Saturday, February 08, 2003

Breaking the Phalanx - Col Douglas MacGregor MacGregor is another of the young turks who is questioning the reliance of stuff rather than doctrine and a new view of how to organize to go to war.America goes to war with a sledge hammer. He thinks its needs a rapier. Why? How will America destroy Iraq by air and hope to set up a democratic new ally? In the end a soldier has to take the ground and only he can do it in a way that reduces the losses of the enemy and hence the hope for peace after victory. His new book Breaking the Phalanx is not perhaps for the layman but offers a very well thought out position on the scale of the new organization - more of Brigade size and how to link organizations by information 4:22:02 PM    comment []

A New Understanding of War - 4th Generation Warfare and its predecessors As we stand on the edge of war here is the first of a series of articles that showcase the best thinking that I have found on the future of war. This the first by 3 disciples of Boyd Chuck Spinney, John Sayen and Don Vandergriff. They paint a depressing view of how the US military has been captured by its past success, by bureaucracy and by the idea that technology on its own is the answer. They argue that it is the human aspect combined with all the tools that will be the key. They will explain to you what is meant by 4th generation war or Manoeuvre warfare. They argue that the US tradition of attrition warfare is as outdated as say IBM PC's taking on Dell. 4:02:57 PM    comment []

Boyd - The Man and His Ideas by Grant Hammond "Boyd begins with the premise that the business of life is life" "For Boyd, the concept of moral leverage is critical to one’s strategy of conflict. Without an understanding of how to minimize our friction and increase that of our adversary in a moral-mental-physical sense, we are not likely to be victorious and hence, survive and prosper. People must believe in the cause that they fight for, must affirm what it is they stand and die for, must seek to live for some higher good or goal than merely themselves. Knowing merely what they are against, the negative motivation of hate, revenge or retribution is insufficient to galvanize a society to win a compelling victory and institute a lasting peace. Such notions may be far removed from the considerations of many, but Boyd is philosopher as well as a tactician, a strategist with a conscience, whose view of conflict and war makes room for, indeed could not exist without, concern for moral leverage as well as physical force." Boyd has so many disciples who write well about him - here is Grant Hammond's introduction to his life and to his ideas - a good starting point if you want to know more 3:57:32 PM    comment []

OODA - Boyd and the True Meaning of Customer focus and Innovation Chester Richards shows us how OODA really works in Business. He shows us the deeper meaning of being Customer Focused; of Innovation and Defending your Market. He shows how using OODA helps you see into the mindset aspect of these issues. How to become intertwined with your customer so that you know them as you know yourself. How to see Innovation not as a new product but as a method of taking the market initiative. How to see that the only good market defense is an offensive that destabilizes your opponent. 1:48:49 PM    comment []

John Boyd - The Best Review of the OODA Loop there is There is a lot available that will describe the OODA Loop - This is the outstanding review 9:40:16 AM    comment []