Introduction

Each year, the OODA Almanac is the most provocative piece we publish. We take the opportunity not only to provoke your thinking with disruptive ideas but to peer over the edge into the emergent future. In past years we have charted exponential disruption, jagged transitions, reorientation, and whiplash. This year the theme is re-anchoring, and it may be the most consequential framing yet with regards to identifying the risks and the opportunities of this exponential technology age.

For decades, institutions mistook stability and incremental change for progress. Systems optimized for predictability resisted change until change became unavoidable. Legacy innovation cycles, predictable geopolitical alignments, stable democratic norms were anchors dragging along the seabed while the current accelerated around them. AI and its adjacent technologies now offer the chance to reset entire domains, pulling us from decades of incrementalism toward true disruption that will impact every single person reading this almanac.

Re-anchoring is not a passive act. It is the deliberate decision in the face of inevitable disruption. Some organizations will re-anchor around AI-native operations and others will get battered by the developing storm.

As Boyd reminded us, “He who can handle the quickest rate of change survives.” The OODA Almanac 2026 charts these shifts, urging leaders to observe the new anchor points, orient decisively, and act to thrive amid the turbulence. Join the OODA Network to track these forces together.