What is the OODA Loop? The first part of this 2-part article will detail what exactly it is and why it matters so much. The second article will determine how you can drastically improve your OODA Loop – and have better life outcomes as a result.

The OODA Loop is about the meeting of the external world with your internal world, and what you do (or don’t do) as a result of this meeting. First, some basic definitions;

Observe (external world). Seemingly self-explanatory perhaps, but this is what you see, hear, touch and feel that is directly from the external world (not yourself). You can influence how you see this, but you can’t influence what you see – this is beyond your control.

Orientate (your internal world). This is probably the hardest aspect to describe, and so there are many different descriptions out there. My own take is that Orientation is how you make connections in your mind between the external world, your goal and your own knowledge, experience, skills, biases, beliefs, confidence, physical self, resources and network. In other words, Orientation is the process of imaging yourself in a moment of time as an “effector” in a situation (something or someone that effects something) within your mental model of the situation you find yourself in. Where you create a virtual simulation or snapshot – a starting position – in time in your mind. With your goal in mind, you take stock of the situation and your ability to effect it with the resources at hand.

Decide (your internal world). More than just “making a decision”. This part of the cycle is where you:

(i) make several hypotheses – “how could I do this?”

(ii) run multiple simulations – “how may it turn out”

(iii) assess risk – “how like is it something will go wrong/how bad would it be” (sidenote: this is why as teenagers we can make terrible decisions – our risk assessment is very underdeveloped)

(iv) assess overall palatability – “ok, so for me, if it goes right, then great, and if goes bad then, not so bad”

(v) then finally, select – “ok, this is what I’m going to do”.

Act (external world). This is where your decision meets with reality. You make the physical actions (and they are always physical – even if it’s just typing on a keyboard or talking) that will set things in motion in the real world, and where you find out if it will turn out well. The results of your decision feed into your internal knowledge – developing your Orientation phase for future (i.e. hopefully making better decisions!).

You make 1000s of decisions every day based on what you observe and what you know. Every decision you make uses up a real amount mental energy until you run out and fall asleep at the end of that day. These decisions quite literally decide the outcome of your life – so how do you make better ones? How do you make them faster? Why do you need to make them faster?

The OODA loop—Observe, Orient, Decide, Act—was developed by military strategist John Boyd and has since been embraced by diverse industries for its agility and effectiveness. In the property business and indeed life in general mastering your OODA loop is a true game-changer.

So, if we can make good decisions faster, we will have a better life because we learn more quickly and reach our goals more quickly.

In Part 2 tomorrow, we’ll cover how to make your OODA Loop better.

Married2Property Partners are a property company that aims to create social good through property.

These articles are written by Darren de Wal based on his 12 years of experience as an active Property Investor, and 16 years getting to a senior leadership position as an Officer in the Royal Air Force. They are for the benefit of those with a general interest in Property, as well as those wishing to start out investing themselves.