Page 43 · Module 01, Think Like a Strategist · this screen continues that page

All 108 frameworks
1.10AdvancedModule 01 · Think Like a Strategist

OODA Loop

You're in a fast-moving competitive situation a market shift, a competitor move, a crisis

The prompt

Copy & paste ready
1.10OODA Loop
Act as a strategic decision advisor using John Boyd's OODA Loop. Situation : [DESCRIBE WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW] Available information : [LIST WHAT YOU KNOW , even partial data] Constraints : [TIME AVAILABLE, RESOURCES, KEY RISKS] Observe : What are the most critical signals in this data? Orient : What patterns, threats, or opportunities do these reveal? Decide : Give me 3 decision options ranked by speed and impact. Act : For the top option, what is the immediate first move? Prioritise speed. Flag what I should monitor after acting. OODA LOOP — SPEED UNDER UNCERTAINTY Observe Act Gather information about Implement the decision the environment Decide Orient Choose the best course of Analyze and understand action the situation
LabelsReplace theseSwap the role below

LabelsReplace theseSwap the role below

Pro tip, from the book

The Orient phase is where most leaders get stuck, they have the data but can't see the pattern fast enough. That's exactly what AI compresses. Use it there, not as a replacement for your judgment on the Decide and Act stages.

Who should run this prompt

Module role profile

Who should reason through this problem? The quality of your thinking is shaped by whose lens you borrow. A strategist and a risk analyst look at the same problem and see completely different things — both useful, both necessary. Before you prompt, choose who you need in the room. These profiles give you six internal perspectives and four outside views that challenge your assumptions before you commit to them.

Choose any role to drop it into the prompt above. Only the highlighted opening clause changes — the rest of the prompt stays exactly as printed.

Internal rolesThink from inside the organisation
Outside perspectivesChallenge your blind spots

◆◆◆◆◆ → ◆ seniority, board level down to specialist outside the organisation

How to make any role sharper

  1. Add years of experience: "...with 15 years in enterprise SaaS" produces different depth than just the title.
  2. Add what they care most about: "You care most about [X]" shapes every word of the output.
  3. Add their communication style: "Be direct. Flag risks first. No jargon." changes the tone entirely.
See also: 1.3 Role Prompting - The Expert Chair

Use this when

The problem it solves

and your decision-making process is too slow to keep up with what's happening.

How the framework works

From the printed page

Developed by US Air Force Colonel John Boyd from studying aerial dogfights, the OODA Loop is a decision cycle built for speed under uncertainty. Observe (take in raw information), Orient (analyse it through your context and mental models), Decide (choose a course of action), Act (execute). The winner in any fast-changing situation is the one who cycles through OODA faster than the opposition. AI can compress the Orient phase dramatically.

The method, in four moves

Do these in order
1

Define the fast-moving situation you're inside right now.

2

Feed AI all available information, don't filter it yet, let AI orient.

3

Ask for decision options, not one answer. Keep your cycle moving.

4

After acting, immediately feed the result back in as new Observe data. Observe,Orient,Decide,Act - military speed for startup decisions Boyd was considered the best fighter pilot in the US Air Force he had an open bet that from a position of disadvantage, he could defeat any opponent in under 40 seconds. He never lost. His secret was not reflexes but decision speed: he could complete a full OODA cycle faster than his opponent could react to his last move. Boyd later spent decades refining the framework, applying it to military strategy, business, and geopolitics. ORIGIN STORY

Where the framework comes from

John Boyd, US Air Force — OODA Loop, 1970s–1980s

When this page changes, your copy of the book does not have to.

The book prints the framework. This page keeps it — and keeps the prompt current, because prompting technique moves faster than print does. When it moves, this page is rewritten and the code in your copy keeps pointing at it. No second edition, no replacement purchase, no account.

If something here looks wrong — a prompt that does not match its framework, a figure that reads oddly — tell Raphy. That correction reaches every printed copy at once.

Framework1.10 of 108
Printed onPages 4243
Prompt extracted18 Sept 2026
Costs to readNothing, no account

Copying is free. An account keeps them.

Nothing on this page is behind a login and nothing ever will be. Save any prompt to your own list, pick up on another device, and send a colleague a link with your name on it. No card, no trial, no paywall on the prompts themselves.

See how it works
Save this framework to your own list
Pick up where you left off on another device
Send a colleague a link with your name on it