[mmooss]

They are very different as far as I know:

The second step, Orient, does not include making hypotheses. It's about forming a picture or concept in your mind of the situation in which you have to act.

There is nothing in OODA about hypothesizing or testing; you are quickly forming a final conclusion and acting - it's almost the opposite of science, in that regard. It was created for fighter pilots; a failed hypothesis would often result in death and be your last thought.

Science and aerial combat are very different: Science has time to be methodical and it experiments to uncover an absolute truth; in aerial combat you must make final, 'good enough' decisions as quickly as possible, because taking time results in failure.

[abhiyerra]

I’d argue the hypothesis is the third step Decide. The Orient step is framing of the situation and the most important part of the OODA loop versus the actual hypothesis step.

I think the major difference between the OODA Loop and Science seems to be that OODA Loop is in a way backwards looking. You take in the knowledge of the past and your enemy’s knowledge and make a hypothesis you execute on based on that assumed knowledge to not die. Science you predict a future state where the knowledge is unclear or unknown.