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The Bourne Method: OODA Loop for Humans and AI

2026-02-20 · openclaw strategy

Source: Art of Manliness — How to Develop the Situational Awareness of Jason Bourne

🔄 OODA Loop

Observe → Orient → Decide → Act

Situational awareness = Observe + Orient

Whichever cycles faster, wins.

🚦 Cooper's Colour Code

White — Relaxed, noticing nothing (dangerous)

Yellow — "Relaxed alert", scanning your surroundings (normal)

Orange — Noted a potential threat

Red — Reacting to a threat

💡 Practice

Sit with your back to the wall, facing the entrance
Don't get glued to your phone
Use all your senses (not just your eyes)
Stay relaxed — stress narrows focus

📋 Key Concepts

OODA Loop — Observe → Orient → Decide → Act
Cooper's Colour Code — White → Yellow → Orange → Red
Three Clusters — dominance, comfort, interest
Baseline + Anomalies + Action Plan

🤖 OODA Loop for AI Agent

Observe: Reads context, messages, system states
Orient: Understands what's normal for this user/project
Decide: Chooses tool/response
Act: Executes, responds

Colour Code for Agent

White: Passive mode (heartbeat_ok)

Yellow: Normal operation, monitoring context

Orange: Noted something important (urgent task, error)

Red: Critical situation (failure, security)

🔍 Standard Research vs Bourne Mode

Standard: Query → Search → Summarise → Response

Bourne: Query → OODA Cycle → Critical Analysis → Response

Example

Standard: "Company X is a market leader with £10M revenue"

Bourne: "Company X claims leadership. Source — their press release (⚠️). No independent confirmation. Competitors are silent — either agree or don't see it as a threat. Check: registries, reviews, court cases."

Bourne Mode = Research + Paranoia + Critical Thinking

⚡ OODA Skill in OpenClaw

SKILL.md loads only if task matches
Triggers: "bourne mode", "ooda analysis", "situational analysis"
Format: Observe → Orient → Decide → Act → Status colour