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

by Chet Richards

The important point is that maneuver warfare is high tempo warfare. People don’t wait around for the commander to make a “decision” before taking action, although the best commanders somehow seem to be at the Schwerpunkt when things start to break loose. With enough mutual experience and trust—Einheit—people throughout the organization know what to do and will take the initiative to make it happen. Quickness is critical, because a gap will only be an opportunity for a brief period, until the enemy force reorients. If the enemy’s collective OODA loop is quicker than ours (reflecting their Einheit and Fingerspitzengefühl), they could arrange traps or ambushes of our penetrating forces. If ours is quicker, we can create or find gaps and exploit them faster than the enemy can cope and perhaps precipitate a collapse and rout.

According to its principle creator, Taiichi Ohno, it took 28 years (1945-1973) to create and install the Toyota Production System, which is maneuver conflict applied to manufacturing. • It takes roughly 15 years of experience—and recognition as a leader in one’s technical field—to qualify as a susha (development manager) for a new Toyota vehicle.

A garden analogy may help summarize implementing Boyd’s operational climate. The duty of senior managers is to design the garden, decide what they want to grow, and prepare the proper conditions. Obviously to do this well, they must be highly experienced gardeners, with a sure feel for the soil conditions, the nature of their plants, the climate, and the local rabbit population. Once conditions are right and seeds are in the ground, the plants grow themselves—bottom up, as Boyd used to emphasize. With seeds planted, and favorable climate and soil conditions, the “system” implements itself. The gardeners must work the plot, checking the condition of the plants, and always ensuring that conditions for growth are as favorable as possible—even a moment’s inattention can mean disaster. And most important, weeds must be removed, no matter how tall they grow.