The Benefits of a Smaller Toolbox
At the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association’s ( ILEETA ) annual conference this past week in Chicago, I started a conversation about the mental and emotional burden of having too many “tools” to do our jobs as police officers. The same theory applies to any industry, field, or business. How can you streamline your organization’s toolbox of processes, strategies, or systems? There is a popular saying in police training circles (and I suppose in your industry too) that a new technique or procedure or trick is “ just another tool for the toolbox. ” Here’s the problem: Our toolboxes are full. Our brains don’t have the bandwidth to accept any more tools. We need less tools…but still need to reach an ever- increasing level of output. The answer lays in finding those select tools with broad applicability and high adjustability. I have long advocated for generalism in life. There is tremendous benefit of being well-rounded, broadly educated, and divers