A Regenerative OODA Loop for Reversing the Planet's Eco-crises
Appendix from We Can Reverse the Planet's Eco-crises
He who can handle the quickest rate of change survives. – Lt Colonel John Boyd
Regenerative decision-making delivers faster and better decisions for reversing the planet’s ecological crises because regenerative decision-making is a form of decision-making process called an Observe – Orient – Decide - Act (OODA) loop.
What is an OODA loop?
An OODA loop is a decision-making process – developed by US Air Force Lt Colonel John Boyd …
… for faster and better decision-making during situations of air-to-air combat.
According to Boyd, decision-making occurs during a recurring cycle of a decision-maker observing the situation …
… orienting to a desired outcome …
… deciding what to do …
… acting on the decision …
… and observing the results of the action to cycle again through the OODA loop …
In a competitive situation (like air-to-air combat) a decision-maker that can process this cycle quickly …
… observing the situation (sighting an enemy fighter) …
… orienting to the desired outcome (defeating the enemy fighter) …
… deciding what to do (deciding what maneuver) …
… and acting more rapidly than an opponent (executing the maneuver) …
… can get inside the opponent’s decision-making cycle and gain a winning advantage …
In a cooperative situation (like reversing the planet’s eco-crises), a decision-maker that processes a “regenerative” OODA loop faster and faster -- through exponentially adopting more and more regenerative options -- delivers more and more regeneration benefits for reversing the planet’s eco-crises.
Through a decision-maker observing the benefits delivered by the decision-maker’s chosen options, and observing the benefits delivered by other decision-makers’ adoption of regenerative options …
… then orienting faster and faster to a desired outcome of delivering more and more benefits …
… and then self-persuading faster and faster and deciding faster and faster to adopt more and more regenerative options for delivering more and more benefits …
… the decision-maker acts faster and faster to adopt more and more regenerative options and deliver more and more benefits …
… and then observes the benefits delivered by the decision-maker’s chosen regenerative options, and cycles again through the regenerative OODA loop …
Decision-makers’ faster and faster decision-making -- using the regenerative OODA loop -- creates the exponential adoption of regenerative options …
Decision-makers everywhere exponentially adopting regenerative options scales back the extraction flows and pollution flows of the Human Enterprise…
… and, at the same time, keeps intact the Human Enterprise for meeting every human being’s physical needs …
Scaling back the extraction flows and pollution flows of the Human Enterprise allows the planet’s biosphere to regenerate itself …
The planet’s regenerated biosphere reverses the planet’s ecological crises …
… and allows the planet to heal itself …
I’m currently publishing We Can Reverse the Planet’s Eco-crises in series format: one chapter at a time starting with Chapter 1 and continuing through Chapter 10 plus a chapter-length Appendix.
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Aloha and thank you for reading.
P.S. I cross-posted this article on Medium to give it greater reach.