Rethinking OODA: Toward a Modern Cognitive Framework of Command Decision Making

The Observe–Orient–Decide–Act (OODA) Loop, a common framework in which military decision making is discussed, is no longer current with modern theories of human cognition. A new framework, based on theoretical advances in the cognitive sciences since the 1950s, is proposed in this paper. The Critique–Explore–Compare–Adapt (CECA) Loop is explicitly based on the premise that goal-oriented mental models are central to human decision making as the means to represent and make sense of the world. The framework assumes that operational planning establishes the initial conceptual model, which is a mental model of the plan. A situation model is created to represent the state of the battlespace at any given point in time. The 4 phases of the CECA Loop broadly correspond to the identification of information needs (critique), active and passive data collection and situation updating (explore), comparison of the current situation to the conceptual model (compare), and adaptation to aspects of the battlespace that invalidate the conceptual model or block the path to goal completion (adapt). The CECA Loop is intended to serve as a practical but widely applicable framework in which to think about decision making in the context of command and control.