Boyd gets far too much credit for the F-16. If he had his way it wouldn't work at night or honestly at all in the face of the current threat environment.
The Day Fighter role
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_fighter was viable for many decades and is still common in many non- first world countries. He invented the concept of maintaining low drag during high-G maneuvers.
Boyd’s contributions might seem impressive but he seemed like a disgusting human being. He was confrontational, chewed his nails, smoked cigars, made his family live in a tiny apartment so he could be close to work, etc. I can’t remember it all but I quit reading his biography 3/4s in because he just sounded like horrendous person.
1) Realizing that he was better at something than everyone else around him.
2) Figuring out what it was that was making him better.
3) Reducing it to practice, so it could be taught to others and refined to become even better.
Amazing story.