Where are we going? (and a stab at a fix)
Whisky Tango Foxtrot by Xenophon [SEoN Editor’s note: The following is an opinion piece that addresses, to use Boyd’s framework, grand strategy, whose purposes, as suggested on Slide 139 of Patterns...
View ArticleConfusion and disorder
Even if you’ve seen this, it’s well worth a second look. Even if you know what the OODA loop is — especially if you know what the “loop” is — watch this video. Chuck was present at the creation, and...
View ArticleWhat would Boyd say???
You will remember Colonel Mike Wyly, USMC, ret., from Robert Coram’s book. I think Robert would agree with me that Mike was much more than an acolyte and was in many ways a peer of John’s. They were...
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Boyd in Korean
Robert Coram’s Boyd, The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War, has just been translated into Korean. It is fitting. As Coram recounted, 1st Lt John Boyd arrived in Korea on March 27, 1953, and on...
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Perils of locked konseptsia
Fascinating new column by Martin van Creveld: ”Konseptsia.” As he defines it: “a Hebrew word we Israelis often use. It means, roughly, a system of interlocking ideas (sometimes known, in English, as...
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Boyd and Bolo
January 2 was the 57th anniversary of Operation Bolo, Col Robin Olds’ bold plan to ambush North Vietnamese MiG-21s. Briefly, USAF F-4 Phantom IIs shot down 7 MiG-21s with no losses of their own....
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Faded glory
Spring is starting in South Carolina’s Lowcountry. One of the first signs of Spring down here: This old redbud greets visitors to our community. Every year, though, it puts out fewer blossoms and...
View ArticleActions of Individuals: Boyd and Austrian Economics
Wikipedia defines “Austrian economics” this way: The Austrian School is a heterodox school of economic thought that advocates strict adherence to methodological individualism, the concept that social...
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I visit Austria
Hallstatt I’d love to, again, but this time it was Austrian economics. I know very little about Austrian economics, or economics in general, for that matter. Boyd majored in the subject for his...
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The Autobiography of John Boyd
As far as we know, Boyd never wrote his life story or left any autobiographical notes. However, in 1977, about 18 months after he retired, he sat down for a long interview for the Air Force’s Corona...
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New Version of Lost Arts
Leader. Magician? … Both?? There’s a new version of The Lost Arts of Leadership now available on our Articles page. This presentation, originally created for the 2022 Kanban Global Summit in San...
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Colonel of Marines
It was at the squad level that future battles would be decided. … Wyly surmised that the Marine Corps was not taking care of the squads. (p. 160) Just came in! Paperback from Amazon (only available...
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All Warfare is Based Upon …
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, The Famous Samurai: Miyamoto Musashi (c. 1850) The best strategist is not the one who knows he must deceive the enemy but the one who knows how to do it. Polish author Stanislaw Lem...
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Conceptual Spiral in Boyd’s Own Words
In 1992, John Boyd released his last major presentation, Conceptual Spiral. Coming in at 38 slides and just shy of 3,000 words, it is roughly 10 times the size of his next and final presentation, The...
View ArticleCooking the books
Dr Ray Leopold* Of course, defense spending numbers are being manipulated: It’s in the DNA of those most intimately involved. That type of manipulation is well beyond the natural human concept which...
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If OODA was a Venn diagram
Codde, Pieter Jacobsz (b.1599-12-11 – d.1678-10-12), Intérieur de corps de garde (Titre principal), 1626. Huile sur bois. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. Clinton D. PopeChief...
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If OODA was a (revised) Venn diagram
Codde, Pieter Jacobsz (b.1599-12-11 – d.1678-10-12), Intérieur de corps de garde (Titre principal), 1626. Huile sur bois. Petit Palais, Musée des Beaux-Arts de la Ville de Paris. Clinton D. PopeChief...
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Deconstructing The Essence of Winning and Losing
If all men by nature desire to know, then they desire most of all the greatest knowledge of science. Duns Scotus Download my new presentation, The Essence of Winning and Losing — Deconstructed. Or,...
View ArticleTom Barnett’s OODA Loop
Dr. Thomas P.M. Barnett, who is probably best known for his 2004 best-seller, The Pentagon’s New Map, gave a presentation last November featuring an OODA Loop. Because it is not the traditional...
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Influence strategies
c. 1900. Library of Congress Digital Collection. Once again, social science can help us understand behavior and why, or why not, certain influence strategies may be effective. Jeffrey Pfeffer, Thomas...
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