OODA LOOP - Article 1 "OBSERVE"

Over the next several weeks we will be delving into a mental process called "The OODA Loop", and how it relates to: avoiding conflict, self defense, and close quarter combat. Funny name, REALLY cool concept. The OODA Loop was developed by an Air Force colonel by the name of John Boyd, a man who many people refer to as the greatest military strategist you've never heard of. I'll be breaking each piece down into a 4 part series, each article being a piece of the OODA loop. We'll wrap it all up with an article that puts it all together. Let's begin...

OBSERVE

Observe, simply put, is how we take in information from the world around us. What we see, hear, smell, touch, feel in any given moment, in any given circumstance. The world around us is constantly changing, and so being constantly tuned in is key to taking in all of this new information. Many in the military will refer to this as being on "yellow alert" or "relaxed alert". Now that we've defined the first step in the OODA Loop let's delve into how it can help us avoid trouble. We will begin by addressing some ways, both obvious and otherwise, we might be hurting our chances at being observant.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

1.) Blind Yourself - This may seem like an obvious one, but I can guarantee you that every one of you reading this post has done this one, and recently. Every time you look at your phone or put your headphones in you are shutting down your two most important senses to the world around you. You cannot take in the information you can't see or hear.

2.) Confirmation Bias - We often see the world and our constantly shifting encounters with it through the lens of how it SHOULD be, instead of seeing it as it is and adjusting accordingly. Social norms, and social constructs color our interactions with the world around us. You can see this illustrated beautifully with the advent of the YouTube prank or shock videos. They all start about the same, people walking towards the "star" and then he/she does something completely unexpected like burst into song. Not in and of itself an odd thing to do, but in the "wrong" social setting it seems out of place or "wrong".

FOLLOW THIS IF YOU WANT TO LIVE (Terminator reference):

Stay tuned in:

When it comes to your own personal safety or that of your family or loved ones, the stakes couldn't be higher. Mental Agility is key. 2 key things we must always stay "tuned into" are:

1.) Environment - Where are the exits? What are the obstacles? How crowded is it?

2.) The people operating in that environment: Who is around me? Does someone not fit the scene? How are people behaving? Does someone's actions seem out of place? When it comes to observable behavior, there are some cues we can watch out for that would-be assailants have been known to use on the approach:

• Course correction - adjusting their course to intercept you.

• Witness check - looking around to see if you are alone.

• Splitting up - 2 or more would be assailants maneuvering to hedge you in, think like how a wolf pack or lion pride hunt.

• Weapon check - a pat to the waistband or pocket, or a hand under a jacket.

• Sizing you up - looking you up and down in an assessing manner.

• Invading space - no-one should ever enter your safety bubble, or your personal space. We will get into this in more depth in future posts, but for now let's just say always maintain a space you are comfortable you can escape from.

"Merely observing is not enough, we must have good judgement. It is not necessarily the one with more information who will come out victorious, it is the one with better judgment, the one who is better at discerning patterns.”

-Frans P.B. Osinga

Information without sound judgement is just noise. Judgement leads us right into the next part of the OODA Loop, Orient. We will get to that one next time, but before we wrap up Observe I'd like to leave you with this one last list from a very respected author in the Self Defense arena. In his book "The Gift of Fear", Gaven de Becker lays out 6 tactics a predator may use after the initial approach. You will see in this list how Observe transitions into Orient (using sound judgement):

1. Forced Teaming: The predator uses the word “we” to establish a relationship or show you have something in common. It’s abnormal for a stranger to use the word “we” with you.

2. Charm: Charm isn’t a natural human trait, it requires an effort. If a stranger is being charming, there’s a reason. He wants something from you.

3. Too Many Details: The predator knows he’s lying, even if you don’t. He'll often give you far too many details than a normal person would, in an attempt to make his story more believable.

4. Typecasting: A predator will often attempt to put you in a group you don’t want to be in, so you’ll bend over backwards trying to prove you’re not what he says you are (racist, rude, inconsiderate, etc.) He’ll do this to get you to do what he wants.

5. Loan Sharking: The predator does something for you, so you feel you need to reciprocate. He may “help” you put your groceries in your car, open a door for you, etc.

6. Unsolicited Promise: This is a big one, and is nearly always a sign of real trouble. A predator says, “I won’t hurt you. I promise”. “I’m not one of those crazy people, I promise.” If he’s saying it, he’s thinking about doing it.

7. Discounting the Word “No”: Predators will discount when you tell them “no”. When you tell them you don’t need their help, they’ll help you anyway. When you tell them no, they’ll disregard it.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, I hope it helps. Feel free to drop me a line if you have any further questions comments or concerns. If you'd like to book me for a speaking engagement or a self defense seminar for yourself or a group you can do so here.

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