Weekend Building Blocks - 07 JUL 2017


There's no value in collecting blocks unless you're connecting them to build something awesome!
Killing people. Tactical decision games. Training for the unknown. The Caveman and the Professor. Calling out bullshit. What else is in this week's list?
  1. How Do You Answer The Question, "Did You Ever Kill Anyone?" Certainly an odd question. However, among the police officers I know who have shot and/or killed someone, I've watched this answered a variety of ways. Sometimes it depends on the audience, the asker, the mood of the environment. How does emotional intelligence play out in the engagement between the curious asker and the (un)comfortable answerer? 
  2. Red Teaming and Other War Gaming for Business. This is a 40-min podcast. Host Des Walsh interviews guest Fred Aubin, a retired Lt Col in the Canadian Army. Fred's path and mine have crossed before, through our journeys studying adaptability. Fred talks about red teaming - where the adversarial "red" team takes on against your "blue" team. It's a style of  roleplaying and wargaming. In my police training realm, red teaming is generally done via tabletop scenario or live-action force-on-force exercises. But the applications are virtually endless. Des and Fred do an excellent job explaining!
  3. Training For The Unknown. In this 45-min podcast, JC Glick, a former Army Ranger, delves into his thoughts on creating empowered teams that tackle a future of complexity and chaos. What I made special connection to was a portion of the interview where JC shares his frustrations and challenges with changing the minds of the trainers/supervisors, to shift the development programming to nurture thinkers, not just doers. I experience(d) similar obstacles while pushing for nearly identical changes. Thanks Jeff Boss for this great interview!
  4. Keeping Out of Trouble with Good Decision Making. In this blogpost, The Justice Clearinghouse interviewed Thom Dworak of The Virtus Group. Thom is among the very small handful of police trainers in the US speaking at the intersection of adaptability, decision-making science, learning research, and emotional intelligence. Thom discusses the deconstruction of decisions, the Caveman vs Professor analogy, and advantages of being a non-linear thinker. This piece should leave no doubt why Thom and I continue to partner on various projects!! 
  5. A Beginner's Guide to Calling BS. The world is full of phonies. It's been said that cops have excellent "bullshit detectors" -- a sentiment with which I tend to agree. In this blog, Thomas MacMillian offers advice on how to spot bullshit through seven (7) tricks. My detective friends will certainly connect with these theories. Don't get duped!! Read this piece. 
I also share this blog from my archives this week:
  • When We Started Treating Our SHOOTERS Like THINKERS. I share thoughts as a firearms instructor on how do develop problem-solvers on the range...not just making better trigger-pullers. The industrialized "teaching" on firearms ranges tend to stunt thought for the sake of compliance and safety. I recommend taking some calculated risks and giving control to the shooters. This is a gradual climb that cannot be done haphazardly!
Have a great weekend. And please connect with the authors and podcasters above. They have some great stuff!!  
    Lou Hayes, Jr.
    thinking & adapting like a Tactical Philosopher

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