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Neciation will be fatal in rescue operations of hostages. SWAT teams are the last hope in the most tragic situations – and for inspector Kevin Cyr, commander of one of the largest tactical units in North America, making a proper call under extreme pressure is simply part of the description of the position.
Regardless of whether you are in a managerial position or the owner of the company, there are key conclusions that will be taught from Circus that may improve your decision -making skills. I recently sat down with him and He shared The framework he created in 24 years. Here’s what I learned:
Go to the second part: 3 decision -making rules that it is best to steal from this SWAT commander
Decision -maker: Inspector’s journey Kevin Cyr
Unlike Hollywood Portrayals, SWAT teams are not in a hurry, hoping for the best. These specialists invest countless hours to check, train and improve their approach, because life – including their very own – hangs in balance with each operation.
The Circus inspector manages a team of 60 highly trained policemen who deal with situations that regular patrol officers cannot cope with, responding to tons of of incidents each yr along the west coast of Canada. From the situations of hostages and kidnapping to terrorist threats and high -risk orders, its unit specializes in scenarios where rates can’t be higher. From 24 years in the royal police mounted Canada and seven years with a crisis response team – the Canadian equivalent of SWAT – Cyr transfers the analytical perspective of tactical leadership.
His systematic approach to creating decisions allows him to act in paralyzing conditions most leaders: life or death selections, incomplete information and extreme time restrictions. His decision -making frames, deceptively easy in their approach, offer worthwhile insight for business leaders in the face of their very own situations of intensive pressure, although often with less tragic consequences. Here are his three -part decision -making frames:
1. Clearly define what you select
One of the most surprising insights from Cyra’s experience is that identification, when you are at a real decision -making point, is often tougher than the decision itself.
Leaders often fall into one of two traps:
- No recognition when motion (no possibilities) is required
- Elelating the decision prematurely (creating resistance to implementation)
“A real decision -making point requires three elements,” explains Cyr. “You need many outstanding alternatives, clear selection criteria and someone who has the right to make a choice.”
The first goal that the circus has when making decisions is to discover options and ensure significant differences between them. Decisions grow to be much tougher when the options are similar.
For example, negotiating with the tutor in comparison with launching a rescue test are clearly clear options. The decision between them is actually easier than determining whether it is best to give the hostage a pizza, which he demanded in 10 minutes or in 20 minutes.
One strategy that the Circus uses to be sure that decisions are not very similar is to avoid the temptation to be too precise when defining the options. Although excessive detailed information may feel that you’re going to have higher control over the result, this is the illusion of control. In dynamic circumstances, plans are never perfectly made, and only a limited amount of details will be transferred from planning to implementation.
“Recognition of the inseparable flexibility required during implementation allows us to use the inaccuracy in planning faster decisions,” says Cyr. Reservations: Decisions are not “fire and oblivion”-they require further corrections and iterative as the situation evolutions.
2. Know what is going to make you say that
Despite his extensive experience, Cyr admits that his default response to the suggested motion is often negative. This reluctance to act is a common psychological trap – the most dangerous error in critical incidents does not make a “wrong” decision, but not making decisions at all.
To avoid this, the circus follows the easy rule: if he says about something, he immediately asks what to do to say so. If he cannot answer this query, it signifies that he was not a real decision – it was only a option to delay.
“Although this may seem obvious, if you do not know what would make you say” yes “, you cannot make this decision” – explains the circus. “If you can’t think about what you would say that you are not involved in the decision -making process. You just delay, maybe having hoping that the problem will disappear.”
This does not mean that each affirmative decision requires quantitative indicators. Some of the most consistent selections oppose objective measurements and ultimately come all the way down to judgment. The key is to know your criteria for conduct, even if these criteria are subjective.
For example, dealing with an armed and barricaded suspect, avoiding arrest, a circus of the will negotiated submission. If this seems to be unsuccessful, the option is to make use of tear gas. However, when his team asks for permission to make use of tear gas, his default response consists of reluctance. It flows towards no. It is only when he asks what he would say that he realizes that they have exhausted negotiations and ought to be taken to finish the siege.
3. Identify the right decision maker
The final query inside the Circus concerns the decision -making body. Although seemingly easy, determining the appropriate decision maker often seems to be surprisingly complex.
A standard mistake in each tactical operations and business management is to centralize too much decision -making. Although the control of behavior seems calming, it often causes slower decisions made with less essential information.
The circus experiences this tension. His position in the command post – surrounded by video channels, communication of negotiators and intelligence briefings – assures a comprehensive but disconnected perspective. Meanwhile, officers set outside the crisis location can hear, smell and sense what is happening in real time. Who should determine what is going to occur next?
“When choosing a decision-maker, we should consider who has the best situational awareness and who has time to make and implement a decision,” says Circus.
In the case of sensitive tactical decisions, corresponding to deciding or chasing the suspect, the officer on the stage clearly has each excellent situational awareness and there is no time for consultation. And vice versa, decisions regarding negotiations or change of tactics require a wider point of view.
Business leaders are in the face of similar questions regarding decisions that ought to be made in person in comparison with which team members to be delegated closer situations. Circus framework is a practical guide to create these allocations based on access to information and time limitations, not the hierarchy itself.
Image loan due to the courtesy of Kevin Cyr
Commissioning all this
Systematically dealing with these three questions-what options exist, what criteria will strive for decisions and who should call-the resources set a solid basis for making decisions under pressure. These frames help prevent paralysis evaluation and premature motion while ensuring a decision at the appropriate organizational level.
In the second part of this series, we are going to examine three specific decision maxim, which the Circus inspector has developed over the years of high rate operations-practical strategies that can assist business leaders avoid common decision traps and maintain transparency under pressure.