Boyd
by Robert Coram
The biography of John Boyd, the fighter pilot who developed energy-manoeuvrability theory, shaped the F-16, created the OODA loop and spent his career fighting the Pentagon. Coram is unabashedly admiring, but the story of a maverick who chose to do something rather than be somebody is unforgettable.
Read it if…
you want to understand the OODA loop through the life of the man who invented it.
Skip it if…
you want a balanced portrait; Coram is a partisan.
Three things you will actually use
- Observe, orient, decide, act; faster than the other side.
- You can be somebody or do something; rarely both.
- Institutions resist ideas that threaten budgets.
Do this first
Read the 'to be or to do' speech and decide which path you are actually on.
Our verdict
The OODA loop's inventor, unforgettable.
Compare with other Leadership books
Churchill: Walking with Destiny
Andrew Roberts · Leadership
Failures as preparation for the moment.
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