Col John Boyds Innovative DNA
Abstract
Surprisingly, few Airmen have heard of Col John Boyd, and far fewer are aware of his innovative contributions to the advancement of modern-day airpower. As we consider what it means to be fueled by innovation, I thought it appropriate to recognize an Airman who committed his entire career to innovation.1 Although Boyd retired nearly 30 years ago,modern Airmen can learn from his successwe can identify the skills that truly fueled his innovation, develop them within ourselves, and spur our own creativity. Boyd is most recognized for the development of his observe, orient, decide, act(OODA) loop decision-making process, now taught throughout professional military education. Arguably, his most important contribution to the advancement of airpower, however, was his 1970s energy maneuverability (E-M) theory, which revolutionized the study of fighter-jet dogfighting. His in-depth mathematical study of fighter aviation permitted, for the first time, an objective, science-based measure of an aircrafts maneuverabilitya tool used almost daily at the US Air Force Weapons School. The theory identified which Soviet-built MiGs had a dogfighting advantage over our jets and vice versa. Given the context of the Cold War and the Air Forces disappointing air-to-air performance in Vietnam, this information was groundbreaking and important. But what character traits enabled Boyds success? Borrowing from the book The Innovators DNA by Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen, and Clayton Christensen, this commentary identifies the five traits of successful innovators and then determines how well John Boyd exemplified those traits.2
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1001631
Entities
People
- Houston R. Cantwell
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory