I say to you, "Go and study." First documented by Col. John Boyd (USAF Ret, now deceased), the Human Decision Making Cycle is comprised of the following four steps repeated in endless loops: Observe; Orient; Decide; Act. Anyone who has ever been in a fight knows that thinking faster than your opponent matters - and not just a little. Veteran combatants have given testimony as to the applicability and importance of Boyd's Cycle. More specifically, they've talked about how important
it is for every warrior to understand what an "OODA Loop" is and how moving through it faster than your opponent means you'll be victorious. This week we take an in-depth look at the third (hidden) "O": as in OH SH*T. Boyd's sketch of the OODA Loop as presented in his summation of "A Discourse of Winning and Losing", which he referred to as "the big
squeeze," 28 June 1995. From "The Mind of War - John Boyd and American Security" What Col. Boyd didn't show in his diagram, but something that every
contemporary warrior has experienced, is that third (hidden) "O" that stands for "OH, SH*T!" It's the "O" that kicks in and overwhelmingly affects your performance when you are surprized by a violent and aggressive attack or when the results of your previous actions are simply so unexpected that your Observation and Orientation become overloaded. What is truly significant to note here is that NOTHING CHANGES. Even when that third "O" kicks in you
are still going to cycle through OODA Loops. The difference is that you will be doing them subconsciously rather than at any level of conscious control and awareness. Let's take a look at that because it matters a great deal to the outcome of any conflict. Now you may ask, "What difference does it make if the decision is conscious or subconscious?" There are a couple of differences and ally of them are significant to the contemporary warrior.
1) You aren't consciously aware of a subconscious decision and therefore can't articulate the reasoning behind it after the fact. Virtually every contemporary warrior has to justify his actions in some way, shape or form today. Whether it's to a domestic jury, grand jury or administrative investigating body, or to the society of the world, any law enforcement professional or soldier today has to be able to explain why he did what he did after the fact. That articulation requires us to remember and put into words all of our sensory input (what we say, heard, felt, smelled and tasted as appropriate) that led us up to making the decision to take the action we took. Here's the problem: If all of the decision making was subconscious our conscious mind was never aware of any of it and we therefore can't explain our actions. That's a bad spot to be in... but it can be addressed with proper training.
2) Subconscious decisions are made infinitely faster than conscious decisions. Studies have shown that the conscious mind can process five to seven pieces of information. Those pieces of information are processed as they are received - this is called "linear analysis" or "logical processing". Each step in the process depends on the successful completion of the step before. Said in a different way,you get data A, analyze it and integrate it into your decision
making process; then you get data B and, based on what you just did with data A, you analyze and integrate data B into your decision making process. Hmmm... five to seven bits of data: that A, B, C, D, E, F AND G. Now I'm just enough of a jerk to ask: what happens if...What if the data comes in as A, D, C, E, B, G and then F? Will the analysis and integration into my decision making cycle still be appropriate? My guess is probably not. Next question...What if I get MORE than seven bits of data? What if I get A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M and N thrown at me all at once? My mind
will grab the first five to seven it perceives and the rest will "fall through the cracks". So, if I get A, C, F, H, J, L and N, and use them to make my decision, will my decision be appropriate? Again I say, probably not. However, both of those scenarios are set in the conscious mind. Let's take a look at the subconscious mind now... The subconscious mind is capable of processing hundreds of pieces of data and it processes them in parallel instead of linearly. What does that mean for us? It means that our subconscious mind can comprehend, analize and integrate data we're not consciously aware
of into our decision making process. The subconscious mind can react much faster to an immediate threat - and stands a much greater chance of outputting appropriate decisions than the conscious mind does.
So, the strength: subconsciously we can make super-fast decisions that are far more apprporiate based on an overwhelming load of data being perceived.
