Reclaiming Your OODA Loop: Counterintelligence & Narrative Control with Kit Perez
No Way Out
Ask: What are you looking for in headlines?
Kit explains to Ponch how to ask why messages are said, what actions or feelings they aim to produce.
Outrage is cheap. Orientation is priceless. We bring a counterintelligence lens to the daily firehose of headlines and hot takes, showing how narratives are built to hijack your attention, flood your emotions, and outsource your decisions. The pivot is simple and powerful: stop fixating on what was said and start asking why it was said, what feeling it tries to evoke, and what action it wants from you.
We walk through a practical debriefing method—collect the what from multiple angles, restore context, then probe how and why—so your judgments rest on ground instead of fog. Along the way, we unpack the subtle levers of influence: phrases like “everybody knows,” aesthetic edits that recast a subject, and the way identity fusion turns politics into a personal creed. Counterintelligence isn’t just for agencies; it’s everyday OPSEC. Your bumper stickers, stick-figure family decals, and oversharing posts are an intelligence feed. Trim the signals you broadcast, and you trim the attack surface others can exploit.
Then we get tactical about building better systems. Manipulation is neutral; intent and constraints decide ethics. If you want disciplined initiative, design environments that reward it. Mission command isn’t a policy you announce—it emerges when trust, clarity, competence, and moral boundaries are present. That’s where Gray Cell Protocols come in: an orientation-first framework for creating the conditions in which decentra
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
