Observe + Orient = Situational Awareness
The four steps of the OODA Loop are Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. In a head-to-head competition, like air-to-air combat, a violent confrontation in a parking lot, or even political contests, the person who can cycle through the OODA Loop the fastest wins.
Obviously, the Observe step in the loop is what most people associate situational awareness with.
But itâs the second step in the OODA Loop â Orient â that answered my questions about what developing situational awareness actually involves.
Orientation tells us what we should look for when weâre observing, and then puts those observations into context so we know what to do with the information.