Shawn Callahan has studied John Boyd’s theories and their influence. Mark “Moose” McGrath sat down with him to sort out what Boyd meant. I wasn’t on this one, and I’m glad Mark took it.
Orientation first
People often write off the OODA loop as a simple contest of speed. Shawn argues that you have to understand orientation to see the real power in Boyd’s concepts. Orientation shapes what we observe, decide and do.
Why Boyd is hard to read
Mark and Shawn look at Boyd’s impact on academia. His abrasive personality and thin written record kept many people from understanding him. Shawn also connects Boyd’s study of thermodynamics to his energy maneuverability theory, a link that rarely gets attention.
Beyond dogma
Boyd shaped the Marine Corps. Shawn worries that his ideas have hardened into dogma there, and he wants a revision that restores Boyd’s original intent. Mark and Shawn call for more publications that carry Boyd’s work to professionals and students.
Orientation sits at the center of Boyd’s thinking. Shawn makes a clear case for putting it back there.
How many of your assumptions about Boyd came from a diagram you saw once?
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Written by Ponch Rivera with AI assistance in production. The full conversation is in the player below.