•This edition of “Organic Design” is our attempt to
recreate the last version of the briefing actually presented by the late Col John Boyd, USAF (1927 –
1997). The last printed version known
to exist carries the date May
1987. We have used that as the starting
point, and then modified the text based
on changes we received from Col Boyd, which continued until around 1991. By that time, he had moved on to other activities, such as “Conceptual
Spiral,” his advice to then-Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney during the First Gulf War, and his
interest in other forms of conflict, including business.
•The original 1987 edition, with pen-and-ink changes
dictated by Boyd, is available in PDF format at http://www.d-n-i.net.
•About
the Editors
•Chuck Spinney was a colleague of Boyd’s both in the Air
Force and in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, where he participated in every edition of
“Organic Design.” Chuck is the author of Defense
Facts of Life and numerous monographs and op-eds. His commentaries on
defense issues appear from time to
time and are archived at http://www.d-n-i.net.
•Chet Richards worked with Col Boyd on his first paper,
“Destruction and Creation,” on various editions of “Patterns of Conflict,” and near the end of
Boyd’s life, on business applications.
He is a retired
colonel in the Air Force Reserve, and recently finished a book, Certain to Win,
that applies Boyd’s
concepts to business.
•Ginger Richards is co-owner and president of Kettle
Creek Corporation, which owns Defense and the National Interest.
She designed and maintains that site as well as its sister, http://www.belisarius.com, which is more oriented towards business.