Practical OODA Loop

Act and God will act.“

St. Joan of Arc

I’m in the process of going through big changes with our young adult ministry. I’ve had the ministry on autopilot for a couple of years as I had focused on other areas of our ministry – caught between projects, admin, and other age group support.

This past season gave me the ability to take account and pay attention to where our ministry was and where we were being called to be. The first part of this was prayer, the second was using a concept called OODA Loop. Sounds like a nerdy acronym but comes with some muscle. First developed by military strategist John Boyd, it was first used to help military leadership become agile in crisis and decision-making. I first learned of this a few years ago but really implemented it for the first time within the ministry this season. It’s been so fruitful I’m already applying it in the business too.

OODA Loop – Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Keeping OODA’s structure in mind as you position is very helpful before your approach to a situation. It’s something you let marinade and then cue it up when it has matured in your mind.

Observe – The first step is to gather relevant information from the environment. This involves actively observing and collecting data, both internally and externally. Leaders must seek diverse perspectives, monitor trends, and analyze opportunities and threats (SWOT for a future Climb). I could be more thorough on this myself in this season but I had enough input to see we were ready for change and growth.

Orient – The second step is to assess and analyze the information and size it up to the larger goals and mission. You could also call this discernment with a prayerful gaze. This requires a thoughtful blend of insight, critical thinking, and experience.

Decide – It’s time to act and come to a decision. Once you have a clear understanding of what is in front of you, you’re ready to make an informed decision. It’s important to consider multiple options, their outcomes, and select the most prudent path ahead. Since we’re fans of the outdoors – every trail needs a decision to go down.

Act – Finally, you’re ready to go. It’s easy to get caught up in over-analyzing or even making the decision. Next, move ahead. Make the call, tell the team, craft the architecture – whatever the actions are, you need to go.

The Loop aspect of this is to come back to the beginning often. Action leads to reaction and other cycles of labor. Observe, orient, decide, and act again.

I’m still rather new at building it into my own circuitry but this does have the agility to be functional on the go or before major movements. Think about it and lean into it, you may find it a helpful instrument in your tool belt.

Get goin! 

Adam Jarosz is bringing fuel to the productively faithful – subscribe here to get The Climb articles right in your email box, every Righteous Wednesday. You can also follow along the Righteous journey on Instagram @righteousco.