John Boyd

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John Boyd was a US Air Force fighter pilot and military strategist who developed the OODA loop, a decision-making model. The OODA loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) is a cycle that describes how individuals and organizations process information and make decisions, particularly in competitive and dynamic situations.

Genghis John - https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1997/july/genghis-john

• "The most important thing in life is to be free to do things. There are only two ways to insure that freedom — you can be rich or you can you reduce your needs to zero. I will never be rich, so I have chosen to crank down my desires. The bureaucracy cannot take anything from me, because there is nothing to take." - Most Important Thing
• This statement went to the core of a puritanical ethos. For the Ghetto Colonel, life revolved around a simple choice: To be or to do? He could be somebody, with all the shallow accoutrements of power and small achievements—high rank, a big office in the Pentagon's E-ring, and a big post-retirement job with a defense contractor—or he could do important things and make a real contribution to society. The Ghetto Colonel was more interested in doing things than in being somebody, so he cranked down his needs.
• the Marines have paid the retired Colonel the highest compliment. They will dedicate a section of their library at the Marine Corps University at Quantico, Virginia, to a collection of his unpublished papers and research materials.
• John Boyd always said the choice facing us all is "To Be or To Do." Paradoxically, Genghis John did things—and still ended up being somebody.

The Way of the Servant - https://mdcbowen.substack.com/p/the-way-of-the-servant - Ambition, Mastery & Power.

Via: Joan Westenberg