The Debrief with Jon Becker

Beyond the Loop: Why Everything You Know About OODA May Be Wrong

Dec 3, 2025
Mark McGrath, a strategist and former Marine Corps officer, dives deep into John Boyd's OODA loop, challenging the conventional understanding. He emphasizes that the key to success lies in 'orientation'—a dynamic process of updating mental models through destruction and creation. The discussion touches on adaptive decision-making amid uncertainty, the role of cultural perspectives in situational awareness, and the importance of training that fosters innovation rather than rigid conformity. McGrath advocates for strategies that prioritize quality of orientation over mere speed.
Ask episode
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
ANECDOTE

Boyd's Early Fighter Research Changed Aircraft

  • Boyd authored the Aerial Attack Study in his spare time and became a renowned fighter instructor at Nellis AFB.
  • His lightweight fighter work influenced design decisions for aircraft like the F-16 and F-18.
ANECDOTE

How Mark Found Boyd After The Corps

  • Mark discovered Boyd during a Naval ROTC scholarship and first learned a simplified OODA in the Marine Corps.
  • After leaving service, he dug into Boyd's corpus and applied it to finance and business.
INSIGHT

Destruction And Creation Is Core

  • John Boyd's Destruction and Creation is central: it fuses entropy, uncertainty, and incompleteness to force constant model revision.
  • Orientation is the operating system that must be shattered and rebuilt to improve free and independent action.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Get the app