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New Blog Dedicated to John Boyd And The OODA Loop

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Applying Boyd's O-O-D-A Loop To Small Business

Good friend Tom Box and Kent Byus have written a new paper on applying Boyd's O-O-D-A Loop to small business titled - GUERILLA ACTIONS AS SMALL BUSINESS STRATEGY: OUT-WITTING IS MORE COMPETITIVELY RESPONSIVE THAN OUT-SPENDING. They'll be presenting it at the Allied Academies Fall Conference in Reno on October 4. Click here to download the paper.

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Applying John Boyd's Interaction and Isolation Forces To Marketing Campaigning

A competitive marketing campaigner will shape the terrain to his advantage and the disadvantage of his competition. There are two primary shaping forces described by John Boyd - interaction and isolation. The skilled marketer orchestrates these forces in order to generate competitive advantage.

INTERACTION

Interaction within the business environment are tactics we willingly, offensively or pro actively execute designed to open up opportunities of our choosing consistent with our core competencies and supportive of the campaign mission and strategy. The higher the degree of interaction we have the greater we control our own destiny - or the less control our adversaries are able to exert over our destiny.

EXAMPLES OF INTERACTION

a. Robust intelligence competencies.
b. Disciplined multiple channels of communication.
c. Strong visualization and calibration disciplines.
d. Fluid organizational formations.
e. Rapid development cycles.
f. Rapid execution teams.

INDICATIONS OF INTERACTION

a. Pricing Power
b. Employee Loyalty
c. Product Differentiation
e. Market Leader
f. Customer Satisfaction
g. Proactive

ISOLATION

Isolation within the business environment are tactics we undertake in order to pro actively deny our competitive adversaries access to our customers, markets, products, technologies, employees, practices, partnerships and other proprietary or critical business functions. Additionally, isolation means undertaking activities designed to shape and influence the perception of our adversaries within all relevant constituencies and frames of reference.

EXAMPLES OF ISOLATION

a. Operating at a faster O-O-D-A cycle.
b. Attacking competitor Center of Gravity.
c. Shaping customer, industry perceptions.
d. Recruiting key employees/managers.
e. Comprehensive competitive monitoring.
f. Utilization of exclusive relationships.
g. Utilization of proprietary defensive mechanisms.
h. Control of industry influencers.
i. Pricing, feature, service raids.

INDICATIONS OF ISOLATION

a. Commodity positioning.
b. High employee turnover.
c. Executive defections.
d. Reactive internally focused.
e. Declining margins

An effective marketing campaign must have a robust isolation component in order to increase the chances for success. Interaction without isolation is like cheng without ch’i. The smart marketer works with a palette of interaction and isolation tactics designed to maximize competitive advantage. See this case study for more details.

Enterprises have varying appetites for engaging in isolation tactics. For some there is a reluctance to talk about the competition or to aggressively engage the competition with negative tactics. There is continuum of isolation tactics from simple comparisons and legitimate debates to outright smear campaigns and dirty tricks. I do not endorse illegal activities or dirty tricks. I do endorse aggressive pursuits especially when an enterprise is confronted with bankruptcy or extinction.

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How Do We Activate These Ideas? Applying Boyd's O-O-D-A Loop To Marketing Strategy

In his paper titled "The Strategic Game of ? and ?" John Boyd posed a series of questions and answers regarding the O-O-D-A Loop and strategy. I have used Boyd’s Q&A exchange in order to translate his theories directly to marketing campaigning. Each exchange consists of a question, an answer and an interpretation of the answer to marketing campaigning. This is the final installment in a series of four posts on this topic.      

Q. How Do We Play to This Theme and Activate These Ideas?

A. By an instinctive see-saw of analysis and synthesis across a variety of domains, or across competing/independent channels of information, in order to spontaneously generate new mental images or impressions that match-up with an unfolding world of uncertainty and change.

INTERPRETATION. Boyd wraps up his question and answers by telling us how to put these ideas into action. The key to Boyd’s conclusion is the need for fluid, prescient competencies capable of exploiting uncertainty and change. We have mentioned previously the role attrition strategy plays in shaping traditional advertising doctrine. Once the strategy has been decided, the message developed and elements produced, traditional advertising doctrine mandates that you NOT change. Further, most sales and marketing organizations do not have the formation or the cultural frame of reference to have instinctive exchanges of analysis and synthesis which allows action. Converting a dysfunctional sales and marketing organization into a functional organization begins with understanding the importance intelligence plays within a campaign. See campaign engines for more context.

Previous: What key ideas underlie strategy?

Download vSente's Free Campaign Planner to learn more about how we help marketing managers battle larger competition.

