No Way Out TOPGUN vs. Major Boyd: Humans Over Algorithms with CAPT Dan Pederson
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Sep 18, 2025 
CAPT Dan Pederson, the 'Godfather' of TOPGUN, shares the compelling origin story of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, established to tackle a dire 2:1 kill ratio in aerial combat. He details the rapid creation of a human-centric curriculum emphasizing pilot skill over mere technology, ultimately achieving a staggering 24:1 kill ratio. Pederson discusses innovative tactics like vertical fighting and introduces principles of psychological safety in debriefings, urging organizations to prioritize mentorship and human capabilities even as AI reshapes industries.
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Federate Expertise Through Instructors
- TOPGUN's model federated expertise back into squadrons via 'train-the-trainer' instructors.
- That created enduring, distributed capability rather than centralizing knowledge in one unit.
Use Constraints To Force Novelty
- Choose diverse, battle-tested teams and give them a clear mission and resource constraints to force innovation.
- Use fast timelines to generate focused, element-based solutions and rapid iteration.
Bootstrapping TOPGUN In 60 Days
- Dan Pederson assembled eight highly experienced pilots and RIOs and built TOPGUN in 60 days.
- They wrote thesis-like modules, murder-boarded them, and signed curriculum to launch the graduate-level school.