The weakness: we aren't consciously aware of why we did what we did so we have a hard time explaining why we did it after the fact. The reason for hope: with proper training and conditioning, we can train our subconscious mind to process data in accordance with all of the inputs that affect our Orientation segment of the OO_DA process. If you recall, there are five inputs to "Orientation". They are:
1) Cultural Traditions
2) Genetic Heritage
3) New Information
4) Previous Experiences
5) Analyses / Synthesis
We can't change numbers 1 or 2, nor can we control #3. However, by training our subconscious mind in high-stress scenario-based force-on-force curriculums, we can develop the experiential base required to support appropriate and justifiable subconscious decision making. By training in those types of situations, we can let our mind "see" high-threat circumstances and learn to respond to them. Because of the nature of the stress inducing stimuli, the
decision making process will be forced into the subconscious realm. The after-action-review will assist us in evaluating our performance
and whether or not it was apprpriate. The integration of the subconscious decision and the analysis of it afterward serves to prepare our subconscious mind to alter the resulting decisions the next time we're exposed to the same (or similar enough) high stress stimuli. By doing this, #4 and #5 are positively affected. This is definitely to our advantage.
The next step is to find a way to prompt our subconscious mind into feeding data into conscious awareness so that we can justify our behavior after the fact. One reality of life that we should recognize here: If what we did was unquestionably right we will still have to justify it, but the effort necessary will be greatly reduced - less explanation will be required. Because the mind processes visual images faster than auditory or other types of sensory input, and because an estimated 80% of the data we use to make decisions comes to us through our eyes, it's imperative that we develop, train with and regularly use graphic imagery to prompt the subconscious data cues into conscious awareness. This involves a process of examining current graphic
support for Use of Force protocols, analyzing them for subconscious processing, editing them as necessary to work more efficiently with
subconscious prompting, and then republishing them for training and eference use. The bottom line is this: the subconscious decision making process is
a reality. It can be a powerful tool to be used by the contemporary warrior, but only if that warrior has been properly informed about it; trained to trust it; and conditioned properly to empower it. Only then will he respond appropriately when he's smacked in the face with that third (hidden) "O".
Next week, in part four of this series, we're going to take a closer look at the decision segment of OO_DA and all of the inputs / feedbacks that affect it as it's repeated in the OO_DA Loops.
By: Frank Borelli
http://www.borelliconsulting.com
For any contemporary warrior who is not already familiar with Boyd's Cycle - the human decision making paradym - I say to you, "Go and study." First documented by Col. John Boyd (USAF Ret, now deceased), the Human Decision Making Cycle is comprised of the following four steps repeated in endless loops: Observe; Orient; Decide; Act. Anyone who has ever been in a fight knows that thinking faster than your opponent matters - and not just a little. Veteran combatants have given testimony as to the applicability and importance of Boyd's Cycle. More specifically, they've talked about how important
it is for every warrior to understand what an "OODA Loop" is and how moving through it faster than your opponent means you'll be victorious. This week we take an in-depth look at the third (hidden) "O": as in OH SH*T. Boyd's sketch of the OODA Loop as presented in his summation of "A Discourse of Winning and Losing", which he referred to as "the big
squeeze," 28 June 1995. From "The Mind of War - John Boyd and American Security" What Col. Boyd didn't show in his diagram, but something that every
contemporary warrior has experienced, is that third (hidden) "O" that stands for "OH, SH*T!" It's the "O" that kicks in and overwhelmingly affects your performance when you are surprized by a violent and aggressive attack or when the results of your previous actions are simply so unexpected that your Observation and Orientation become overloaded. What is truly significant to note here is that NOTHING CHANGES. Even when that third "O" kicks in you
are still going to cycle through OODA Loops. The difference is that you will be doing them subconsciously rather than at any level of conscious control and awareness. Let's take a look at that because it matters a great deal to the outcome of any conflict. Now you may ask, "What difference does it make if the decision is conscious or subconscious?" There are a couple of differences and ally of them are significant to the contemporary warrior.
1) You aren't consciously aware of a subconscious decision and therefore can't articulate the reasoning behind it after the fact. Virtually every contemporary warrior has to justify his actions in some way, shape or form today. Whether it's to a domestic jury, grand jury or administrative investigating body, or to the society of the world, any law enforcement professional or soldier today has to be able to explain why he did what he did after the fact. That articulation requires us to remember and put into words all of our sensory input (what we say, heard, felt, smelled and tasted as appropriate) that led us up to making the decision to take the action we took. Here's the problem: If all of the decision making was subconscious our conscious mind was never aware of any of it and we therefore can't explain our actions. That's a bad spot to be in... but it can be addressed with proper training.