What Key Ideas Underlie Strategy? Applying Boyd's O-O-D-A Loop To Marketing Strategy

In his paper titled "The Strategic Game of ? and ?" John Boyd posed a series of questions and answers regarding the O-O-D-A Loop and strategy. I have used Boyd’s Q&A exchange in order to translate his theories directly to marketing campaigning. Each exchange consists of a question, an answer and an interpretation of the answer to marketing campaigning. This is the third in a series of four posts on this topic.   

Q. What is the Central Theme and What Are the Key Ideas that Underlie Strategy?

A. The central theme is one of interacting/isolation while the key ideas are the moral-mental-physical means toward realizing this interaction/isolation.

INTERPRETATION. Most sales and marketing organizations function in isolation... not the kind of isolation imposed upon them by savvy competitors but the kind of isolation resulting from self-imposed limitations. Rear-view mirror managing combined with risk aversion and focus on stability and predictability have resulted in sensory deprivation chambers for most American enterprises. Within the sales and marketing organization this sensory deprivation generates panic and confusion when ever the results of an initiative are outside the box.

What happens when an advertising campaign fails to increase sales? You advertise more.

What happens when price erosion starts eroding profitability? You cut your price.

What happens when you lose a key account to a better positioned competitor? You fire the team servicing the account.

What happens when measures like this fail to boost the bottom line? You fire more employees and reduce more expenses.

And when this doesn’t work? You fire the management team responsible for getting you in this position to begin with.

And at the end of the day what are you left with?

A panic stricken, demoralized enterprise faced with bankruptcy or capitulation via merger.

The critical theme is that most American enterprises whether they realize it or recognize it have been “SHAPED” by Boydian forces. It’s only through understanding these forces and then developing structures that allow you to better interact within your frame of reference while influencing, shaping and isolating your adversaries frame of reference that true industry leadership will result.

Next: How do you activate these ideas?
Previous: What is the purpose of strategy?

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What Is the Purpose Of Strategy? Applying Boyd's O-O-D-A Loop to Marketing Strategy

In his paper titled "The Strategic Game of ? and ?" John Boyd posed a series of questions and answers regarding the O-O-D-A Loop and strategy. I have used Boyd’s Q&A exchange in order to translate his theories directly to marketing campaigning. Each exchange consists of a question, an answer and an interpretation of the answer to marketing campaigning. This is the second in a series of four posts on this topic.            

Q. What is the Aim or Purpose of Strategy?

A. To improve our ability to shape and adapt to unfolding circumstances, so that we (as individuals or as groups or as a culture or as a nation-state) can survive on our own terms.

INTERPRETATION. In stating the aim of strategy Boyd uses the word “shape” to describe how we adapt to new circumstances on our own terms. Within the sales and marketing organization the direct application can be found in the desire to have control over price, product cycles, growth, profits etc. The word shape used in this context is proactive, meaning we undertake initiatives that put us into a position of control.

To shape these events to our advantage and the disadvantage of our competition we need to interact with other systems (because it is impossible to determine the character or nature of a system within itself). More importantly, the harder you try to determine the nature of a closed system from within that system, the more confusion, panic and disorder will result.

When you consider the knobs and dials used to control a typical marketing campaign they tend to be inwardly focused on quantified data, primarily budgetary in content, set against a historical context. There is no means for visualizing relative, qualitative maneuvers and there is no way of calibrating current maneuvers with future opportunities - all necessary to begin shaping an opportunity to your advantage and the disadvantage of your competition.

Next: What key ideas underlie strategy?
Previous: What is strategy?

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What Is Strategy? Applying Boyd's O-O-D-A Loop To Marketing Strategy

In his paper titled "The Strategic Game of ? and ?" John Boyd posed a series of questions and answers regarding the O-O-D-A Loop and strategy. I have used Boyd’s Q&A exchange in order to translate his theories directly to marketing campaigning. Each exchange consists of a question, an answer and an interpretation of the answer to marketing campaigning. This is the first of a series of four posts on this topic.         

Q. What is Strategy?

A. A mental tapestry of changing intentions for harmonizing and focusing our efforts as a basis for realizing some aim or purpose in an unfolding and often unforeseen world of many bewildering events and many contending interests.

INTERPRETATION. The ability to assimilate intelligence into actionable strategy is the single greatest weakness in contemporary marketing organizations. Should you ask most sales, marketing or agency managers - What is strategy? - you’ll likely get a confusing array of definitions and explanations focused on the importance of strategy - and the function of strategy... but little or no meaning of what strategy really is, or how you use strategy to accomplish an objective. The operative words in Boyd’s definition of strategy are a "mental tapestry of changing intentions". Most enterprises continue to reward their employees on the basis of stability and predictability - the antithesis of “changing intentions”. Sales and marketing organizations need to develop the competencies and the instincts to exploit change. They need to destroy rigid infrastructure and convert deeply grooved relationships into fluid formations.

Next: What is the Aim or Purpose of Strategy?

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