In 1993 John Boyd presented Conceptual Spiral at the SpaceCast 2020 conference. We transcribed the video and paired it with restored slides and a foreword by Chet Richards, Boyd’s close friend and collaborator. Mark “Moose” McGrath and I brought Chet on to talk about why the briefing still matters.
The restored briefing
Boyd’s words line up with the restored slides. The audience questions in the Q&A are hard to make out, but Boyd’s answers come through clearly. Chuck Spinney also helped bring this version together.
The spiral
Conceptual Spiral is a way for leaders and teams to keep learning in a changing world. Chet walks us through Boyd’s thinking on implicit guidance and continuous adaptation. We trace Boyd’s path from energy maneuverability to the OODA sketch. Chet also covers Boyd’s critiques of training programs and the Eastern philosophy and martial arts he drew on.
Boyd today
We speculate about where Boyd’s mind would go now, from multipolar conflict to artificial intelligence. Chet’s stories give the conversation depth. There are some laughs about 1950s cars too.
AGLX, our company, produced the restored version. You can download the full transcript and slides at aglx.com/john-boyds-conceptual-spiral-full-transcript.
Which part of Boyd’s spiral are you working through right now?
Listen and watch:
Apple Podcasts:
Spotify:
No Way Out on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@nowayoutpodcast
Written by Ponch Rivera with AI assistance in production. The full conversation is in the player below.