Science, Strategy and War The Strategic Theory of ... - Boekje Pienter

conceptualization of the essence of strategy and strategic success, Boyd has come to theclimax of his presentation, and has almost arrived at the most condenced essence of ADiscourse.RevelationWith only one slide following the slide with the title, this is the shortest of all presentations.Referring back to “the snowmobile”, it cannot be understood without the previouspresentation, and must really be considered an epilogue of it. Yet it reveals (hence the title) inemblematic form a core argument Boyd wanted to get across:A loser is someone (individual or group) who cannot build snowmobiles when facinguncertainty and unpredictable change;whereasA winner is someone (individual or group) who can build snowmobiles, and employ them inappropriate fashion, when facing uncertainty and unpredictable change.In stark language it argues for the requirement to have the capacity for both analysis andsynthesis. In these very brief lines Boyd thus once more explains that this is the‘metaphorical message’ of Strategic Game: It thus builds on, and reinforces the argument ofStrategic Game as well as the essay. It also precedes the discussion contained in ConceptualSpiral, which is much longer, but in some ways also again an elaboration of the sameargument, but now from yet again a different perspective.The Conceptual SpiralIntroductionTwo statements of Michael Polanyi can nicely serve as an introduction for The ConceptualSpiral:A free society may be seen to be bent in its entirety on exploring self-improvement- everykind of self improvement. This suggests a generalization of the principles governing theRepublic of Science 79 .I have shown that all engineering and technology, comprising operational principles lieslogically beyond the range of Laplacian knowledge and that the same is true for theoperational principles established by physiology as the functions of living things 80 .The Conceptual Spiral was completed in July/August 1992, 16 years after the first versions ofPatterns of Conflict. It consists of 38 pages. It is the result of seven years of additional readingand distillation. Even more than the other presentations, it reflects Boyd’s wide interest insubjects far beyond the traditional focus of military history or strategic studies. The message79 Polanyi, Knowing and Being, p. 70.80 Ibid, p.177.259