Unlocking Strategic Intelligence: Recursive Double Loop Training
Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Double Loop Meta-Strategy
Today I give an overview of a game-changing approach to building strategic intelligence through a blend of efficiency and creativity using a method that scales. The flexible, efficient application of strategies for problem solving and decision-making is central to general intelligence, and combining this kind of training with working memory capacity training is the approach I take for augmenting IQ.
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What’s the Double Loop Strategy All About?
Imagine your brain as a high-performance AI learning model for trading, constantly balancing between refining existing strategies and inventing new ones. The Double Loop Strategy Training Protocol operates on this very principle, splitting strategic thinking into two complementary loops:
Control Loop: Efficient Exploitation
Creative Loop: Exploratory Search & Reframing
These loops aren't just isolated processes; they integrate seamlessly to form a robust meta-strategic framework. Let’s break it down.
🔍 Understanding Problem Space Representations
Before we dive deeper into the Double Loop Strategy, it's essential to grasp how we represent problem spaces. Problem space representation is the foundation upon which strategic thinking is built, and there are two primary methods to visualise it:
Graph-Based Representations (Nodes and Edges)
Dimensional-Space Representations (Phase Spaces)
1. Graph-Based Representations (Nodes and Edges)
What It Is:
Nodes: Represent entities, strategies, or key components within your problem space.
Edges: Denote the relationships or interactions between these nodes.
Why It Matters: Graph-based representations help you visualise how different elements of your strategy interconnect. Think of it as a network where each node is a critical part of your strategy, and the edges show how these parts influence one another.
Quick Analogy: Imagine your strategy as a decision-making tree. Each node is a decision point, and the branches represent the possible choices and their consequences. Understanding this tree helps you navigate through complex decisions and identify the most effective pathways.
2. Dimensional-Space Representations (Phase Spaces)
What It Is:
Dimensions: Each axis represents a different attribute or variable influencing the problem (e.g., Budget, Time, Market Demand).
Points: Each point in this multi-dimensional space signifies a specific state or configuration based on these attributes.
Why It Matters: Dimensional-space representations offer a quantitative perspective, allowing you to measure and optimise various aspects of your strategy simultaneously. This method is particularly useful for scenario planning and forecasting.
Quick Analogy: Imagine plotting your marketing strategy problem space on a 3D graph where:
X-axis (Budget): Ranges from low to high investment.
Y-axis (Reach): Extends from a small audience to a vast market.
Z-axis (Engagement): Varies from minimal interaction to high audience involvement.
🔍 Control Loop: Efficient Exploitation
Think of the Control Loop as your strategic GPS - reliable, precise, and focused on getting you from Point A to Point B with maximum efficiency. Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Abstract Attributes/Dimensions
What’s is relevant to developing your strategy? Start by identifying the key elements relevant to your strategic thinking. For example, zeroing in on your goals, constraints, and resources.
Very loose metaphor: It’s like sorting your laundry before washing - understanding what you have and what you need.
Step 2: Represent the Problem Space with Spatial Coding
Visualise your strategy in a ‘problem space’ using one of the two types of spatial representations:
Graph-Based: Create a network of nodes (e.g., Marketing, Sales, Product Development) connected by edges showing their relationships.
Dimensional-Space: Plot your strategy in a multi-dimensional geometry with axes like Budget, Time, and Market Demand.
Spatial coding helps with ‘far transfer’ to other scenarios - you can generalise from the learning experience better, taking what you practice in your training to the outside world.
Step 3: Perform Relational Inference and Scenario Visualisation
Connect the dots. Analyse how different variables interact and influence each other within the problem space to infer actionable insights. This could be a more formal reasoning process, or simply inferring similar concepts or analogies by association.
Example: How does improving one area (like time management) affect another (like productivity)?
Remember - how you have coded the problem in steps 1 and 2 determines what kind of inferences you can draw in step 3. The two go together.
