Certain to Win: The Strategy of John Boyd, Applied to Business

by Chet Richards

Armies that engage in Blitzkrieg and maneuver warfare in general differ in fundamental ways from armies designed to conduct attrition warfare. Blitzkrieg strategies do not aim to execute the same maneuvers as other forms of warfare, such as charging across no man’s land, only more quickly.43 In a typical operation, blitzing units don’t expose themselves to direct enemy fire any more than absolutely necessary. They seem to loom up from out of nowhere to overwhelm a section of the enemy’s line, then penetrate to create surprise and confusion in the rear. It is this abrupt, unexpected, and disorienting pattern of action that forms the basis of his strategy.44 The people who created this style of warfare in the late 19th and first part of the 20th centuries realized early on that it required a type of discipline different from the mindless obedience to orders that characterized the Prussian armies of Frederick the Great in the mid-1700s. Modern weapons are extremely lethal and opportunities to surprise and shock an intelligent enemy are fleeting. Soldiers at all levels must be free to—must be required to—use their creativity, intelligence, and initiatives to work around the enemy’s weapons and generate and exploit opportunities.