OODA Loop: Reorientation, Flow, and Adaptive Leadership with Ed Brenegar
No Way Out
Humility, Bias, and the Danger of 'The Video Clearly Shows'
Discussion on media manipulation, orientation-driven bias, and resisting merchants of certainty.
Certainty feels safe, but it slows you down—and in chaos, slow is dead. On No Way Out Podcast, we sit with leadership expert Ed Brenegar to unpack what separates rigid managers chasing control from true leaders who build adaptive teams that move faster than the problem. Using John Boyd’s OODA loop and Boyd's Conceptual Spiral as our compass, we explore how your orientation—shaped by genetics, culture, experiences, and biases—filters what you see, how you decide, and why you act. Widen that aperture through relentless curiosity, humility, and unlearning, and you create conditions where people don’t wait for permission: they execute with clarity and psychological safety.
We also explore decentralized decision-making, commander’s intent, and mission command—showing why pushing authority to the edge delivers speed and resilience in volatile environments, from manufacturing floors to flight decks, family dynamics to boardrooms. The traps are real: media distortions that flip figure and ground, the seductive lie of “the video clearly shows,” and merchants of certainty peddling easy answers instead of better questions. True leadership replaces control with trust, compliance with alignment, and certainty with rigorous reorientation.
Ed Brenegar: Circle of Impact:
Ed Brenegar on LinkedIn
John R. Boyd's Conceptual Spiral was originally titled No Way Out. In his own words:
“There is no way out unless we can eliminate the features just cited. Since we don’t know how to do this, we must continue the whirl of reorientation…”
A promotional message for Ember Health. Safe and effective IV ketamine care for individuals seeking relief from depression. Ember Health's evidence-based, partner-oriented, and patient-centered care model, boasting an 84% treatment success rate with 44% of patients reaching depression remission. It also mentions their extensive experience with over 40,000 infusions and treatment of more than 2,500 patients, including veterans, first responders, and individuals with anxiety and PTSD
John Boyd’s Conceptual Spiral was originally titled “No Way Out.” In his words:
“There is no way out unless we can eliminate the features just cited. Since we don’t know how to do this, we must continue the whirl of reorientation…”
Download a complete transcript of Conceptual Spiral for free by clicking here.
Stay connected with No Way Out and The Whirl Of ReOrientation
- Follow Us onX:
- Subscribe to our Substack – The Whirl Of ReOrientation
- Long-form work on John Boyd, Orientation, and how to think and act inside the Guerrilla Information War.
Want to build your organization’s capacity for free and independent action?See how we help teams become more competitive, collaborative, and coordinated under pressure:
The AI-powered Podcast Player
