Brian Gubernick breaks down the OODA loop, a four-step decision framework from the U.S. Air Force used by Navy SEALs: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. He shows how it works in business (tracking competitors, adjusting pricing) and relationships (spotting problems, changing course), then asks where you could use it today.
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Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better— better at our business, better at our health, better at our relationships, just better at life. So let's get into today's topic. Today I'm going to be discussing the the concept known as the OODA loop, O-O-D-A, it's an acronym, OODA loop. And I'm talking about it because it is something that I had, I've heard of in the past, but I wasn't quite sure exactly what it meant. It's actually a military concept. And it came, I think, from the U.S. Air Force. A colonel had introduced the OODA process, this concept, And it represents this decision-making process that's designed to help individuals and organizations and families or whatever it may be to react to rapidly changing situations, right? I actually heard about it in greater detail not all that long ago when I had the very fortunate opportunity at one of our masterminds to interview a gentleman named Thomas Olmsted, who is a Navy SEAL. And he was talking about leadership on the field in battle. And he talks specifically about this OODA loop concept and how he leveraged it, well, when his life was on the line and the lives of his teammates were on the line. And I'd like to think if this process works well in scenarios quite like that, it's probably something we should all look at and figure out how to apply in our respective worlds. As well. So let's talk about it. What do I mean when I say UDO? What does this acronym stand for? Okay, and remember, this is a decision-making process. Okay, the first O stands for Observe. Observe. So in this step, we are gathering the relevant information about the situation. Okay, it requires us to pay attention to our surroundings. It requires us to maybe seek new information or challenge some of our, our current information. It allows us or encourages us to really monitor our environment and just see what changes are going on, what new developments are occurring. So we observe. I mean, it is head on a swivel looking around. The next O is Orient. So in this step, you're gonna analyze and interpret all the information you just gathered during that observation phase, right? So you're gonna take that information, you're gonna consider your own knowledge, maybe your own personal experiences, maybe things you've dealt with in the past and how lessons might be applicable to this particular scenario. You're gonna look at maybe the mental models that you have in practice, and you're gonna make sense of the situation that's in front of you. So it really involves you evaluating your position, figuring out what resources and capabilities you have, and understanding the context in which we're playing this game, right? So we're gonna observe, we're gonna orient. The next step is decide. Okay, that's the D in OODA, decide. Once you've observed, once you've oriented, well, you can make an informed decision based on this information that you have. Okay? So this step's gonna involve generating the different courses of action that you can take, right? You're gonna evaluate their potential outcomes, those courses of action, like what direction could that possibly go? The goal here is to choose, obviously, the option that makes the most sense, aligns with your objectives, and probably has the highest percentage of success given this rapidly changing environment. And the A, to close out the OODA loop, the A for act. This is the final step, right? This is where you execute your chosen course of action. So it involves implementing the decisions that you've made. Remember, you've already underwritten these decisions. You've already taken the time. You've observed, you've oriented, you've decided. Now you're taking action and you initiate. And then whatever comes of that, maybe you're running back the OODA loop all over again. Makes sense? Now this applies obviously well outside the battlefield where most of us live. It could actually— let's use business for example. Let's say for instance, you're running some sort of sales or marketing related business. Well, the OODA loop can be really valuable evaluating sales and marketing efforts. For example, maybe you're going to observe market trends or customer behavior or maybe competitor strategies. And let's just stick with competitors for a moment, competitor strategies. So we're observing the strategies of my competition, right? Now we're going to move into the Orient phase. So we're going to orient to the sales tactics that maybe my competition is using, maybe the marketing campaigns that my competition's using. I'm gonna, I'm gonna take into account all of this information, figure out what environment, what game am I actually playing based on what I've observed around my competition. And now that I've oriented around the environment that's been created, now I get to make decisions. I can make decisions on pricing, maybe certain promotions, maybe different targets, maybe targeting like a specific neighborhood, let's say, or maybe some sort of call to action. Something that's going to be created based on this intel, based on this information I've already gathered. And then of course, the last step, now that I've decided, I have to take action. And this action in this particular scenario is to maximize my sales opportunities and outperform my competition. You know, OODA Loop, when you really think about it, can be used in relationships as well, right? If you're having a challenging relationship, maybe you've got a relationship that's that's kind of falling apart a little bit. I'm gonna observe this relationship fell apart. I'm gonna orient, right? I'm gonna gather information about the environment. I'm gonna challenge my own beliefs. I'm gonna look at my past experiences. I'm maybe gonna ask questions and gather more intel. I'm gonna decide, that D, I'm gonna decide how am I gonna proceed forward in maybe fixing, remedying this relationship. And then based on all that information, I'm gonna take action, A, A for act. I'm gonna get into motion. Okay? So remember, this OODA loop is a very, very flexible framework, and it can be tailored to all different sorts of scenarios. It reminds me a little bit, if you haven't listened to the GROW model, G-R-O-W, we talked about probably a month or so ago, this is just another operating model for life. GROW was a coaching model, was a conversation model. OODA is a decision-making model. Right? If we're living, if we're honoring this no days off process, we're aiming to get better each and every day. And today we're aiming to get better at decision-making. So the focusing question for you, where might this concept, where might this OODA process be applied today? Where do you need to slow down the decision-making process, observe what's going on around you, orient to your new environment, make a decision, and then act. Where would a 4-step process like that really benefit you today? And how can you take action immediately, you know, this morning, this afternoon, put some things in motion? That's all I have for you today. Remember the No Days Off podcast. Thank you so much for listening. Every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it. [MUSIC] [MUSIC]