At this stage you can also visualise how initial states my pan out in concrete scenarios. Playing out scenarios as a kind of ‘movie in the mind’ is another type of inference, afterall.
Step 4: Evaluate for Decision-Making and Update the Problem Space: Forge a Solution Path
Assess the outcomes of the last step. Determine if you have outcomes that give you the confidencet needed to make informed decisions.
Steps 3 and 4 - reasoning and evaluation - move you through the problem space to the solution. They carve out solution paths.
You Can Do Even Better!
But is perhaps you haven’t managed to find an efficent solution - an efficient strategy to attain your goal. Or perhaps the strategy ‘solution path’ doesn’t feel very smart or efficient - doesn’t feel adequate in some way.
Enter - the creative loop of the double loop meta-strategy…
🎨 Creative Loop: Exploratory Search & Reframing
The Creative Loop is your playground for innovation, encouraging you to think outside the box and explore unconventional strategic angles.
Step 1: Reconsider or Expand Variables/Dimensions
Introduce new factors or perspectives. Maybe there's an untapped resource or a fresh angle you hadn’t considered before.
Imagine: Adding a social motivation component to your previous thinking about a training routine to improve your fitness - perhaps training with friends. You have added another variable, or dimension.
Step 2: Reframe the Problem Space Using Spatial Coding
Change your viewpoint. Modify your mental map to explore alternative representations and uncover new opportunities.
Quick analogy: It’s like looking at a familiar painting from a different angle to discover hidden details. Try visualising a different decison-tree or mind-map for instance. Or break a concept up into two independent dimensions rather than one.
Step 3: Engage in Playful, Divergent Reasoning
Let your creativity flow. Relax some constraints and brainstorm unconventional solutions.
Rhetorical question: What if you tackled your problem like a game, experimenting with playful strategies?
Step 4: Evaluatoin: Be Generous & Relaxed in Your Evaluations: Search for Insights
Evaluate your creative ideas with more openness and tolerance. Just go with the brain storming without being such a critic Identify which innovative strategies hold the most promise and seem insightful.
Through Steps 3 and 4 you can ‘playfully’ explore a broader more fluid problem space. You can be more spontaneous, less critical, and more creative.
🛠️ Integrating Loops to Act
Here’s where the strategic craftsmanship happens. Combine the insights from both creative and control loops to form a decisive strategy you act on.
Compare Outputs from Both Loops
Look for overlaps, divergences, and areas needing refinement. It’s like stitching together a quilt, ensuring the patches complement each other.
Decide on a Final Course of Action
Based on your integrated insights, finalise your strategy or determine if further iterations are needed.
This phase ensures your strategy is both effective and adaptable, ready to tackle real-world challenges.
🔁 Recursive Double Loop Strategy Training for General Intelligence
But why stop at just this level? Enter Recursive Double Loop Strategising, an iterative scaling of the proces that elevates your strategic thinking to meta-levels - exactly what is needed to increase intelligence.
First-Level Double Loop Training
Master individual strategies like SWOT analysis or scenario planning through:
Control Loop: Apply strategies to well-defined problems.
Creative Loop: Tweak and adapt strategies for novel contexts.
Outcome: You gain a solid understanding, adaptability, and automation of a strategy like SWOT.
Second-Level Recursive Double Loop Training
Treat strategies like SWOT or expected utility decision making themselves as elements within a higher-order problem space. It’s like building a strategy within a strategy - scaling at its finest.
How It Works:
Problem Space Definition: Each strategy becomes a node or a dimension in a higher level problem space, interconnected based on relationships like complementary use or dependencies.
Control Mode: Systematically apply and optimise strategy combinations.
Creative Mode: Experiment with flexible, hybrid strategies that integrate multiple approaches.
Second-Level Recursive Double Loop Training: Scaling Strategic Intelligence
Building upon the foundational Double Loop Strategy, Second-Level Recursive Double Loop Training takes strategic thinking to new heights by treating entire strategies—such as SWOT Analysis or Expected Utility Decision-Making—as fundamental elements within a higher-order problem space. This recursive approach allows for a layered and scalable strategic framework, enabling more complex and integrated decision-making processes.
