The five elements of an organization that can exploit OODA loops

John Boyd says that an organization that can cycle through OODA Loops fast and maintain high tempo (Increase your tempo) will have the following qualities.

  • Fingerspitzengefühl
    • Fingertip feeling
    • High competence
  • Einheit
    • Mutual trust
  • Schwerpunkt
    • The focus
    • Centre of mass
  • Auftragstaktik
    • Mission command
    • The what, not the how
  • Behendigkeit
    • Agility
    • Ability and willingness to change

The last one is not seen that often.

In Certain to Win, Chet Richards illustrates the four qualities with diagrams. People have skill vectors. Einheit aligns them. Schwerpunkt turns them towards the target. And they are set off by Auftragstaktik.

Words matter. Using the German words are good because translations are sometimes lossy and often loaded with connotations. It’s better to use the original words with the hope that you can reflect on them more deeply. (https://www.ultraworking.com/podcast/airland-battle-and-you)

Related:

Gen. Stan McChrystal in Team of Teams says each team needs four components: common purpose, understanding of the big picture, decentralized authority, trust. This seems to me like Schwerpunkt, Fingerspitzengefühl, Auftragstaktik, and Einheit. He did use the term fingertip feeling in one of his interview clips.

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