2) Subconscious decisions are made infinitely faster than conscious decisions. Studies have shown that the conscious mind can process five to seven pieces of information. Those pieces of information are processed as they are received - this is called "linear analysis" or "logical processing". Each step in the process depends on the successful completion of the step before. Said in a different way,you get data A, analyze it and integrate it into your decision
making process; then you get data B and, based on what you just did with data A, you analyze and integrate data B into your decision making process. Hmmm... five to seven bits of data: that A, B, C, D, E, F AND G. Now I'm just enough of a jerk to ask: what happens if...What if the data comes in as A, D, C, E, B, G and then F? Will the analysis and integration into my decision making cycle still be appropriate? My guess is probably not. Next question...What if I get MORE than seven bits of data? What if I get A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M and N thrown at me all at once? My mind
will grab the first five to seven it perceives and the rest will "fall through the cracks". So, if I get A, C, F, H, J, L and N, and use them to make my decision, will my decision be appropriate? Again I say, probably not. However, both of those scenarios are set in the conscious mind. Let's take a look at the subconscious mind now... The subconscious mind is capable of processing hundreds of pieces of data and it processes them in parallel instead of linearly. What does that mean for us? It means that our subconscious mind can comprehend, analize and integrate data we're not consciously aware
of into our decision making process. The subconscious mind can react much faster to an immediate threat - and stands a much greater chance of outputting appropriate decisions than the conscious mind does.
So, the strength: subconsciously we can make super-fast decisions that are far more apprporiate based on an overwhelming load of data being perceived.
The weakness: we aren't consciously aware of why we did what we did so we have a hard time explaining why we did it after the fact. The reason for hope: with proper training and conditioning, we can train our subconscious mind to process data in accordance with all of the inputs that affect our Orientation segment of the OO_DA process. If you recall, there are five inputs to "Orientation". They are:
1) Cultural Traditions
2) Genetic Heritage
3) New Information
4) Previous Experiences
5) Analyses / Synthesis
We can't change numbers 1 or 2, nor can we control #3. However, by training our subconscious mind in high-stress scenario-based force-on-force curriculums, we can develop the experiential base required to support appropriate and justifiable subconscious decision making. By training in those types of situations, we can let our mind "see" high-threat circumstances and learn to respond to them. Because of the nature of the stress inducing stimuli, the
decision making process will be forced into the subconscious realm. The after-action-review will assist us in evaluating our performance
and whether or not it was apprpriate. The integration of the subconscious decision and the analysis of it afterward serves to prepare our subconscious mind to alter the resulting decisions the next time we're exposed to the same (or similar enough) high stress stimuli. By doing this, #4 and #5 are positively affected. This is definitely to our advantage.
The next step is to find a way to prompt our subconscious mind into feeding data into conscious awareness so that we can justify our behavior after the fact. One reality of life that we should recognize here: If what we did was unquestionably right we will still have to justify it, but the effort necessary will be greatly reduced - less explanation will be required. Because the mind processes visual images faster than auditory or other types of sensory input, and because an estimated 80% of the data we use to make decisions comes to us through our eyes, it's imperative that we develop, train with and regularly use graphic imagery to prompt the subconscious data cues into conscious awareness. This involves a process of examining current graphic
support for Use of Force protocols, analyzing them for subconscious processing, editing them as necessary to work more efficiently with
subconscious prompting, and then republishing them for training and eference use. The bottom line is this: the subconscious decision making process is
a reality. It can be a powerful tool to be used by the contemporary warrior, but only if that warrior has been properly informed about it; trained to trust it; and conditioned properly to empower it. Only then will he respond appropriately when he's smacked in the face with that third (hidden) "O".
Next week, in part four of this series, we're going to take a closer look at the decision segment of OO_DA and all of the inputs / feedbacks that affect it as it's repeated in the OO_DA Loops.
