Certain to Win
by Chet Richards · first published 2004
92% recommend8% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Clear primer on John Boyd's strategy ideas, including the OODA loop, applied to business. It serves as a good entry point for newcomers to Boyd's work.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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For anyone interested in OODA, the Robert Coram biography of John Boyd, and "Certain to Win" by the Boyd disciple Chet Richards are good entry points. The value of OODA isn't really in providing a model for individual-level decisionmaking. The value is as a model for intra-organizational conflict:…
on “The OODA Loop: How Fighter Pilots Make Fast and Accurate Decisions” ↗I would recommend: 1) The Art of War by Niccolò Machiavelli (read by Napoleon) 2) Certain to Win by Chet Richards (talks about OODA loop by John Boyd)
on “Ask HN: good books about military strategy?” ↗Or the book "Certain to Win" which was written by one of his "disciples" with Boyd's input on how to apply all of Boyd's thoughts (which are far more complex than what the blog post shows) to business situations. http://www.amazon.com/Certain-Win-Strategy-Applied-Business/...
on “What the F-86 can teach us about software development” ↗…Meaning, Viktor Frankl * The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday * The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday * The Effective Engineer, Edmund Lau * The Lean Startup, Eric Ries * The Personal MBA, Josh Kaufman * Certain to Win, Chet Richards * Left of Bang, Patrick Van Horn & Jason A. Riley * Native Set Theory, Paul R. Halmos EDIT: list formatting
on “What are the best books you read in 2017?” ↗Definitely. It's quite similar to what John Boyd and his acolytes have talked about regarding military strategy for years. I recommend "Certain to Win" by Chet Richards for a digestible summary.
on “How to take down an F-117 ” ↗…regarding the nature of competition, agility and strategy. If you have seen the OODA loop or heard the phrase operating inside the enemies decision cycle then you have seen his work in action. See the book Certain to Win by Chet Richards for a good primer on Boyds work. These concepts rigorously and intentionally applied to developing products, teams and companies are IMO what makes a startup lean. And of course if…
on “If Lean Works, Prove It” ↗…Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed The Art Of War: http://www.amazon.com/Boyd-The-Fighter-Pilot-Changed/dp/0316... The best general-audiences intro to Boyd-as-philosophy is probably Chet Richards' book Certain to Win: http://www.amazon.com/Certain-Win-Strategy-Applied-Business/... Wikipedia has some brief descriptions of Boyd's work and thinking in his page on him: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Boyd_%28military_strategis...…
on “Humiliation in Startups” ↗There's a lot more to it than mobility. For a good overview, which also applies the principles to business, a great book is Certain to Win by Chet Richards, who collaborated with John Boyd on the manuscripts before Boyd died. The most famous principle Boyd formulated is the OODA loop, which says that if you can observe the situation, figure…
on “No Combat Without Movement: Enders Game as Maneuver Warfare Primer” ↗Here are some notes I took on Certain to Win by Chet Richards. I highly recommend it, it translates boyd's strategy to business. http://www.blog.dannygagne.com/archives/610
on “John Boyd and the four qualities of victorious organizations” ↗A great book along these lines is Certain to Win: The Strategy of John Boyd, Applied to Business by Chet Richards. Boyd was a fighter pilot who invented the concept of the "OODA Loop." Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. The competitor who can do this faster…
on “Speed as a Habit” ↗Boyd's ideas are laid out really well by his acolyte Chet Richards in his book Certain to Win which applies the military theories to business. If interested at all in this space, check it out.
on “What Google Learned from Its Quest to Build the Perfect Team” ↗apologies for the long delay in reply … I'm not deeply-read on the topic, but here are a few others I've liked … · Certain to Win: The Strategy of John Boyd, Applied to Business by Chet Richards. This one in particular analyzes heavily blitzkrieg tactics, and how disorientation and morale are some of the most effective "weapons."…
on “Ask HN: What books are you reading this week?” ↗…Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday * Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl * Siddhartha, Herman Hesse * The Personal MBA, Josh Kaufman * The Effective Engineer, Edmund Lau * The Lean Startup, Eric Ries * Certain to Win, Chet Richards * Left of Bang, Patrick Van Horn & Jason A. Riley * Native Set Theory, Paul R. Halmos * Introducing Go, by Caleb Doxsey. If you'd like to read what I think of these books, you can read…
on “Ask HN: What are some interesting books you read in 2017?” ↗A great book on applying Boyd's ideas to business is Certain to Win by Chet Richards.
on “How to Keep Your Company Alive – Observe, Orient, Decide and Act” ↗I second "Certain to Win". Game theorists might define a strategy as an approach to optimal decision-making while you are surrounded by other actors whose actions interact with yours. Chess strategies are a good example. The…
on “Ask HN: good books about military strategy?” ↗