How It Works:
Problem Space Definition:
Graph-Based Representation: Each strategy (e.g., SWOT Analysis, Scenario Planning) becomes a node in a higher-level decision-making tree. These meta-nodes are interconnected based on relationships like complementary use or dependencies.
Dimensional-Space Representation: Each strategy transforms into an additional dimension within an expanded multi-dimensional space. These meta-dimensions interact with existing dimensions, creating a more intricate and interconnected state space.
Control Mode:
Graph-Based: Systematically apply and optimise combinations of meta-strategies. For example, refining how SWOT Analysis interacts with Scenario Planning to enhance strategic robustness.
Dimensional-Space: Adjust and optimise the influence of meta-dimensions on primary dimensions. For instance, calibrating how Expected Utility Decision-Making impacts Budget and Engagement in the marketing strategy space.
Creative Mode:
Graph-Based: Experiment with hybrid strategies by creating new connections between meta-nodes or introducing entirely new strategic frameworks. For example, integrating OODA Loop with SWOT Analysis to develop a real-time, adaptive decision-making process.
Dimensional-Space: Introduce new meta-dimensions or redefine existing ones to explore innovative strategic combinations. For example, adding a Technological Adaptability dimension that interacts with both Marketing Strategy and Product Development.
🧩 Benefits of Using Both Representations with Recursive Double Looping
Recursive double looping enhances your general strategic thinking in the following ways:
1. Enhanced Flexibility Across Novel Problems By embedding strategies into a dynamic cognitive map or a multi-dimensional phase space, learners develop the agility to navigate and integrate them based on task demands. It’s akin to having a Swiss Army knife for your mind—ready for any situation.
2. Promotes Abstraction and Relational Reasoning Treating strategies as relational objects or as dimensions encourages higher-order thinking, allowing you to compare, combine, or sequence strategies based on abstract properties. Think of it as orchestrating a symphony of ideas.
3. Facilitates Far Transfer and Scalability Recursive application ensures that strategies are versatile and applicable across diverse contexts, enhancing your ability to transfer strategic thinking to new and varied situations.
🛠️ Practical Tips for Implementing Recursive Double Looping
1. Choose Your Representation: Decide whether a graph-based or dimensional-space model best suits your current strategic needs.
2. Map Your Initial Strategy:
For Graphs: Identify key nodes and their relationships.
For Dimensional Spaces: Define the critical dimensions and plot your initial strategic points.
3. Apply Control and Creative Loops: Optimise existing elements and explore innovative additions or modifications.
4. Introduce Recursive Layers: Treat each refined strategy as a new node or point within a higher-order problem space. Repeat the double loop process to refine these meta-strategies.
5. Continuously Reflect and Integrate: Regularly evaluate how strategies interact within the higher-order space. Adjust and optimise both primary and meta-strategies to maintain a cohesive and adaptable strategic framework.
📌 Final Takehome
The Double Loop Strategy Training Protocol is a powerful method that, when extended recursively into higher-order problem spaces, offers a multi-layered approach to strategic intelligence. By representing problem spaces as either graphs with nodes and edges or points in dimensional spaces, and then treating entire strategies as elements within these representations, you create a flexible, adaptable and efficient strategic framework. Having such framework defines having a high IQ.
Strategic thinking isn't just about solving immediate problems - it's about building a resilient, scalable framework that evolves with you. Whether you prefer the relational clarity of graphs or the quantitative precision of dimensional spaces, the Double Loop Strategy provides a versatile foundation for elevating your strategic capabilities.
Ready to take your strategic intelligence to new levels? Try working through strategy problems using the Double Loop Strategy Training Protocol, experiment with both representation methods, and watch your strategic insights become sharper, more adaptable, and profoundly impactful.
This method is being rolled out in the Tri-SCI cognitive training modules accessed via IQMindware.com.
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