Navigating Chaos: How to Find Certainty in Uncertain Situations

by Jeff Boss

The greater your curiosity, the wider your angle of view and the more of the competitive environment you’re able to see. Take, for example, former Air Force Colonel John Boyd, widely known for the OODA loop process of decision-making that he adopted from his learning experience flying fighter planes. During the Cold War, dogfighting was the art of aerial battle—a practice less common today due to the technological advances over the years. What Boyd noticed as a pilot was this: while the soviet mig fighter was smaller, faster, and more agile than the overly cumbersome and slower American fighter plane, the mig typically lost in an aerial dogfight. Why? Because of the pilot’s limited vantage point. Boyd realized that the mig pilot’s narrow field of vision restricted him from anticipating the American fighter jet’s next move simply because he couldn’t see it. The US plane, conversely, had a much wider field of view, which enabled him to see more and, hence, beat the soviet fighter to the punch. Thus, Boyd discovered that the first person to successfully navigate the process of observation, orientation, decision, and action (OODA) would win. Every time.