As The Boss, do you ever wonder why employees seem to be getting away with stuff and you only hear about it when your Boss yells at you? Do you wonder why your ideas never seemed to get anyone’s attention? If so, maybe it’s time to explore a new old tool called the OODA Loop.
The OODA loop is the cycle:
- Observe
- Orient
- Decide
- Act
…developed byAir Force Colonel John Boyd. Boyd’s approach explains how agility can overcome raw power in dealing with human opponents. He was dubbed “Forty Second Boyd” for his standing bet as an instructor pilot that beginning from a position of disadvantage, he could defeat any opposing pilot in a dogfight in less than 40 seconds.
So how does it work? I’ll give you an example.
Many years ago, when my wife and I were just dating, we were walking down a street in Los Angeles near the diamond district. We passed a couple of rough looking dudes on a corner.
“Hey! Your lady has some nice legs!” yelled one of the guys.
Without thinking, I responded:
“Yeah, and mine are pretty hot too!”
He got really quiet and then just burst out laughing. We continued our walk without any further problems.
Did I intimidate him? Probably not. What I did was disrupt his OODA Loop, much like Colonel Boyd did when he defeated others in air-to-air combat. This guy’s loop probably played like this:
- See an attractive woman with a boyfriend or husband.
- Make a comment about her body.
- Boyfriend or husband would either run or confront.
- Fight would happen.
- Boyfriend/husband would lose.
- Lather-Rinse-Repeat
When I didn’t fall for Step 3, he had no response except to pause and laugh. I’d like to think it was lucky for him since back in the day I might have been able to take him out, but as Dalton in the movie Roadhouse said, “nobody ever wins a fight.”
So how can you use the OODA Loop as The Boss?
Think about recurring problems with employees. Consistent tardiness. Poor performance. Conflict and bad attitudes. Are you playing into their strategy? Some poor performers are really good at being bad. If that’s the case, they probably have a standard pattern they use. Years ago I had a co-worker who would call in sick every Tuesday after a 3-day weekend. The Boss played into her OODA Loop by never scheduling anything for her on that day because he know she would call in sick. Had he thought about it, he could have had an important meeting scheduled ahead of time on that day that she couldn’t miss. Or have a project due on that day. Or an important appointment with a member. But she won every single time.
This week, take a look at some of the chronic problems or poor performers you deal with. See if you can see any consistent patterns. Then, if you do, switch up your OODA Loop and throw theirs off. If nothing you’re currently doing is working, what do you have to lose?
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