The Illinois Model

  Let me start by saying that I have NO clue as to whether this sort of teaching method has been explored or not, to what extent it's been researched or disproved, or what if any academic name has been assigned to it. I'm writing this today to share some positive experiments with training others in complicated physical tasks. I began my "teaching" career as a police firearms instructor in 2000. I was selected partially (arguably mostly ) because I was good shooter. The five (5)-day instructor certification course did little to help me grow skills in others. I was pretty much on my own to read up on the subject. I used the firearms ranges as my own learning laboratory.   This is something we tinkered with about dozen years ago: We had broken down some of the basic physical movements of drawing, presenting, and firing a pistol into five (5) steps in a linear chain. Some very basic. Some complex motor skills requiring coordination. Some fine motor skills requiring dexter...

Last week, I was fortunate to attend Cognitive Edge's MasterClass exploring the links between Cynefin  (a sense-making framework, born in the IT industry) and OODA  (a modeling of decision-making, born in the US Air Force). If you don't know at least one (1) of these frameworks/models, there's a good chance you're going to be lost here...  This post is my attempt to capture some of the smaller "events" within the workshop, and also to begin chunking together various lessons learned. My head is still spinning with new ideas, so I write this as almost a way to help myself analyze and synthesize what just happened.... Manassas National Battlefield Park, Virginia, USA HOW I GOT INVOLVED. I've been a passionate student of both Cynefin and OODA, as well as US Air Force Colonel John Boyd (d. 1997), complexity, adaptability, and learning. With regards to the integration of Cynefin-OODA, I've been particularly watchful online of Brian R...

Keith Karlson (L) and Lou Hayes (R) In and around 2015, I was fortunate to be a part of and design a Use of Force program through the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy ( NILEA ). The eight (8) classes totaled over 800 police officers, troopers, detectives, investigators, supervisors, command staff, prosecutors, and other law enforcement agents.  My partner for the campaign was attorney Keith Karlson . He and I have a unique relationship and approach, in that we openly argue in front of and with the class attendees. The complex nature of police-citizen contacts and use of force is such that, while legal boundaries exist, no firm answers or procedures are possible. Case study and "red teaming" are effective formats to develop critical and adaptive thinking in our peace officers. Our approach to bring differing perspectives of street cop and police defense attorney prove to spark debates, challenges, and growth. With that, Keith and I are back in Indiana i...

Thom Dworak and I have the following Growing Adaptive Thinking  workshops scheduled: May 21st-23rd, 2018 ; Kent, Ohio;  registration link .   June 05th-07th, 2018, Chicago-Roselle, Illinois; registration link . Oct 09-11, 2018 , Chicagoland; no registration link yet. Jan 28-30, 2019 ; Lake Zurich, Illinois. April 23-25, 2019; TBD in Chicagoland. Sam Todd of Black Cloud Operations reached out to host our workshop in Ohio. To maintain the interactive setting, the session is capped at forty (40) attendees.  What's the philosophy of the program? Here's some background:  Law enforcement culture tends to utilize a linear, technical mindset for training, intelligence, policy, operations, and supervision.  At the same time, police officers, supervisors, and command staff continue to struggle with complications from poor decision-making and leadership.  This antiquated framework is a carry over from an industrial education model primarily d...