On Projects*

The OODA Loop is a concept originated by military strategist Col. John Boyd of the United States Air Force and has become an important concept in both business and military strategy. According to Boyd, decision-making occurs in a cycle of observe-orient-decide-act. An individual or an organization can process this cycle quickly, observing and reacting to unfolding events more rapidly than an opponent, can thereby “get inside” the opponent’s decision cycle and gain a military or business advantage.

In terms of project delivery, the OODA loop can be applied to keep the project flexible and responsive to a ever-changing environment by ensuring that planning occurs throughout the project lifecycle. While detailed planning prior to starting stage 1 is always a good idea, the plan needs to remain flexible in order to remain adaptable to changing or new requirements that appear mid-project or from lessons learned from the previous stage.

By using stage plans in your project, this allows the PM to review previous planning, Observe the current environment, Orient the project team, Decide on the best course of action and finally Act (thereby returning to observe the new environment created by the previous action).

This constant refining on the project plan through the stages enables a more controlled outcome.

Filed under: PRINCE2 Tagged: | OODA Loop, PRINCE2, Programme Management, Project Management, stage plan