A Series of Cognitive Frameworks for Police RTCC: 03 - The Eisenhower Matrix



 How might cognitive frameworks help people who work inside police "real-time crime centers?" 

To me, it's about putting people, ideas, & pieces of technology together in ways that enhance awareness, sense-making & decision-making. 

The third framework in this series is The Eisenhower Matrix.

The "Ike" Matrix is a 2x2 depiction, with an axes for:

  • Importance -- the (non-)critical nature of the work, problem, opportunity, or threat;
  • Urgency -- the timeliness, tightness of time frame, or time pressure to do it right.
While different people put different labels into each of the four (4) quadrants, the prevailing combination is: Do, Delegate, Decide, and Delete. 

The reason why I push The Ike Matrix into the real-time crime centers community is because the term "real-time" tends to pervert our mindset. It's as if everything is urgent: Drone-on-scene times. Hotlist alerts. Command staff notifications. Intel reports due tomorrow. Overdue personnel evaluations. Broken equipment. Staff calling in sick.

But even in the time-compressed world of RTCCs, time is relative. Not everything needs to be done right now. And not everything is an emergency. When demands exceed capabilities, triage is still a very applicable concept. 

The Ike Matrix gives us a framework to help with that triage process. It takes "To Do" lists and puts them into a better visualization that simply a linear list of tasks. 

And it doesn't have to be a physical (or digital) visualization either; it can remain a mental visualization.

Personally, I've taken this Ike Matrix concept to help build-out a regional communications platform for our police and RTCCs. Our admin team considered how certain chat channels could help harness the concept of urgency; but also keep the not urgent in place until we can get to it. Also, how certain customized alerts or notifications (as well as "muting" and alert suppression!) could draw attention to topics or posts that need it. Our current comms platform is able to leverage benefits of The Ike Matrix, in ways that emails or single-feed chats simply cannot. 

Of course a 2x2 matrix is an oversimplification. But that doesn't render it useless. It's a framework. You want to turn it into a 3x3 or a 4x4... go ahead... I'm sure someone already has! 

Lastly, I'd like to offer up the potential benefit of using The Ike Matrix as a "staff wellness" mindset. Our people are operating in break-neck speed environments, with real world consequences. It does us all good every now and then to re-calibrate. This framework can help. 

***

The intention of these posts in this series is to hail attention so you can go down your own rabbit hole; not to be a full teacher of the framework. It's now on you to dig deeper. 

What other cognitive frameworks would you like to see applied to RTCC? And I'm going to use the term "framework" quite loosely in this... and include all sorts of models, theories, infographics, and whatnot.

I've got a few others queued up. I've even created a tag for this series! 

***

Lou Hayes, Jr. is a detective supervisor in a suburban Chicago police department, collaterally detailed to a regional major crimes (homicide) task force.  He has a passion for multi-jurisdictional crime patterns, criminal networks, & regional intelligence. With a background in training, he studies human performance, decision-making, creativity, emotional intelligence, & adaptability. Lou is a volunteer within the National Real-Time Crime Center Association (NRTCCA), serving as Director of Joint Operations.

Follow Lou on LinkedIn, & also the LinkedIn page for The Illinois Model. ***


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